We should practice being calm for the moments when we are not
Our instincts will default to fear, even when we 'know what to do'
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People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may know what to do in a breathing crisis, but that doesn’t always mean we will do the correct thing.
When I was diagnosed, I knew that when my portable concentrator beeped to tell me I was running short on battery life I should slow down, sit down, and start pursed lip breathing. Instead, I’d hurry to get to where I was going. But once I got the battery changed and had time to reflect, I was annoyed with myself for not doing what I should’ve done.
That moment has stayed with me because it names something I’ve wrestled with on my COPD journey: Knowing something academically doesn’t mean we’ll default to it in an emergency. When the body senses danger, real or imagined, it reaches for instinct, not instruction. And unless we’ve practiced the right actions in calm moments, our instincts will default to fear.
This is why we should practice calm for the moments that are not. Because when the crisis comes — when the breath shortens, when the heart races, when the body slips into fight‑or‑flight mode — we don’t suddenly become wiser, steadier, or more skillful. We become whatever we have practiced.
Calm isn’t something we can invent in the middle of fear. It’s something we must prepare for.
Breathing techniques, pacing, pausing, grounding — these are not emergency tools we can pull off a shelf when everything is falling apart. They are habits the body must learn in the quiet, ordinary minutes when nothing is at stake. That is when the nervous system is open to learning and the body can be taught a new truth.
When panic hits, the body doesn’t reach for what we know. It reaches for what we have rehearsed.
That is why Pulmonary Wellness Foundation founder Noah Greenspan teaches patients to say, “Stop. I know what to do.”
Those six words interrupt the fear long enough for the practiced skills to surface. They only work if the body has something to reach for — if we have walked that path before.
We practice calm in the moments that are not frightening so that, in the moments that are, we don’t have to think. We simply follow the path we’ve already laid out.
Learning to trust
I have a degree in physical education and health. I know the benefits of exercise as well as anyone. I can recite the research on strength, stamina, and the way movement supports COPD management. And yet there are long stretches when I struggle to do it. I tell myself I don’t have time, even though I also know that a stronger body would make the chores go faster. It’s a loop I can reason my way into and out of, sometimes in the same afternoon.
And then there’s the spiritual layer — the one I don’t talk about as easily. The part of me that whispers, “Why should God help me do better when I won’t help myself?” As if grace were a transaction. As if illness were a test I’m failing. As if God were waiting for me to earn the right to be helped.
But maybe the truth is gentler than that. Maybe the desire to try again — even after a long season of not trying — is the help. Maybe the small spark that says, “Move a little today,” is grace in motion. Maybe practice itself is a form of prayer.
We learn things in the head first. Then, slowly, we learn them in the body. And finally, if we’re patient, we learn them in the spirit, where they settle into something steadier than knowledge: trust.
Note: COPD News Today is strictly a news and information website about the disease. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your physician or other qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. The opinions expressed in this column are not those of COPD News Today or its parent company, Bionews, and are intended to spark discussion about issues about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
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