VOA慢速英语--'Breathing Room' Reduces Stress

 

And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning¹ English.

If you are feeling nervous or stressed, a simple thing can help. Take a deep breath.

Deep breathing can calm your nerves² and lower the chemicals in your body that can lead to stress. If one of your friends is stressed, you can calmly tell them, "Try to take a deep breath."

We sometimes describe these as deep cleansing³ breaths. A long, deep breath feels as if it is cleaning out your body.

American English has some expressions that use breath or breathing in them. One expression is breathing room. This may sound like a room used especially for breathing. But it is not.

"Breathing room" gives you time or space to do something, finish something or get relief from something.

It is what the online dictionary Merriam-Webster defines⁴ as a "buffer⁵ of time, space or money that allows for freedom of movement or relief from a given source of pressure or stress."

So, time, space and money can all give us breathing room.

Time

First, here is an example related⁶ to time.

If you have a big work project or school project that is due in one month, you should start immediately if you can. This will give you some breathing room. If something goes wrong, you will have time to deal with it. Or if something fun comes up, like a party, you will have enough breathing room to be able to enjoy yourself.

If you wait until the very last minute to start your project, you have no breathing room. And that can cause you to feel very stressed.

Money

Now, let's talk about how money can give you breathing room.

When a country experiences a recession⁷ or depression, people who live paycheck-to-paycheck may find themselves in a tough situation. Living paycheck-to-paycheck means you have little money in savings⁸. You need your next paycheck to pay your bills.

However, if you have some money put aside, you might feel less stressed. For example, having enough money in the bank to pay six months of your rent, would give you some breathing room if the economy took a turn for the worse.

Space

Sometimes breathing room refers to actual space around you.

For example, let's say you witness a car crash. The driver struggles to get out of the car as people gather around to see if he is okay. You step in to make sure there is enough space between the injured driver and the crowd of people. "Step back! Step back! Give him some breathing room!" you shout.

Here is another example. Let's say you must stay at home because of bad weather, or because of an illness, or because a new virus has turned into a pandemic and is forcing the world inside on a stay-at-home order!

You may find that after a few days -- or even weeks -- you need more breathing room. In other words, you feel like you need more space -- away from those you live with.

So, you can think of it this way: Breathing room reduces stress. It gives you the time, money or space to get something done or to just feel relaxed.

And that brings us to the end of this Words and Their Stories.

Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo.

Anna Matteo wrote this story for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

In the Comments Section, practice using "breathing room" or any other words and expression in this story.

Words in This Story

stress – n. a state of mental tension⁹ and worry caused by problems in your life, work, etc.

calm – adj. not angry, upset, excited, etc.: calmly – adv.

relief – n. the removal¹⁰ or reducing of something that is painful or unpleasant

buffer – n. something that lessens¹¹ the harmful effects of (something)

allow – v. to permit (someone) to have or do something

rent – n. money paid for the use of another's property

take a turn for the worse – expression : to become worse

relaxed – adj. set or being at rest or at ease

1 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

2 nerves   

n.神经紧张 vt.鼓起勇气

参考例句：

• What he said at the meeting strung her nerves up. 他在会议上的发言使她的神经很紧张。
• At the end of a day's teaching, her nerves were absolutely shattered. 教了一天课，她精疲力竭。

3 cleansing   

n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词

参考例句：

• medicated cleansing pads for sensitive skin 敏感皮肤药物清洗棉
• Soap is not the only cleansing agent. 肥皂并不是唯一的清洁剂。

4 defines   

规定( define的第三人称单数 )； 使明确； 精确地解释； 画出…的线条

参考例句：

• This name defines us all. 这个名字造就了我们。 来自演讲部分
• The range of incomes over which this happens defines the 'poverty trap'. 发生在这种情况的收入范围，称为“贫困陷阱。”

5 buffer   

n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲

参考例句：

• A little money can be a useful buffer in time of need.在急需时，很少一点钱就能解燃眉之急。
• Romantic love will buffer you against life's hardships.浪漫的爱会减轻生活的艰辛。

6 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

7 recession   

n.（工商业的）衷退（期），萧条（期）

参考例句：

• Manufacturing fell sharply under the impact of the recession.受到经济萧条的影响，制造业急剧衰退。
• A rise in interest rates plunged Britain deeper into recession.利率的提高导致英国经济更加萧条。

8 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

9 tension   

n.(紧张)状态；拉(绷)紧；张力，拉力

参考例句：

• I could feel the tension in the room. 我可以感觉到房间里的紧张气氛。
• Relaxaion is better than tension. 缓和比紧张好。

10 removal   

n.去除，消除；挪走，移走，搬迁

参考例句：

• After the removal of the soup,fish was served.汤撤去后，鱼就上来了。
• The factory announced its removal to another town.这家工厂宣布迁往另一座城镇。

11 lessens   

变少( lessen的第三人称单数 )； 减少（某事物）

参考例句：

• Eating a good diet significantly lessens the risk of heart disease. 良好的饮食习惯能大大减少患心脏病的机率。
• Alcohol lessens resistance to diseases. 含有酒精的饮料会减弱对疾病的抵抗力。