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Yup, I am serious. One of the best places to relieve stress at work is in the bathroom. Here’s why: no one can see you, and if you get the place all to yourself, no one can even hear you. So, what the heck are we going to do in there?

First, we’ll start with a simple premise: that stress comes more from the inside than the outside. In other words, our inner state affects our experience of what’s going on around us. Feelin’ calm and capable? Cruise on through that presentation. Feelin’ anxious and doubtful? Stumble over your words and trip over questions. It all depends on what’s going on with your biological state.

What Happens When We Get Stressed?

Sleep-research scientist Dr. Roger Cole (who also happens to be a yoga teacher) has done a lot of looking into this question because he wants to be able to tell people how to counteract stress so they can sleep. Cole found that eight activating systems get us rolling when we’re amped up and feeling stressed. They team up and do three things: increase brain activity, contract muscles, and rally support from the circulatory and respiratory systems.

Since we’re not being paid to sleep at work (imagine that!), we don’t want to counteract all of the activating systems and enter a state of deep relaxation. We want to stay alert but calm down so that we can be focused and productive.

Exhales: Our New BFFs

Here’s what the heck we’re going to do in the bathroom stall: take 10—count ’em, 10—enormous exhales through our mouths. By doing this, we’re counteracting the shortened, shallow breathing we resort to when we get stressed.

Try this:

•Lock the stall door.

•Take a huge, huge, HUGE inhale through your nose. Make sure it’s so big it fills up your belly (you might even want to undo your pants) and runs right up into your rib cage and your chest.

•Open your mouth pretty wide and exhale with sound (a novel-like “ahhhhh” will do the trick).

•Do this 10—it MUST be 10—times.

•Enjoy the release.

•Share with friends. Repeat often.