Practical breathing exercises to calm anxiety and stress

Posted by Lucky Mileson on January 6th, 2020

Breathing exercises are a beneficial option for reducing stress, sleeping better, controlling anxiety, letting go of anger, clarifying ideas, and improving concentration. Regular practice is hugely helpful for physical and mental health.

Controlling breathing is one of the main ways to relax before bedtime. Within the techniques to manage anxiety and stress, the world-famous method is 4-7-8, popularized by Andrew Weil, director of Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona.

This method is easy and simple to apply, it takes little time to notice its effects, you will not need any equipment to carry it out, and it can be practiced anywhere, not just in bed to fight insomnia.

You can also apply this method to relax at any time, for example, before attending an important job interview or a decisive exam.

According to Dr. Weil, the 4-7-8 breathing technique helps people calm anxiety and fall asleep in just 60 seconds by acting as a natural tranquilizer of the nervous system, which reduces stress and tension in the body.

The 4-7-8 technique to reduce anxiety and sleep better

This technique can be performed in any comfortable posture, but for starters, it is preferable to do it sitting and with your back straight.

Exercise:

Inhale all the air you can only through the nose, counting up to four seconds.

Then, hold your breath for seven seconds.

After holding your breath, exhale the air gently through your mouth for 8 seconds. It is important that you can hear the sound of breathing so you can relax completely.

Through this technique, you can regain control of your breathing and balance the concentration of gases in the blood. This technique helps control the heart rate and will allow you to enter a state of relaxation necessary for sleep.

Other useful techniques to calm anxiety and stress 

1. Abdominal Breathing

Also known as diaphragmatic breathing, with this technique, you will use the diaphragmatic muscle to control breathing.

Exercise

Place one hand on your chest and another on your belly, inhale deeply through your nose, making sure the diaphragm goes down (swelling your stomach). Try to make your belly move, not your chest. The goal is to perform 6 to 10 slow breaths per minute.

2. Alternate Breathing

It is a technique practiced in Yoga called "Nadi Shodhana" or "Alternate breathing through the nostrils."

Exercise

In a comfortable posture, place your right thumb in the right nostril and inhale deeply through the left nostril. Upon reaching the peak of the inhalation, cover the left nostril with the ring finger and little finger, and then release the right nostril to exhale through it.

Continue this technique, inhaling through the right nostril, then closing it with the right thumb and exhaling through the left nose four to eight times.

3. Energizing Breathing

Also called in Yoga, "Shining Skull Breathing."

Exercise

It is a long and slow inhalation, expanding the diaphragm, and then exhaling contracting the diaphragm. All through the nose. Inhale slowly and deeply and exhale fast and robust. Repeat about ten times.

References

1. https://www.remedylist.com/breathing-exercises/