Breathing Exercises to Get Your Stress and Anxiety Down

The way you control your intake of oxygen has a lot to do with how you feel. More specifically, by learning to breathe for maximum oxygen intake, you'll be able to significantly reduce your stress and anxiety levels.

In this article, I reveal 2 breathing exercises you can perform to promote a sense of calmness. 

Patience is the Key

In learning to breathe again, you will be consciously thinking about your breathing - perhaps for the first time in your life. After a while, though, you’ll no longer have to think about it. Deep breathing will become habitual. Until then, however, you will need to consciously make the effort to breathe the correct way.  You won’t be breathing properly with every breath straight away and you shouldn’t expect to.

Deep Breathing

Start by taking in deep breaths for 20 seconds every hour. Slowly increase until you are doing it for a minute at a time. After a week, you’ll be up to 5 or 6 minutes every hour. At the end of 3 months, the old ineffective way of getting oxygen into your system will be a thing of the past. Your body will no longer be sputtering down the road on half a cylinder - you’ll be cruising along on all 4 cylinders, with the hood down and the wind blowing through your hair!

The Power of Nasal Breathing

Learning to breathe through your nose will make you a far more effective in-taker of oxygen. When you inhale through the nose, you will be taking the air more deeply into your diaphragm. 

Try it right now and you will be able to feel your diaphragm expanding. This expansion puts downward pressure on your abdomen. This has the flow-on effect of pushing air into the lungs and enhancing the circulation of blood and nutrients. This form of breathing is also more relaxing than mouth breathing.

Breathing Exercise

Here is an exercise that will help you to develop a less stressful breathing pattern, even if you cannot remove the eternal source of your stress …

1. Take a deep breath in, as deep as you can in that moment. Don’t worry about how deep it is or whether you are belly-breathing or not. Just breathe in deep, forcing it if you need to. You have to force yourself because you’re not relaxed. Forcing a breath might feel hard and unnatural. Don't worry — it’ll lead to better things. 

2. Hold your breath for 4 slow seconds. Even if you want to scream. 

3. Then let the air go, using your abs to push it out. Don’t pant, just push. 

4. Take 4 slow seconds to push it out. 

5. Then hold your lungs empty for another 4 slow seconds. Feel the rage.

6. Take another deliberately deep breath. Cycle this pattern a few times. Feel the rage dissipate. 

7. Deepen and lengthen the breath. Get closer and closer to the Relaxation Breath. (Even if you only manage to do this breathing pattern once, that’s still 16 seconds or more of relaxed time.)  

8. Then go back to the situation that was making you stressed and finish it, fix it, figure it out, or get away from it.

The Pay Off

Learning to breathe properly will be frustrating and annoying to start with. But the pay-off will be well worth it. By enhancing the release of tension and toxins you will greatly reduce your stress and anxiety levels. As a result, you’ll be happier and healthier.