Stress and anxiety can have a variety of negative effects on your health, influencing both your physical and mental wellbeing. When left unmanaged, these feelings may lead to complications such as difficulty breathing, increased heart rate, and persistent tension.
Fortunately, there are several breathing techniques that can help trigger a relaxation response in your body. Practicing these methods may help you feel calmer and more centred, even during moments of heightened anxiety.
If you experience breathlessness due to anxiety, specific breathing exercises can be useful in relieving your symptoms. By focusing on your breath and employing these techniques, you can begin to feel better and regain a sense of control.
These breathing exercises can be practised at any time during your day. Whether you choose to perform them in brief moments or incorporate them into longer periods dedicated to self-care, they offer flexibility and accessibility for managing stress and anxiety.
1. Lengthen your exhale
Inhaling deeply may not always calm you down. Taking a deep breath in is actually linked to the sympathetic nervous system, which controls the fight-or-flight response. But exhaling is linked to the parasympathetic nervous system, which influences our body’s ability to relax and calm down.
Taking too many deep breaths too quickly can actually cause you to hyperventilate.
Hyperventilation decreases the amount of oxygen-rich blood that flows to your brain.
When we feel anxious or under stress, it’s easier to breathe too much and end up hyperventilating — even if we’re trying to do the opposite.
- Before you take a big, deep breath, try a thorough exhale instead. Push all the air out of your lungs, then simply let your lungs do their work inhaling air.
- Next, try spending a little bit longer exhaling than you do inhaling. For example, try inhaling for four seconds, then exhale for six.
- Try doing this for two to five minutes.
This technique can be done in any position that’s comfortable for you, including standing, sitting, or lying down.
While taking a deep breath in may seem like an effective way to calm yourself, it is important to note that inhalation is actually associated with the sympathetic nervous system. This part of the nervous system is responsible for the fight-or-flight response, which can increase feelings of anxiety. In contrast, exhaling activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps your body relax and unwind.
Breathing too quickly or taking too many deep breaths in succession may lead to hyperventilation. Hyperventilating reduces the amount of oxygen-rich blood flowing to your brain, which can worsen feelings of anxiety and discomfort. When experiencing stress or anxiety, it is common to unintentionally over-breathe, even if your intention is to calm down.
Instead of immediately taking a deep breath, start with a thorough exhale. Push all of the air out of your lungs, allowing your body to naturally inhale afterwards. Once you have mastered this, begin to lengthen your exhale so that it lasts longer than your inhale. For example, you might inhale for four seconds, then exhale for six seconds. Practicing this pattern for two to five minutes can help promote relaxation.
This exercise can be performed in any comfortable position, whether you are standing, sitting, or lying down. The flexibility of this technique makes it easy to integrate into your daily routine whenever you feel the need to reduce stress or anxiety.
2. Abdomen breathing
Breathing from your diaphragm (the muscle that sits just beneath your lungs) can help reduce the amount of work your body needs to do in order to breathe.
To learn how to breathe from your diaphragm:
- Check-in
- For comfort, lie down on the floor or bed with pillows beneath your head and knees. Or sit in a comfortable chair with your head, neck, and shoulders relaxed, and your knees bent.
- Then, put one hand under your rib cage and one hand over your heart.
- Inhale and exhale through your nose, noticing how or if your stomach and chest move as you breathe.
- Can you isolate your breathing so you bring air deeper into your lungs? What about the reverse? Can you breathe so your chest moves more than your stomach?
Eventually, you want your stomach to move as you breathe, instead of your chest.
3. Belly breathing
- Sit or lie down as described above.
- Place one hand on your chest and one hand on your stomach somewhere above your belly button.
- Breathe in through your nose, noticing your stomach rise. Your chest should remain relatively still.
- Purse your lips and exhale through your mouth. Try engaging your stomach muscles to push air out at the end of the breath.
For this type of breathing to become automatic, you’ll need to practice it daily. Try doing the exercise three or four times a day for up to 10 minutes.
If you haven’t been using your diaphragm to breathe, you may feel tired at first. It’ll get easier with practice though.
4. Breath focus
When deep breathing is focused and slow, it can help reduce anxiety. You can do this technique by sitting or lying down in a quiet, comfortable location. Then:
- Notice how it feels when you inhale and exhale normally. Mentally scan your body. You might feel tension in your body that you never noticed.
- Take a slow, deep breath through your nose.
- Notice your belly and upper body expanding.
- Exhale in whatever way is most comfortable for you, sighing if you wish.
- Do this for several minutes, paying attention to the rise and fall of your belly.
- Choose a word to focus on and vocalize during your exhale. Words like “safe” and “calm” can be effective.
- Imagine your inhale washing over you like a gentle wave.
- Imagine your exhale carrying negative and upsetting thoughts and energy away from you.
- When you get distracted, gently bring your attention back to your breath and your words.
Practice this technique for up to 20 minutes daily when you can.
5. Equal breathing
Another form of breathing that stems from the ancient practice of pranayama yoga is equal breathing. This means you’re inhaling for the same amount of time as you’re exhaling. You can practice equal breathing from a sitting or lying-down position. Whichever position you choose, be sure to get comfortable.
- Shut your eyes and pay attention to the way you normally breathe for several breaths.
- Then, slowly count 1-2-3-4 as you inhale through your nose.
- Exhale for the same four-second count.
- As you inhale and exhale, be mindful of the feelings of fullness and emptiness in your lungs.
As you continue practicing equal breathing, your second count might vary. Be sure to keep your inhale and exhale the same.
6. Resonant breathing
Resonant breathing, also called coherent breathing, can help you calm anxiety and get into a relaxed state. To try it yourself:
- Lie down and close your eyes.
- Gently breathe in through your nose, mouth closed, for a count of six seconds.
- Don’t fill your lungs too full of air.
- Exhale for six seconds, allowing your breath to leave your body slowly and gently. Don’t force it.
- Continue for up to 10 minutes.
- Take a few additional minutes to be still and focus on how your body feels.
7. Lion’s breath
Lion’s breath involves exhaling forcefully. To try lion’s breath:
- Get into a kneeling position, crossing your ankles and resting your bottom on your feet. If this position isn’t comfortable, sit cross-legged.
- Bring your hands to your knees, stretching out your arms and your fingers.
- Take a breath in through your nose.
- Breathe out through your mouth, allowing yourself to vocalize “ha.”
- During exhale, open your mouth as wide as you can and stick your tongue out, stretching it down toward your chin as far as it will go.
- Focus on the middle of your forehead (third eye) or the end of your nose while exhaling.
- Relax your face as you inhale again.
- Repeat the practice up to six times, changing the cross of your ankles when you reach the halfway point.
8. Alternate nostril breathing
To try alternate nostril breathing, sit down in a comfortable place, lengthening your spine and opening your chest.
Rest your left hand in your lap and raise your right hand. Then, rest the pointer and middle fingers of your right hand on your forehead, in between the eyebrows. Close your eyes, inhaling and exhaling through your nose.
- Use your right thumb to close the right-hand nostril and inhale slowly through the left.
- Pinch your nose closed between your right thumb and ring finger, holding the breath in for a moment.
- Use your right ring finger to close your left nostril and exhale through the right, waiting for a moment before you inhale again.
- Inhale slowly through the right nostril.
- Pinch your nose closed again, pausing for a moment.
- Now, open the left side and exhale, waiting a moment before you inhale again.
- Repeat this cycle of inhaling and exhaling through either nostril up to 10 times. Each cycle should take up to 40 seconds.
9. Guided meditation
Some people use guided meditation to alleviate anxiety by interrupting patterns of thinking that perpetuate stress.
You can practice guided meditation by sitting or lying in a cool, dark, comfortable place and relaxing. Then, listen to calming recordings while relaxing your body and steadying your breathing.
Guided meditation recordings help take you through the steps of visualizing a calmer, less stressed reality. It can also help you gain control over intrusive thoughts that trigger anxiety.
