Anxiety is a feeling of worry, fear or tension about things that may happen. If you’re dealing with anxiety, one of the best ways to cope can be just one breath away.
Breathing exercises are one of many ways to help manage anxiety. Breathwork is another name for focusing on your breath for specific mental and physical benefits.
[SEE: Best Breathing Exercises for Asthma.]
How Breathwork Can Ease Stress and Anxiety
When most people are anxious, they take short, shallow breaths that may signal a stress response in the body, says Jaryd Hiser, a psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. Your stress response is how the body reacts to a perceived threat, and it can cause that shallow breathing, as well as a quicker heart rate.
Breathing exercises can counteract this tendency toward shallow breathing and provide additional potential benefits:
— It can lower your blood pressure and slow your heart rate, making you feel more relaxed.
— Breathwork may improve the quality of your sleep, says Dr. Aldrich Chan, a neuropsychologist in Miami.
— Intentional breathing relaxes the nervous system.
— Deep breathing can release tension in the abdominal area, which counteracts the stress response anxiety can trigger in the body, says psychologist Carolyn Rubenstein of Boca Raton, Florida.
Breathing exercises are easy to do, cost nothing and are always available.
“The one thing you always have is your breath,” says psychologist and holistic health practitioner Niloo Dardashti of Manhattan Psychology Group in New York.
[See: Tips to Manage Stress at Work.]
Types of Breathing Exercises
There are several breathing exercises you can do to help manage anxiety. You can do these exercises in a comfortable seated position or while lying down. Here are six helpful ones:
— 4-7-8 breathing.
— Box breathing or four-square breathing.
— Humming breath.
— Belly breathing, also called abdominal or diaphragmatic breathing.
— Pursed-lip breathing.
— Lion’s breath.
4-7-8 breathing
— Inhale through your nose for four seconds.
— Hold your breath for seven seconds.
— Exhale through your mouth for eight seconds, making sure to let all your breath out. Letting all of your breath out with that exhale is what can really help you feel relaxed, Dardashti says.
Box breathing or four-square breathing
— Breathe out slowly, focusing on letting all your breath out.
— Inhale through your nose for four seconds.
— Hold the air in your lungs for four seconds
— Exhale through your mouth for four seconds.
— Hold your lungs empty for four seconds.
Humming breath
In yoga, this is called Bhramari pranayama or humming bee breath. It combines vibration and breath to release tension, Rubenstein says.
— Inhale through your nose for five seconds.
— Gently cover both ears with your thumbs.
— As you slowly exhale through your nose, keep your mouth closed but make a humming sound like that made by a buzzing bee.
Belly breathing, also called abdominal or diaphragmatic breathing
— Place one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach.
— As you inhale, try to expand your stomach into the hand that’s there. This is useful as the expansion works your diaphragm, leading to deeper, calmer breathing.
— As you exhale, slowly release air through your mouth and constrict your lower belly as if you’re deflating a balloon.
Pursed-lip breathing
— Place your hands on your stomach. Although this isn’t mandatory for pursed-lip breathing, it will help you feel your stomach getting larger when you inhale.
— Inhale slowly through your nose, keeping your mouth closed. Do this for two seconds.
— Purse your lips, thinking of the movement you use to whistle.
— Slowly exhale for at least four seconds.
Lion’s breath
Lion’s breath is another breathing technique used in yoga. Consider avoiding lion’s breath if you’re prone to dizziness, the Cleveland Clinic cautions.
— Spread your fingers so that you feel them stretch.
— Inhale.
— Open your mouth, and stick out your tongue toward your chin. Yes, you may look silly!
— As you let out an exhale, make a “ha” sound that comes from your abdomen.
You can do several rounds of these types of breathing multiple times a day to help ease stress and anxiety. A small study published in Frontiers in Psychology in 2017 found that study participants who received intensive training in deep breathing had better attention levels, lower cortisol levels (cortisol is a stress hormone) and better emotions compared to a control group.
[READ: The Best Essential Oils for Anxiety and Depression.]
How to Create a Breathwork Routine
Here are a few ways to develop a breathwork routine:
— Plan to use it as a transition between specific parts of your day. “Use it to help create a boundary, for example, after work, to help prevent stressors from work creeping into our home lives,” Hiser advises.
— Choose a quiet, comfortable space that’s free from distractions. Although this will likely be your home, you also can practice breathwork in settings like a quiet corner in a park or a dedicated space in your workplace, Chan says.
— Consider using soft lighting or calming music to enhance the overall ambience.
— Aim to practice a couple of minutes each day. Five to 10 minutes is a wonderful amount of time for breathwork. It’s fine if you need to work up to that.
— Don’t worry if you’re still having thoughts that go beyond your breathwork. What are you going to make for dinner? Did your partner take out the trash? When is the dog due for vaccines? It’s perfectly normal if your mind is still churning out thoughts and questions while you do breathwork. Part of the work with breathwork is to become more aware of those thoughts, even if you don’t entirely eliminate them.
— Use breathwork when you’re feeling anxious but also when you’re feeling fine. In fact, knowing how to breathe effectively will make these approaches easier to use when you’re facing in-the-moment anxiety. “You can see drastic improvements by taking a few minutes to use breathing exercises to break out of the constant worry loops that we often get caught in,” Hiser says. You can practice breathing exercises during situations including: when you take a break at work, when you go for a walk or while waiting to pick up your kids at school, Hiser adds.
— Practice makes perfect, so to speak, but don’t worry about perfection. The actual amount of time you hold the breath or adhere strictly to a certain breathing exercise is less important than getting into the routine of deeper breathing, Dardashti says.
Breathwork Risks and Tips
Here are a few tips to maximize the use of breathing exercises for anxiety:
— Talk to your health care provider first if you have a health condition that affects your breathing. This includes respiratory or cardiovascular issues, Chan says.
— Stop using these breathing techniques if you feel dizzy or lightheaded.
— Be aware of the possibility of emotional release. “Certain breathwork exercises, especially those focused on emotional release, can bring up intense emotions,” Chan says. “While this can be therapeutic for some individuals, it might be overwhelming for others.” It’s something to consider before practicing certain intense types of breathwork.
— Remind yourself to breathe deeper. You’re breathing right now, but it’s easy to forget to use deeper breathing exercises, especially if you’re feeling anxious. Wear a bracelet, use a sticky note or find some other visual reminder that will prompt you to use breathing exercises for anxiety.
— Consider adding visualization to your breathing exercises. This may involve visualizing a color, word or other image that you find useful. For instance, you could think of the word “calm” and envision breathing in a calm energy that moves down your body and towards your feet. Then, it goes back up to your body and toward your head, Dardashti advises. When you breathe out, imagine that you are breathing away stress and pressure.
Other Ways to Cope With Stress and Anxiety
In addition to deep breathing, there are other things you can do to help cope with anxiety:
— Consider mindfulness.
— Practice grounding.
— Use meditation.
— Talk with a trusted friend or loved one.
— Exercise.
— Seek help from a mental health professional.
Consider mindfulness
Be mindful of how your body feels when it’s anxious. Are you aware of those familiar physical feelings that come up when you start to feel anxious? Maybe there’s a pit in your stomach or your breathing gets more shallow, for instance. Stay aware of those physical reactions, acknowledge them and try to alleviate them with breathing exercises or other activities. You may not always be able to distract yourself fully from these physical reactions, but that’s OK.
Practice grounding
Grounding is the act of using sensory information to ground yourself back in the present moment. This can be particularly useful if you feel yourself having an anxiety attack. Think of 5-4-3-2-1: five things you can see, four things you can feel, three that you can hear, two things you can smell and one thing that you can taste.
Use meditation
Meditation involves focusing your mind on the present moment. You’ve probably heard a lot about meditation or even tried it. There are many apps to guide meditation practices, and you can try it in short spurts versus a long, drawn-out session.
Talk with a trusted friend or loved one
The people who are part of your life can be a helpful resource if you’re feeling anxious. When you talk about your feelings with someone you trust, you can release your emotions, Rubenstein says. This can help you feel better. Additionally, these people might be able to offer advice or share their own similar experiences.
Exercise
You may already know about the physical benefits of exercise, but it also can increase your endorphin levels (a feel-good hormone) and your sense of well-being. From heart-pumping cardio to yoga and everything in between, you’ve got lots of choices. All that movement can be an anxiety reliever. Bonus points if you can get some exercise outside, which also can help improve your mood.
Seek help from a mental health professional
If your anxiety is affecting your daily life, a mental health professional can help with more individualized recommendations to help manage your anxiety or other mental health concerns. “These professionals can offer more detailed and individualized recommendations for managing anxiety and other mental health concerns with behavioral techniques and/or medications,” Hiser says.
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6 Best Breathing Techniques for Anxiety and Stress Relief originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 12/04/23: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
