Before reading, take a moment and pay attention to how you breathe. This may seem funny, but it is important.
Did you notice if you breathe fast or slow? How do you breathe – through your nose or your mouth? Do you use the upper part of your chest or the lower part while breathing?
Most times, we don't notice, but the way we breathe has a large impact on our health, especially in regards to stress and anxiety. That is why it is important to understand your breathing and some of the correct helpful breathing methods to work as an effective anxiety treatment.
If done rightly, our breathing can majorly control and manage anxiety levels. It is medically proven that breathing directly influences the nervous system, and therefore, controlling the breathing style can successfully relax stress and anxiety.
Breathing also directly influences the proper functioning of the heart, brain, muscle, and digestive system. To make you a little more aware, we have compiled 4 helpful breathing styles that can treat anxiety successfully and correctly.
The different breathing styles:
We know things can go out of hand when you are stressed and facing anxiety, but you can get an inreased hold of situations with a little control and consciousness. To help you through, your breathing style plays a major role.
With constant practice, you can master the art of balanced breathing within no time. Just make sure to try and choose the method that works the best for you. It surely can differ from person to person and thus should be chosen accordingly.
Here is the list of the breathing styles that can help calm you down and act as the needed anxiety treatment:
- Breathe like blowing up a balloon:
This is one of the most recommended ones because of the ease with which you can do it. Simply imagine yourself blowing up a balloon slowly and steadily without any unwanted force.
You should focus on slowing down when you breathe out while ignoring when you breathe in. When your out-breath becomes slow, you will automatically have lengthened in-breath. This is when you will feel relaxed and calm.
You can repeat this breathing exercise till you feel anxious and tense in your body. You can check to have tension in your body by observing your lips, shoulders, and jaws. You can work on reducing your stress and anxiety with every exhale.
- Alternate Nostril Breathing:
You might have heard about this breathing type from your elders as well. This is quite simple to do and also focuses on nose breathing rather than using your mouth.
For this breathing, simply cover one side of the nostril by placing your finger on it and use the other nostril for breathing in and out. Make sure to inhale and exhale deeply for best results.
You should change the nostril sides after completing every breathing cycle. You can repeat this breathing cycle until you feel all relaxed and stress-free. This is one of the best ways for slowing your breathing without any extra efforts or hassles.
- The 4-7-8 Breathing style:
If you are one of those who are familiar with meditation, then you would have heard about this great anxiety treatment. Many health experts believe this breathing style is the best one to release all the unwanted stress and anxiety from the body and mind.
The breathing exercise is pretty simple to do. All you have to do is follow the 4-7-8 rule while breathing.
To begin with, inhale for 4-seconds, then for 7-seconds, hold on to your breath and then slowly breathe out for 8-seconds. This breathing style helps re-establish the balance between O2 and CO2 in your blood which improves your internal working.
This breathing style also helps in increasing your concentration abilities while helping you breathe through your nose, even at the time of stress and tension.
- Set daily reminders:
This does not revolve around controlling your breathing style, but it helps you concentrate on your breathing throughout the day. For improving your breathing style, you can set up daily reminders to check the way you are breathing.
For example, you can set up a reminder to check your breathing style just before going to bed or just before having your lunch. Thus, whenever you find any irregular breathing, you can work on improving the same. This will help you get immediate help whenever you need it.
Also, regularly practising this habit can help develop a habit of breathing calmly under all situations and thus can help you remain calm under stressful and anxious situations.
Final Thoughts:
It is only you who can put the thoughts into action. Observe your breathing style when you are relaxed and when you are stressed, then choose any of the ways mentioned above to feel calm slowly and gradually. The mentioned ways can be a great anxiety treatment if done and followed correctly.
Besides, you can try and focus on these simple points to regulate your breathing style on regular days we well:
- Use your nose for breathing. Avoid breathing through your mouth. You can practise the nose breathing rhythmically.
- When you feel stressed or anxious, use any of the mentioned methods as soon as possible. This will reduce the damaging impacts of stress on your body's internal functioning. Choose any of the methods that work the best for you.
- Make sure to set the daily reminders. This can be helpful to regulate breathing even on days when you don't feel stressed or anxious. It's like developing a habit of breathing normally, which will help you on your bad days.
All the breathing styles mentioned are supposed to calm you down. Thus, you shouldn't be too harsh on yourself while practising them. You can get in touch with the counsellors for anxiety experts to get more professional help in the matter.
For anything else that bothers you, we are always available to provide you with the best help. Share all your thoughts and experiences in the comment section. We will get back to you with all the possible help and information needed.
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