Eight breathing exercises to help manage anxiety

Constant stress and anxiety can worsen your health. However, there are specific anxiety breathing practices that can help you feel calm and centered by triggering a relaxation response in your body.

If you are experiencing shortness of breath due to excessive anxiety, you need to apply breathing techniques that will help you alleviate the symptoms and feel much better. Consider various breathing exercises for anxiety relief, which can be performed at any convenient time.

Make the exhalation longer

A deep inhale is not always able to calm you down, as its connection to the sympathetic nervous system, which controls the body's “hit or run” response, may not produce the desired results. Meanwhile, exhaling has a connection to the parasympathetic nervous system, which affects our body's ability to come to a calm and relaxed state.

Excessive deep breaths can cause the lungs to hyperventilate, which reduces the amount of oxygen-rich blood reaching the human brain.

When feeling anxious and stressed, it is easier for a person to take many deep breaths, which results in hyperventilation, even if they try to do the opposite.

Therefore, one should try to exhale completely before taking deep breaths. One should push the air out of the lungs and then allow the lungs to do their job, which is to inhale the air.

After that, you should make the exhalation much longer than the inhalation. For example, try to inhale for four seconds, and exhale for six seconds. Such an exercise should be done from 2 to 5 minutes. Such exercises can be done in different positions - sitting or lying down.

Breathing with the abdomen

The following breathing exercises for anxiety involves breathing with the dia phragm, that is, the muscle that is located directly under the lungs. This will help reduce the amount of work your body does to breathe.

In order to learn how to breathe with your abdomen is necessary:

1. Lie on the floor or other surface and place soft rollers or pillows under your head and knees. You can sit in a soft chair, relax your head, neck and shoulders. Keep your knees bent.
2. Put one hand under the chest, the other on the heart area.
3. Through the nose you should inhale and exhale, noticing the movement of the abdomen and chest as you breathe.

Are you able to make as much air go into your lungs as possible? And also the other way around? Are you able to breathe in such a way that your rib cage moves more than your diaphragm?

As a result, you will want your diaphragm to move during breathing, not your rib cage.

Learn to breathe with your abdomen:

1. You need to sit or lie down as we described above.
2. Then place one hand on your chest and the other hand on your stomach.
3. Take a breath through the nose, noticing how the belly rises. At the same time, the chest should be practically motionless.
4. Then you should press your lips together and exhale through the mouth. Try to engage the abdominal muscles, so that the air is completely out of the lungs.

To make this type of breathing system automatic, you need to practice it daily. Try to do such an exercise daily 3-4 times for 10 minutes. If you have not been able to use your diaphragm for breathing, you may get a little tired at first. But with time, you will learn this technique.

Focus on breathing

With focused and slow deep breathing, the feeling of anxiety becomes less. These breathing exercises for anxiety can be done while sitting or lying down.

After that:

1. You feel when you take a normal exhalation and inhalation. Then you should mentally scan your body. You may feel some tension in your body that was not there before.
2. Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose.
3. Notice how your abdomen and rib cage enlarges.
4. Exhale in any way you feel comfortable.
5. Repeat the exercise for 2-3 minutes, noticing how your belly rises and falls.
6. Choose a specific word to say as you exhale. You can use the words “safe” and “effective.”
7. Imagine that as you inhale you feel the rush of a soft wave.
8. Imagine that as you exhale all negative thoughts and worries leave you.
9. When you are distracted, quietly concentrate on your breathing and words.

Do these exercises for 20 minutes daily at any convenient time.

Even breathing

Another breathing exercise that came to us from the ancient practice of pranayama yoga, that is, even breathing. In this case, you need to inhale for the same amount of time as you exhale.

The exercise of even inhalation and exhalation can be done in a lying or sitting position. The main thing is that you should be very comfortable.

Then it is necessary to:

1. Close your eyes and notice how you normally breathe for a few minutes.
2. Slowly count 1, 2, 3 and 4 while inhaling through your nose.
3. Exhale for a similar period of time 1, 2, 3 and 4.
4. As you inhale and exhale, be aware of the feeling of fullness and emptiness in your lungs.

When you continue doing the exercises with equal inhalation, the second count may change. It is imperative to be sure to inhale and exhale in the same way.

Resonant breathing

Such breathing is also called coherent breathing. Such exercises will help you calm down and relax your body. To perform the practice you need to:

1. Lie down and close your eyes.
2. Then gently inhale through your nose with your mouth closed. Count 6 seconds.
3. You should not fill your lungs with air very much.
4. Within 6 seconds, exhale, allowing the breath to leave the lungs slowly and easily. Do not rush the exercise.
5. Do the exercise for 10 minutes.

Afterward, you should be in a relaxed state for a few minutes to see how your body feels.

Pranayama Yoga

Yoga is a health practice that dates back to antiquity, and breathing exercises are at its core.

One type of yoga is “pranayama yoga,” which consists of several breathing variations to help with anxiety. Some of these involve lengthened exhalation and even breathing. There is also “lion's breath” and alternate nostril breathing, which is called “nadi shodhana”.

Lion's breath

The exercise is performed with a strong exhalation. For this purpose it is necessary to:

1. Get on your knees, cross your knuckles and place your buttocks on your feet. If you find this uncomfortable, you can just sit down and cross your legs.
2. Raise your hands to your knees and then extend your hands and fingers forward.
3. Inhale through your nose.
4. Exhale through the mouth and say the word “ha”.
5. As you exhale, open your mouth wide and stick out your tongue, trying to reach your chin with it.
6. Concentrate attention in the center of the forehead (third eye) or on the tip of the nose while exhaling.
7. As you exhale, you should relax your facial muscles.

Do the exercise about 6 times, changing the position of your feet when you reach the middle point.

Alternating while breathing with nostrils

To perform such an exercise, you need to sit in a comfortable position stretch the spinal column and open the chest.

1. Then put the left hand on the knee, and the right hand should be lifted up. After that, you should put the index and middle finger of the right hand in the center of the forehead, close your eyes and inhale and exhale through the nose.
2. With the thumb of the right hand close the nostril on the right side and make a slow inhalation through the left nostril.
3. Pinch the nose with the fingers of the right hand and hold the breath for a moment.
4. With the right ring finger, close the left nostril and exhale through the right nostril. Wait a little and then inhale again.
5. Then make a slow inhalation through the right nostril.
6. Clamp your nose again and hold your breath for a moment.
7. Open the left side and exhale. Hold for a moment and inhale again.

Do the exercise about 10 times. At the same time, each approach should last at least 40 seconds.

Guided meditation

Many people use this practice to alleviate feelings of anxiety by interrupting the thinking factors that support a stressful state.

You can do the exercise while sitting or lying down, choosing a dark, cool and comfortable place where you can relax. Then one should listen to soothing audio recordings, trying to relax the body and equalize the breathing.

These expert meditation recordings will help you go through the different stages of visualization in a calm, relaxed environment. They will also help control intrusive thoughts that cause anxiety.

With the help of meditation, you will be able to create new habits and patterns of thinking. Find such guided meditation recordings at UCLA.

Conclusion

If you are often anxious or have frequent panic attacks, we recommend trying one or more breathing techniques to help alleviate your anxiety symptoms. But if they get worse, it's best to see a professional who can find the most effective therapies. With the right treatment, you can improve your quality of life and take control of your anxiety.