BREATHING TECHNIQUES

COMING SOON

 

https://www.mondaycampaigns.org/destress-monday/intro-to-deep-breathing

According to The American Institute of Stress, dedicating 20 to 30 minutes each day to "belly breathing," also known as abdominal breathing or diaphragmatic breathing, can significantly alleviate stress and anxiety.

Steps for Belly Breathing:

1. Choose a Comfortable Position: Find a quiet, comfortable space where you can sit or lie down. Options include sitting in a chair, sitting cross-legged on the floor, or lying on your back with a small pillow under your head and another pillow under your knees for support.

2. Hand Placement: Place one hand on your upper chest and the other hand on your belly, just below the ribcage. This helps you feel the movement of your breath.

3. Relax Your Belly: Allow your belly to relax naturally without forcing it inward. Avoid tightening or clenching your abdominal muscles.

4. Inhale Deeply: Breathe in slowly and deeply through your nose. Aim for the air to move into your lower lungs, causing your belly to rise as it fills with air. You should feel the hand on your belly move outward while the hand on your chest remains relatively still.

5. Exhale Gently: Exhale slowly through slightly pursed lips, allowing the air to escape gradually. Notice the hand on your chest, which should stay relatively unmoved, while the hand on your belly falls inward as you release the breath.

6. Focus on the Breath: Continue this pattern of inhaling and exhaling deeply for 20 to 30 minutes each day. Concentrate on the rise and fall of your belly and maintain a steady, relaxed rhythm.

This practice not only helps in reducing stress but also promotes a sense of calm and relaxation, enhancing overall well-being.

4-7-8 Breathing

The 4-7-8 breathing exercise, also called the relaxing breath, acts as a natural tranquilizer for the nervous system. At first, it's best to perform the exercise seated with your back straight. Once you become more familiar with this breathing exercise, however, you can perform it while lying in bed.

1. Place and keep the tip of your tongue against the ridge of tissue behind your upper front teeth for the duration of the exercise.
2. Completely exhale through your mouth, making a "whoosh" sound.
3. Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of four.
4. Hold your breath for a count of seven.
5. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of eight.

Lion’s Breath

Lion’s breath, or simhasana in Sanskrit, during which you stick out your tongue and roar like a lion, is another helpful deep breathing practice. It can help relax the muscles in your face and jaw, alleviate stress, and improve cardiovascular function.4

The exercise is best performed in a comfortable, seated position, leaning forward slightly with your hands on your knees or the floor.

1. Spread your fingers as wide as possible.
2. Inhale through your nose.
3. Open your mouth wide, stick out your tongue, and stretch it down toward your chin.
4. Exhale forcefully, carrying the breath across the root of your tongue.
5. While exhaling, make a "ha" sound that comes from deep within your abdomen.
6. Breathe normally for a few moments.
7. Repeat lion’s breath up to seven times.

Mindfulness Breathing

Mindfulness meditation involves focusing on your breathing and bringing your attention to the present without allowing your mind to drift to the past or future. Engaging in mindfulness breathing exercises serves the same purpose, which can help ease your anxiety.

One mindfulness breathing exercise to try involves choosing a calming focus, including a sound ("om"), positive word ("peace"), or phrase ("breathe in calm, breathe out tension") to repeat silently as you inhale or exhale. Let go and relax. If you notice that your mind has drifted, take a deep breath and gently return your attention to the present.

Pursed-Lip Breathing

Pursed-lip breathing is a simple breathing technique that will help make deep breaths slower and more intentional. This technique has been found to benefit people who have anxiety associated with lung conditions like emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).5

1. Sit in a comfortable position with your neck and shoulders relaxed.
2. Keeping your mouth closed, inhale slowly through your nostrils for two seconds.
3. Exhale through your mouth for four seconds, puckering your lips as if giving a kiss.
4. Keep your breath slow and steady while breathing out.

To get the correct breathing pattern, experts recommend practicing pursed-lip breathing four to five times a day.6

Resonance Breathing

Resonance breathing, or coherent breathing, can help you get into a relaxed state and reduce anxiety.7

1. Lie down and close your eyes.
2. Gently breathe in through your nose, mouth closed, for a count of six seconds. Don't fill your lungs too full of air.
3. Exhale for six seconds, allowing your breath to leave your body slowly and gently without forcing it.
4. Continue for up to 10 minutes.
5. Take a few additional minutes to be still and focus on how your body feels.

Simple Breathing Exercise

You can perform this simple breathing exercise as often as needed. It can be done standing up, sitting, or lying down. If you find this exercise difficult or believe it's making you anxious or panicky, stop for now. Try it again in a day or so and build up the time gradually.

1. ​Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose. Keep your shoulders relaxed. Your abdomen should expand, and your chest should rise very little.
2. Exhale slowly through your mouth. As you blow air out, purse your lips slightly but keep your jaw relaxed. You may hear a soft “whooshing” sound as you exhale.
3. Repeat this breathing exercise. Do it for several minutes until you start to feel better.8

Sometimes people with a panic disorder initially feel increased anxiety or panic while doing this exercise. This may be due to anxiety caused by focusing on your breathing, or you may be unable to do the exercise correctly without some practice.

Cheat Breathing vs. Abdominal Breathing

Most of us aren't really conscious of the way we're breathing but generally, there are two types of breathing patterns.

Thoracic (Chest) Breathing

When anxious, we tend to engage in thoracic or chest breathing, which causes an upset in the body's oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, resulting in increased heart rate, dizziness, muscle tension, and other physical sensations.9 Your blood is not being properly oxygenated, and this may signal a stress response that contributes to anxiety and panic attacks.

This type of breathing comes from the chest and involves short, rapid breaths. When you're anxious, you might not even be aware that you're breathing this way.

Diaphragmatic (Abdominal) Breathing

Diaphragmatic or deep breathing, on the other hand, stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is part of the peripheral nervous system responsible for regulating heartbeat, blood flow, breathing, and digestion.

This type of breathing is deep, even breathing that engages your diaphragm, allowing your lungs to expand and creating negative pressure that drives air in through the nose and mouth, filling your lungs.10 This is the way newborn babies naturally breathe. You're also probably using this pattern of breathing when you're in a relaxed stage of sleep.

Deep breathing helps you avoid the "fight-or-flight" response (acute stress response) to mentally or physically terrifying situations.

How Can I Tell If I'm Breathing Properly?

The easiest way to determine your breathing pattern is to put one hand on your upper abdomen, near the waist, and the other in the middle of your chest. As you breathe, notice which hand raises the most.

If you're breathing properly, your abdomen should expand and contract with each breath (and the hand on it should raise the most). It's especially important to be aware of these differences during stressful and anxious times when you're more likely to breathe from your chest.

Pay attention to how you breathe when you are relaxed vs. when you feel stressed and anxious. Practicing breath exercises regularly can help you learn to consciously shift to this type of breathing when stressed, which can calm your body and induce a relaxation response.

Need a Breather? Try These 9 Breathing Exercises to Relieve Anxiety

Keep in Mind

How we breathe in and out depends on the type of breathing exercise we're using. Many breathing exercises involve breathing in slowly through your nose and exhaling through your mouth, but some others may direct you to breathe in and out through your nose.

To make deep breathing work for you, it's essential to listen to your body and be mindful of how anxiety is impacting your everyday life. If, after practicing deep breathing, you still feel severe anxiety, consider consulting a mental health professional or medical doctor for assessment and recommendations for treatment.

https://www.verywellmind.com/abdominal-breathing-2584115

5 OF THE BEST TECHNIQUES TO RESET YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM WITH PACED BREATHING

Breathwork refers to breathing techniques that are used to control our breath in order to relax our body and calm our mind. Breathwork has become popular in recent years due to the unprecedented levels of stress afflicting modern societies. Breathing exercises are an easy and useful approach to help manage stress because they can influence physiological responses and promote relaxation. By doing so, they can also help to improve sleep and maintain health and general well-being [1–3].  

Although the term breathwork may be relatively new, the fact is that breathing exercises have been used since ancient times to promote relaxation and a healthy mind and body. For example, pranayama, the yoga practice of controlled breathing, is described in ancient Hindu texts such as the Bhagavad Gita, which dates back to the second half of the first millennium BCE; Qigong is an ancient Chinese practice that involves breathing, meditation, and slow movement to promote good mental and physical health; and Piko Piko is an ancient Native Hawaiian breathing practice used to relax and energize the body. 

WHY DOES BREATHWORK HAVE RELAXING EFFECTS?

Unlike normal breathing, which happens automatically under control of the brain whether we think about it or not, breathing exercises are about consciously controlling the rhythm and depth of our breathing. 

Controlled slow breathing allows us to influence our heart rate variability (HRV), a physiological feature that reflects the fluctuations that occur naturally in the interval between heartbeats. HRV during the breathing cycle is known as respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA): the heart rate increases while we inhale and decreases while we exhale. HRV is regulated by a dynamic balance between the activity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, with the Vagus nerve playing a central role in the process.

HRV is regulated by a dynamic balance between the activity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, with the Vagus nerve playing a central role in the process.

The sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are both part of the autonomic nervous system, the branch of the nervous system that regulates involuntary processes such as digestion, blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing. The sympathetic nervous system controls fight-or-flight responses (those that make us ready to react to a threat or retreat quickly) while the parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for rest-or-digest responses and restorative processes. The Vagus nerve, the most important nerve of the autonomic nervous system, is part of the parasympathetic nervous system [4]. 

While we inhale, the part of the brain that regulates the heart rate (called the cardiovascular center) decreases the rate of activity of the Vagus nerve (which is known as vagal tone), resulting in a predominance of sympathetic (fight-or-flight) signaling that accelerates our heart rate; while we exhale, the vagal tone is restored and our heart rate slows down [5,6]. 

When we inhale, the part of the brain that regulates the heart rate decreases the rate of activity of the Vagus nerve, resulting in a predominance of fight-or-flight signaling. When we exhale, vagal tone is restored and our heart rate slows down.

A higher HRV means that the interval between heartbeats while we inhale and exhale varies more, which is an index of higher parasympathetic activity and vagal tone [7,8]. Therefore, HRV is higher when we’re relaxed. A lower HRV—a more similar interval between heartbeats while we inhale and exhale—indicates higher sympathetic activity and is a physiological marker of stress [9–11].

Breathing exercises can have relaxing effects because they can influence HRV by altering the balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic activity [12]. Breathing at a slower rate than the normal resting breathing rate, which is typically around 12 breaths per minute in healthy adults [4], sends a feedback message to the brain that increases vagal tone and HRV and reduces stress responses. HRV is maximized when respiration is slowed down to around 6 breaths/min, the frequency around which the heart rate and breathing synchronize, or become resonant [13,14]. Controlled slow breathing takes advantage of this feature to promote relaxation [9]. 

Breathing at a slower rate than the normal resting breathing rate (typically around 12 breaths per minute in healthy adults) sends a feedback message to the brain that increases vagal tone and HRV and reduces stress responses.

BREATHWORK EXAMPLES

When you’re stressed, your breathing is most likely shallow and fast, which can decrease your HRV and create a vicious circle that further promotes unhelpful stress responses in your body. Controlling your breathing may help you break this cycle. Even when you’re not feeling stressed, a few minutes a day of breathwork can contribute to your mental and physical well-being [15,16]. 

Even when you’re not feeling stressed, a few minutes a day of breathwork can contribute to your mental and physical well-being.

An important note on breathing: we should inhale through our nose rather than our mouth. Inhaling through the nose is the healthiest way to breathe because the nose mucosa contains many blood vessels and glands that warm and humidify the air we breathe (cold dry air irritates our airways) and because it is filled with tiny hairs that block germs and toxins from entering our body. 

Below are a few examples of breathing exercises you can easily do anywhere. But if you can’t remember them, that’s fine. All you have to remember is to inhale deeply and slowly through your nose, exhale slowly but strongly, and pause between breaths. Humming or pursing your lips as you exhale may help you slow it down.

BELLY BREATHING

Belly breathing, or diaphragmatic breathing, is simply pushing your belly out (not your chest) and contracting your diaphragm down into your abdomen to inhale. It makes you take deeper and slower breaths. Inhale deeply and exhale slowly. 

SLOW PACED BREATHING

Slow paced breathing is breathing at a slow and steady rate of around six breaths per minute. This means that each cycle takes around 10 seconds. You can vary  your inhale-to-exhale time ratios: it can simply be 5 seconds in + 5 seconds out, or better yet, taking a longer exhale — 4s in + 6s out or 3s in + 7s out. 

4-7-8 BREATHING

This is another form of paced breathing, but here you hold your breath for a moment after you inhale. You inhale for four seconds, hold your breath for seven seconds, and then exhale slowly for eight seconds. If you’re feeling stressed and with a shallow breath, you may not be able to hold and exhale for so long in your first breaths, but you will end up getting there if you keep going. Other inhale-hold-exhale ratios will also work (4-4-8 is another common breathing pattern); what’s most important is that you try to exhale longer than you inhale.

BOX BREATHING

Box breathing is also known as square breathing because you breathe in four equal length parts: inhale-hold-exhale-hold. The time you take on each part is up to you, but four seconds is a good rhythm. To do this exercise, simply count to four for each part of the square: 4s in + 4s hold + 4s out + 4s hold. 

ALTERNATE NOSTRIL BREATHING 

The name says it all: the goal is to breathe alternately through each nostril. To do so, start by exhaling and then, using your thumb and index fingers, 1) block your right nostril and inhale deeply through your left nostril, 2) hold your breath for a couple of seconds, 3) unblock your right nostril and exhale slowly, 4) hold for a couple of seconds, 5) repeat the other way around: block the left and inhale through the right nostril, hold, then block the right and exhale through the left nostril. Just keep repeating this pattern and switching nostrils in each cycle.