We have all been told at some point in our life to just “take a deep breath”. Maybe it has helped you at some point, or maybe you took that as a sign to just calm down. However, breathing techniques actually do help calm and relax the body in times of distress.
1. How Does Breathing Calm the Body?
3. 10 helpful breathing techniques and how to practice them
Breathing calms down the body by sending warning signals to your brain that you need to relax. Specifically, taking deep breaths increases the supply of oxygen to your body, thus connecting with your parasympathetic nervous system in order to create these signals.
When stressed, you may realize you have an increased heart rate or high blood pressure that feels uncontrollable. Recognizing these signs and focusing on taking these deep breaths can work to lower your heart rate and blood pressure, and as a result improve overall mental and physical health.
The science behind breathing in relation to mental health has been practiced for centuries among many different cultures and places. According to The Mayo Clinic, focused breath work increases alertness and enables your body to release toxins at a faster pace. Also, the increase in CO2 in the bloodstream when holding your breath for a while, allows the body to stimulate the vagus nerve which connects to the parasympathetic system, producing a calm and relaxed feeling.
When practicing mindfulness and recognizing slowing down your breath, the body sends signals to your brain and autonomic nervous system. This nervous system regulates body temperature and other involuntary bodily functions that can be affected by an increase in stress.
This belly breathing technique focuses on relieving stress and relaxing the body. This is a great technique if you just want to take a few moments to clear your head and gain perspective of the cause of your stress.
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This technique focuses on increasing performance as well as concentration. It can also work as a stress reliever, as almost any breathing technique can. In order for this technique to accurately work you need to:
This is probably one of the most basic, but easiest techniques for a quick fix to a disoriented and fast paced mind. This strategy uses meditation to help focus the mind and body.
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This technique focuses more on learning how to recognize your breathing patterns to help you realize when you are stressed or unfocused.
Lions’ breathing assists with alleviating stress and anxiety, as well as improving sleep quality. This technique is constantly incorporated into yoga practices. It also can help clear your throat and promotes less tension in face and neck muscles.
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Resonance breathing has been scientifically tested and proven to improve heart rate, mood, and adaptation to stress. This technique does this by focusing our brains to our breath and learning how to control it in a way that brings full relaxation to the body.
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The difference between resonance breathing and the other techniques is that instead of doing this just 7-10 times, you want to repeat this for a few minutes.
This specific technique helps to slow down your pace of breathing and can be used if you feel like you are starting to go into a panic attack.
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Four, seven, what? This breathing technique ensures assisting your brain when you feel like you are in “fight or flight” mode for no serious reason. Using this technique calms the nervous system and helps fight off those unwanted worries.
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Another simple, yet effective breathing exercise for our mindful people! In this technique the goal is just to make your inhales and exhales the same time span. By doing this your breath becomes smoother, thus providing more balance and relaxation to your body.
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This breathing exercise is known to lower heart rate and even improve cardiovascular health!! This probably is one of the more complex techniques but definitely worth trying.
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This type of breath actually has the ability to lower your body temperature and relax your mind.
Practicing these easy breathing techniques can be a great start in working to improve your mental health and happiness. Try incorporating these techniques into a daily routine, and start to write down how you feel before and after you complete the work. Breathwork benefits the body and mind not only in the short term, but when practiced consistently and correctly, it has been proven to increase wellness and quality of happiness tremendously!
Written by Emma Carlson
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