Breathing Techniques To Combat Stress – 4 Examples

Are you under stress or anxiety? Discover some amazing breathing techniques that can help!

Did you know that when you are under stress your breathing changes and you can use proper breathing techniques to deal with it ? Both stress and anxiety are self-preservation mechanisms. They give us a signal to flee as soon as the brain interprets something as harmful or dangerous.

On the other hand, it’s important to remember that your nervous system and sympathetic nervous system respond very intensely to this type of emotion. This is why you may notice increased heart rate, increased heart rate, and irregular breathing. All of these symptoms can increase your risk of a heart attack, angina pectoris or even stroke.

Don’t forget that bad breathing habits prevent your body from getting the oxygen levels it needs, which in turn causes further damage. You need to learn to deal with your emotions better and learn to breathe properly. Fortunately, there are some breathing techniques that will make this task easier.

Breathing techniques for stress

After all, good breathing means a good life. We will present you four breathing techniques that can help.

1. “square” breathing

Here’s how to do it correctly.

Steps necessary for square breathing

Sit on the bed with your back straight and legs crossed.
Breathe deeply for three minutes and try to relax at the same time.
Now, inhale for three seconds, hold your breath for another three seconds, and finally exhale for three seconds.
Take a moment to rest.
Then repeat the same sequence, but this time increase the time to four seconds (four seconds to inhale, four seconds to hold your breath, and four seconds to exhale).

You can repeat the same cycle until you reach seven or eight seconds. It all depends on your experience and individual factors.

2. Abdominal breathing techniques

If you think about it, what you were doing during the square breath was filling the chest area with air. For abdominal breathing, the goal is different: focus your breathing on the diaphragm, which is a very effective way to overcome stress, tension and anxiety.

Steps necessary for abdominal breathing

Lie on the bed or on the couch
Place one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach.
Take a deep breath through your nose for three seconds.
Notice how your belly widens and your upper chest tightens
Now exhale slowly for four seconds.

Ideally, you should do 10 very slow exercises focusing on this “magic” zone, the diaphragm.

3. Alternate nasal breathing

Alternating breathing through the night may seem strange to you, if you’ve never tried it. This is why it is a good idea to exercise a little each day to understand the progressive benefits of this type of breathing.

Once you get used to it, you’ll notice two things:

First, it will help you target and eliminate stress.
The second aspect is that you can focus your attention on the here and now.

Necessary steps for alternating nasal breathing

Sit in a comfortable position with your back straight.
Relax for a few minutes
Then use the thumb of your right hand to cover your right nostril.
Take a deep breath through your left nostril. Take it very slowly.
When you have reached the maximum level of inhalation and you cannot draw any more air, cover your left nostril with your right ring finger.
Then exhale with the other side.
Do the same steps again, but using the reverse sides. Once you have taken your right nostril to its fullest breath, cover it and exhale with your left nostril.

It may seem difficult at first as you have to cover one side and open the other. However, once you get used to it, the exercise becomes rhythmic and very relaxing.

4. “Consistent” breathing

This is another breathing technique for relieving stress that requires a little practice and patience. You can test it based on your personal abilities and characteristics.

As soon as you master this technique, your whole body will benefit.

Breathing consistently involves breathing five times a minute.
In this way, you optimize your heart rate and relax your nervous system. This is an amazing way to relieve tension, which can be of great help.

How to do

Sit with your back straight.
Put your watch next to you
The goal is to inhale and exhale five times in one minute.
It’s a good idea to test your ability to control your breathing first.
If you can’t limit yourself to five breaths per minute, start with six or seven.

However, the idea is to get five breaths in 60 seconds. When you do, you will feel much better.

Try out these amazing breathing techniques!