Breathing is an infallible tool for combating stress and anxiety. You can escape these emotional troubles by playing with your breathing patterns just a little. Here’s a list of 3 breathing exercises you can do to combat stress.
Abdominal breathing
All the work here will be based on the abdomen. Abdominal breathing is a way of combating stress and reducing toxins in the body. Its rhythm massages the abdominal part of the stomach. This relaxes the muscles and ventilates the brain. The brain can then recover the oxygen lost during the stressful moment.
The abdominal breathing exercise requires a chair. Try sitting on the furniture with your hands on your stomach. Then breathe in while inflating your stomach. This phase of the exercise should last 3 seconds. Hold the air for 6 seconds before gradually exhaling.
Exhale slowly. Block the air when the stomach returns to its normal position. This stage takes place in the mouth. Otherwise, the return of inspired air does not take place through the nasal passages, but rather through the mouth. Repeat the same exercise at least three times a day during periods of stress.
Cardiac coherence
This is the most effective method of managing stress. This emotional moderator reduces the risk of arterial tension. To practise cardiac coherence, start by reducing the speed of your breathing.
Then take a deep breath lasting around 4 seconds. Keep the air stored in your lungs for 12 seconds before releasing. Exhale for a maximum of 6 seconds. During this time, do everything you can to release all the air you have breathed in. This exercise should be repeated at least 5 times in a row to reach 6 minutes.
This breathing exercise allows you to escape from stress and anxiety by regulating your emotions.
Alternate breathing
Men tend to breathe superficially. This technique can be used to combat stress and anxiety. Your energies will be more fluid when you alternate breathing between your nostrils. Here’s how it works.
To begin, close one nostril and breathe through the other. For example, if you close the left nostril with a finger, you can breathe through the right nostril and vice versa. Take a large quantity of air through the same nasal cavity before alternating. At the end, he does the same exercise using both nostrils simultaneously.
These 3 breathing exercises, practised on a daily basis, help to combat stress and anxiety.
The benefits of regular practice
Breathing is a vital function of our body, but it can also have an impact on our mental and physical well-being. Practising breathing exercises regularly can bring many benefits to our bodies.
These exercises can help reduce stress by lowering levels of hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline in our bodies. Deep breathing helps to oxygenate the body properly, improving its ability to deal with stressful situations.
Regular practice of these exercises can help reduce anxiety. By concentrating on their breathing rather than their anxious thoughts, people can calm down and relax mentally. Deep breathing also stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which promotes relaxation.
This technique also improves sleep quality. People who suffer from insomnia or have trouble falling asleep can benefit from breathing exercises before going to sleep to reduce their mental agitation.
Practising these different types of exercise on a daily basis goes a long way towards increasing body awareness, which is particularly helpful during sports or meditation sessions.
Regularly practising breathing exercises such as those described above can be beneficial to our overall health, helping us to better manage our negative emotions while strengthening our body and mind.
How to incorporate these exercises into your daily routine
Now that you know the benefits of breathing and have learned three simple techniques for managing stress, you need to know how to incorporate these exercises into your daily routine.
The first tip is to make breathing exercises a habit. Try to incorporate these techniques into your daily routine, such as taking a few minutes each morning or evening to practise a specific breathing exercise.
It can also be useful to use visual reminders to help you practise regularly. For example, set an alarm on your phone or stick a post-it note near your desk or mirror with the name of a breathing exercise to try.
Also try to find a quiet time when you can practise without interruption or distraction. This could be during a lunch break at work or a peaceful walk in the countryside.
Don’t hesitate to adjust the techniques to suit your preferences in terms of time and environmental conditions. If the exercise requires sitting but this is not possible in your location, modify it so that it can be performed in a standing position.
As you begin to integrate these exercises into your daily life, remember that the more often you practice them, the more effective they will be. Over time, conscious breathing will become second nature and will greatly help you to manage stressful situations with ease and serenity.
