Deep breathing exercises for anxiety can be essential when you find yourself overwhelmed. When for example you find yourself experiencing high levels of anxiety, your breathing can increase in pace, causing you to lower your intake of oxygen, and thus, panic even more. Learning how to control your breathing can sometimes help to lower your overall stress. As someone who has seen friends and peers hyperventilate due to anxiety and panic attacks, I know the power that comes from deep breathing exercises. They’re also easy and great additions for your toolkit!

For example, try and slow your breathing down right now for just ten seconds. Feel any calmer? Slowing your breathing down and taking deeper breaths causes;

• your heart rate to slow down
• decrease in blood pressure
• decrease in muscle tension
• an increase in focus

 

Why Is Deep Breathing Good For Anxiety And Stress?

 

When we experience shortness of breath when feeling anxiety, we usually only fill our upper lungs with oxygen because we breathe in shorter breaths, and therefore don’t pass them the adequate amount needed. Deeply and intentionally breathing allows us to fill our entire lungs with the good stuff, and benefit from the calming properties that come with it.

Breathing techniques have been used for thousands of years as an anchor point to focus during meditations and calm the mind. Breathing is an autofunction built into the human body, but unlike the heart (we can’t control it’s rhythm), we can consciously control how we breathe, and therefore change how calm we feel at any given time. Sound too good to be true? When was the last time you paid any attention to how you breathing patterns? Maybe if you breathed a little deeper on purpose you’d feel a bit calmer during the day! That’s what’s helped me at least – simply paying attention to how I breathe every now and again.

Whilst deep breathing exercises for anxiety likely won’t stop panic attacks on their own, they are great to use as something that can calm you down a great deal when;

• you’re about to go in for a test/driving test
• in a large group of people and you feel uncomfortable
• you are stressed at work
• you hear some bad news and find yourself starting to panic
• you’re struggling to get to sleep

 

1. Balanced Breathing

 

This technique uses the same breathing count when inhaling as it does exhaling, and is designed to of course ‘balance your breathing’. This breathing exercise is practised exclusively through the nose, which forces more control on each breathe.

Here’s how to do it;

1. Inhale through your nose for 4 seconds
2. Exhale through your nose for 4 seconds

 

Whilst this exercise is not as deep as the others on this list, it is an easy place to start for beginners and offers a good base of breathing control to work from.

 

2. 4-7-8 Breathing

 

This deep breathing exercise uses your stomach as the focus point.

Here’s how to do it;

1. Sit down or stand up. Put one hand on your chest and one hand on your stomach.
2. Take a deep breath in from your stomach, and notice how your stomach feels. Count to 4 as your breathe in.
3. Now, hold your breath for 7 seconds
4. Breathe out fully whilst counting to 8. Try and breathe out all the way until you reach 8 seconds.

 

Notice how your body feels. Do you fill the air filling the bottom of your lungs? It works!

 

3. Alternate Nostril Breathing

 

Alternate deep nostril breathing brings deep relaxation whilst helping you to feel awake.

Here’s how to do it;

1. Sit in a comfortable position
2. Hold your finger over your right nostril
3. Breathe in deeply through your left nostril
4. Once you have inhaled a deep breathe, hold your finger over your left nostril
5. Exhale slowly through your right nostril

 

The alternate nostril breathing exercise is designed to bring balance to your breathing whilst giving you a feeling of alertness, so don’t try it before bed!

 

4. Simple Slow Breathing

 

This simple slow breathing exercise is one of my favourites, it’s straightforward and easy to get on with. With one minute of simple slow breathing, you can recalibrate your mind when you’re feeling anxious and stressed.

Here’s how to do it;

1. Sit or stand comfortably and ignore all distractions around you
2. Inhale through your mouth to a count of 10 seconds
3. Now exhale through your mouth to the count of 4 seconds
4. Whilst exhaling, think to yourself “relax“

 

Whilst deep breathing exercises alone might not shift every ounce of anxiety you may be feeling, they can provide some temporary relief when you need it most. They are easy to do and are a great addition to your toolkit!

 

Here’s to your success,

Sean