Breathing techniques to zap anxiety and relax
The breathing technique below is a condensed version of a practice I do – and is perfect if you are short of time but want to feel stress-beating benefits, and offset the amount of circulating cortisol from a stressed state.
Cortisol is a stress hormone known to work against you if you are trying to lose weight. It can become an issue if it is chronic and persistent as a response to chronic stress.
These techniques are based on diaphrammatic breathing which is known to reduce heart rate, help feel more in control, manage the flow of adrenaline in the body and potentially lower blood pressure.
For this hack to work, it helps if you can be in a lying position or seated with your back supported legs parallel to each other and forearms and hands gently resting on your lap.
Begin by feeling your feet on the ground. Notice the contact with the floor, and the sense of the floor pushing back and supporting you. Notice your feeling of support along the spine if you’re lying down.
Close your eyes. Listen to the sounds in your environment. Sounds from above, below, to the left, to the right. Just listen to those sounds momentarily as they come and go and do not get involved in their stories.
Next, inhale through your nose and out from your mouth. You are ready to begin.
This 3 sets of 5 breaths is exactly what it means.
Inhale deeply and expand your diaphram. Feel the abdomen expand as you imagine drawing the breath down into your belly – holding the breath there for a fraction of a second.
Exhale, making an exhalation noise as your release the breath and enjoy the lingering feeling of releasing the breath.
Sit with that feeling a moment.
Repeat slowy and gently a further 4 times. At the end of this round, pause, notice how you feel.
Do your muscles feel more relaxed? Are there some signs that tension in your body is leaving you.
Repeat with 5 deep diaphrammatic breaths for another 2 rounds, pausing between rounds to notice how you feel. At the end of the last round, just sit or lay there and do nothing.
Enjoy the fact that there is nowhere to go, nothing to do but stay in awareness of your body and how it feels.
The 3 sets of 5 breaths is a breathing technique I’ve been experimenting with when it’s been a long day but I want to do some low-commitment relaxation.
Doing 3 sets of 5 breaths builds my mental health resilience in a similar way to exercising in the gym and doesn’t take very much time at all, and is a satisfying way to unwind at the end of a stressful day. Let me know if it works for you.
If you have any respiratory or cardiovascular issues always check with your GP or health professional if it’s safe to perform.
Looking for more breathing techniques? Have a read of my ‘Feel Fabulous in 15 minutes‘ blog article.
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