Stress is not entirely a bad word in terms of health and general attitude in today’s life. Healthy stress sharpens your mind and makes your focus better. It also gives you a competitive edge to finish assigned work with due diligence. Healthy stress gives you the motive to move on in life. However, the stress for many plays havoc on their mental and physical conditioning. It is destructive to the whole body, as the level of anxiety increases and affects mental reasoning depriving straight thinking and overall physical health. When the stress becomes excessive, it needs specific breathing techniques to control it.
Here are some breathing techniques that help you enjoy their real benefits to de-stress.
Prepare for breathing exercises
- Before you start, select the right place where you can sit peacefully anywhere on a mat, bed, or chair.
- Choose a time to do breathing exercises every day, preferably twice a day.
- You need to do breathing exercises for a few minutes only each day.
Breathing Techniques or Exercises for Stress Relief
1. Basic Breathing for Beginner
Simple Breathing Techniques for Stress Relief
This ‘mindful’ breathing technique is a simple breathing exercise, where you need to focus your attention on your breathing while inhaling and exhaling. Take deep breaths slowly with total attention to your breathing.
When you inhale, hold your breath for 2-3 seconds and exhale through the mouth slowly taking a second longer. Just focus on breathing and do not let your mind wander. You will notice a distinct mental relief after a few minutes of breathing only.
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2. Abdominal breathing
When your heartbeat runs faster and blood pressure seems to be rising in stress, then belly breathing or abdominal breathing is the one exercise to follow. For this technique, lie on your back on a mat or hard bed, have your knees bent, or keep a pillow below the knees.
Place one hand on your chest and the other below the rib cage. Inhale slowly through the nose while noticing stomach movement; next, tighten your stomach muscles when you exhale through the mouth. For quicker relief, do it for 10 minutes 4 times a day.
3. Breathing through Nostril Alternatively
It’s a yogic practice of breathing deep and slow from one nostril while holding the second nostril then exhaling through the second nostril while holding the first nostril with the thumb. Alternatively, it is to be done from both nostrils one at a time for 5 to 10 minutes. This is called Anulom-Vilom in yoga. This type of breathing helps in keeping a good balance between mind and body thus helping in de-stressing and providing good health.
4. Pranayama style 4-7-8 breathing
It is a great way of having good results for the soothing nervous system. Sit straight, place the tongue on your upper teeth, and continue breathing in the same position through the nose. Now exhale from your mouth by making a ’whoosh’ sound.
Close your mouth and breathe normally until the count of four is in your mind. Hold your breath to the count of seven then exhale through your open mouth making a ‘whoosh’ sound to a count of eight. Do it twice a day three times at least.
Make regular breathing exercises your daily ritual to have its real benefits.
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Reference:
https://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/stress-relief-breathing-techniques#1
