Breathing is a strong tool to relieve stress and reduce anxiety. Just right now, take a deep breath and let it our smoothly, you will notice a difference. Simple exercises for breathing can benefit you a lot if they are a routine practice for you.

Tips for a successful breathing exercise:

Choose a suitable place to practice breathing. Places like bed, chair, comfortable floor, and quiet ground are good options.

Try not to force it. This is counterproductive.

Stick to the same time to practice everyday

Your clothing should be comfortable and temperature suitable

Usually, breathing exercises are short and take only a few minutes. But you can do them for 10 minutes or longer if you have time and you like to do that

Following are some breathing exercises you can practice:

Deep Breathing

Usually, people breathe in short and shallow. This can cause anxiety and drain off energy. In this exercise you will learn how to take deep breaths

1. Sit in a comfortable position. You can lie on your bed or sit in your chair with your body supported.
2. Take the breath in through the nose. Fill your chest and abdomen
3. Exhale slowly through your nose.
4. Put one hand on your chest and place the other one on your abdomen
5. Notice your hands rising up with inhaling and coming down with exhaling. The hand on the abdomen should move more than the chest one
6. Repeat that 4-5 times.

Breath Focus

In breath focus , you are more mindful to what you do. Taking deep breathing, visualize an image in your mind and repeat a specific phrase to help you relax

1. Sut up your eyes if they are still open
2. Take two deep breaths
3. Inhale. While inhaling visualize that the air taken in is full of calm and peace. Feel this sense of calm and peace throughout your body
4. Exhale. While doing so, visualize that air is leaving your body carrying away your stress and tension
5. Now with each breath you take in, think in your mind: I am breathing in calm and peace
6. And with each breathing out, say in your mind: I am breathing out tension and stress
7. Repeat that for 10-15 minutes

Equal in and out

The inhalation period in this exercise is equal to exhalation time. With time you will learn to increase this period

1. Lie or sit comfortably in the place of your choice
2. Take breaths in through the nose counting to 5
3. Exhale through the nose counting to 5 too.
4. Repeat the process

Once you feel at ease with five counts, try to increase the duration to 6 and so on. You can increase it all the way up to 10 counts.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Progressive muscle relaxation is useful for both mental and physical relaxation. In this technique, you tense a group of muscles while breathing in and relax them when breathing out.

Watch this video to see one way of doing it. Then practice it

Modified Lion’s Breath

In this exercise you will breathe out through your mouth instead of nose, just like a lion.

1. Choose your comfortable position. Sitting on a chair or lying on a bed.
2. Inhale through your nose and fill your belly and chest all the way up.
3. When you become unable to take in any more air, open your mouth as wide as possible. Exhale air with a HA sound.
4. Repeat many times