How To Deep Breathe
Why Deep Breathe?
I often tell my clients that if they’re going to take away one thing from our sessions, at least take away this deep breathing exercise. There is an abundance of research out there that proves that deep breathing (aka diaphragm breathing) can reduce stress and improve cognitive performance in adults. However, in our busy day-to-day lives, we’re often not paying attention to the way we breathe. In fact, sometimes we hold our breaths without even realizing it! Learning to deep breathe can help slow down our busy lives (and our heart rate!) just a bit so we can literally catch our breath.
Who Could Benefit from Deep Breathing?
Anyone and everyone! It can be used to help manage symptoms of anxiety and stress, but also become an everyday practice to prevent these feelings from becoming too overwhelming so that you can still move forward and enjoy your daily activities.
How to Deep Breathe
When we deep breathe, we are engaging our diaphragm—it contracts as we take in air from our nose, then relaxes as we breathe out from our nose or mouth. A helpful way to remember how to do this is to imagine your belly like a balloon. It expands as you breathe in, then deflates as you breathe out. Practicing deep breathing throughout the day can truly make a positive difference (that’s why there are apps and smartwatches that promote this)! It can help you focus on the breathing and reduce some of that cortisol (stress hormone) that’s being released in your body.
Another great thing about deep breathing? Kids can use it too! Practicing with them can empower the both of you! Next time you’re with your child or on your own, try this exercise and see how you feel. I would love to hear about it in the comments!
Disclaimer:
Note 1: If you’re trying this for the first time, deep breathing can make one feel slightly lightheaded at first, which is normal. Take a break if you need to.
Note 2: Deep breathing may not be for everyone. It’s possible that deep breathing can elicit discomfort for some with breathing difficulties or trauma. If you’re noticing that it’s not helping, just go back to breathing normally and mindfully instead or engage in a healthy activity. Let’s try this!
Try This Deep Breathing Exercise
1) Hold one hand on your belly.
2) Breathe in for 4 seconds. Hold for 2 seconds.
3) Breathe out for 6-8 seconds.
4) Repeat from the beginning x4-5
How did this exercise make you feel? Would love to hear about it in the comments!
References:
Xiao Ma, Zi-Qi Yue, Zhu-Qing Gong, Hong Zhang, Nai-Yue Duan, Yu-Tong Shi, Gao-Xia Wei, and You-Fa Li (2017). The Effect of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Attention, Negative Affect and Stress in Healthy Adults. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 874-.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00874
Obradovic, Jelena, Sulik, Michael, Sulik, Emma Armstrong-Carter (2021). Taking a few deep breaths significantly reduces children's physiological arousal in everyday settings: Results of a preregistered video intervention. Developmental Psychobiology, 63(8), e22214-.
doi: 10.1002/dev.22214