Deep breathing exercises help reduce stress. A tranquil location, such as a quiet room or garden offer ideal settings for practice. Once you master one deep breathing technique, you'll be able to use it in any situation, such as at your desk, in a meeting or during a difficult encounter.
The Harvard Medical School website discusses the work of cardiologist Dr. Herbert Benson on evoking the relaxation response and the role of breath focus and deep breathing. Learning to breathe more deeply gives you a way to relax and counteract stress.
Breath Awareness
A basic technique for deep breathing involves learning breath awareness. Lying down or sitting in a comfortable position allows you to relax and pay attention to your breath. The exercise begins with noticing your breathing without trying to change it. Paying attention to the breath helps you relax. This exercise allows your breathing to deepen, becoming slower, with longer inhalations and exhalations. The Harvard Medical School website suggests placing your hands on your abdomen to become conscious of breathing more deeply. Regular breathing often centers from the upper chest. Deep breathing involves abdominal, or diaphragmatic breathing. In deep breathing, taking in a full breath expands your abdomen and involves the diaphragm, the muscle below your lungs. Throughout the exercise the idea is to remain relaxed and gentle and breathe effortlessly.
As you learn to pay attention to your breathing, you'll begin to notice your breathing when you're not doing the exercise. Learning to distinguish between the stress response of shallow, upper-chest breathing and the relaxation response of deep breathing from the belly helps you to relax more in day-to-day situations.
Counting Breaths
Counting breaths is a deep breathing exercise you can do anywhere and in any position. This technique helps you to master measured breathing. Loyola University Maryland's Health Services website provides a counting breaths exercise as part of its self-care program. The practice involves counting each inhalation and exhalation to achieve slow, deep breaths with an equal inhalation and exhalation. For example, you might start with a count of five during the inhalation and then slow down the exhalation to last the full count of five at the same pace as the inhalation. The counting and the deliberate lengthening of the exhalation gives you a chance to focus on the breath and create a state of calm as you fill and empty your lungs more deeply. With practice, this exercise will allow you to lengthen the count and achieve slower, deeper breaths at will.
Visualization
Combining visualization, the practice of creating mental pictures to aid in relaxation, with deep breathing provides a more advanced deep breathing exercise. Visualization allows you to go farther with your deep breathing exercises by assisting you in in freeing your mind from everyday thoughts and creating a quiet place inside yourself. Kansas State University Counseling Services suggests using visualization to create a sense of calm. Visualizing a setting where you feel at peace, such as a forest, a beach or a place from a favorite memory evokes feelings of relaxation. From a relaxed state, your breathing deepens. This exercise involves making the setting vivid, with the sounds, smells, colors and feeling of your inner sanctuary. The other aspect of the exercise includes noticing all the sensations of your breathing. As you practice, you'll become aware of the air at the tip of your nose, your chest and belly rising and falling and the air emptying out from your mouth.
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