When you’re dealing with stress, anxiety, or depression, it can be difficult to take a deep breath and calm yourself down when you’re feeling overwhelmed or stressed out. Luckily, you can use various breathing exercises for stress relief as part of your self-care routine.
These breathing exercises are simple and effective, so they’re great ways to cope when you feel overwhelmed by your emotions—you don’t have to rely on expensive antidepressants or one-size-fits-all solutions to find relief from stress and anxiety!
Simple breathing exercises for stress relief
Inhale deeply through your nose for a count of five, expanding your stomach and chest as you do so. Then, exhale forcefully through your mouth for a count of five. Inhale again for five counts, then exhale again for another five counts.
Repeat until you feel relaxed; it may take several rounds to handle any results. Take deep breaths throughout the day whenever you have time to do so.
Breathing exercises for depression
Deep breathing exercises can help you calm down when feeling anxious or stressed. Focus on breathing slowly and deeply, taking in a deep breath through your nose, filling your lungs.
Then exhale completely through your mouth as you let go of all that tension. Practice these slow breaths throughout your day to keep stress at bay.
Common triggers for anxiety attacks
Stress, deadlines, money woes and losing sleep. Suppose you want to understand how breathing exercises for anxiety work. It helps to learn about some of these triggers.
But if you’re breathing exercises for stress relief — or even if you are looking for ways to keep your cool during a tense moment — you can live through stress with these seven simple techniques.
Benefits of deep breathing exercises
Deep breathing is a safe, natural way to bring your body back into balance. One study found that people who practiced slow-breathing exercises for 15 minutes a day for four weeks had lower levels of stress and anxiety, plus higher levels of self-esteem.
Research shows that one session of deep breathing can immediately reduce feelings of stress and anxiety—and these benefits may last for at least 12 hours.
How does it work?
Deep breathing calms us down, and it lowers our heart rate and blood pressure, increases oxygen levels in our bloodstream, decreases muscle tension in our shoulders and neck, and helps regulate stress hormones like cortisol.
The next time you’re feeling overwhelmed or anxious—which is far more often than we tend to admit—try one of these simple breathing exercises for stress relief: they require only a few minutes of your time and could save you from a major meltdown.
Tips on how to breathe better
Whether you’re suffering from anxiety or severe depression, breathing exercises can help relieve your symptoms and increase your energy levels. Over time, these simple exercises can effectively lower stress levels and improve your mental health.
But first, learn how to breathe better by identifying any bad habits you might have. From there, follow these seven tips for deep breathing exercises that will help you feel less stressed out and more in control of your emotions.
Improve your health with breathing exercises
You can’t always control what happens to you, but you can control how you react to it. Whether your stress stems from work or home—or both—relaxation techniques like breathing exercises are a healthy way to manage and alleviate it.
Give these seven breathing exercises a try for relieving your stress and releasing tension: 1. Conscious diaphragmatic breathing Inhale through your nose for a count of four, then exhale through your mouth for eight counts as you feel yourself relax into each breath.
