Breathing Exercises

When you are stressed, monitoring your breathing enables you to slow and deepen your breaths, which helps reduce the feeling of tension.Learning to change your breathing to a more relaxed pattern is a simple, yet effective skill.

Tuning in to Breathe:

Take a few moments to consciously focus on your breath.

Feel 3 to 5 breaths move in and out of the body.

Remember not to control your breathing, but to simple observe ( Being mindful).

Your mind will wander . Use the breath as an anchor to re-focus on breathing.

Then slow down the exhalation to help trigger the relaxation response.

This technique will activate the parasympathetic nervous system which helps you feel more relaxed and think more clearly

Abdominal Breathing:

Place one hand over your navel.
Take a deep breath and blow it out completely through your mouth like a sigh.
Allow your next breath to flow in by itself through your nose.
Your hand on stomach should rise or move upward as you breathe in.
Keep breathing through your nose and breathe in slowly for 3 seconds, then out for 3 seconds, and then repeat these slow breaths for at least 1 minute.

Dr. Athulya Jayakumar demonstrates the deep breathing technique in this video