Has anybody ever told you to “just relax” or “calm down”, while you were panicking? Then you would know that this is impossible.
But, had your friend reminded you to “just breathe deeply”, he or she would have done you a favour.
Research has shown that different emotions are associated with different forms of breathing and that changing how we breathe, can change how we feel and can calm the mind.
For example, when you feel joy, your breathing will be regular, deep, and slow. But when you feel anxious or angry, your breathing will be short, fast, shallow, and most irregular.
When we are highly stressed, the brain’s prefrontal cortex — responsible for rational thinking — does not function normally. We battle to think straight and feel out of control. But with breathing techniques, it is possible to gain some mastery over our minds.
How does this work? The sympathetic nervous system regulates our “fight or flight” responses whereas the parasympathetic nervous system takes care of the body’s “rest and digest” activities.
Changing the rhythm of your breath can slow your heart rate and stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system’s vagus nerve, which runs from the brain stem to the abdomen. This nerve helps you to calm down. You feel better, and your ability to think rationally returns.
Belly breathing is an easy and basic exercise that helps with relaxing and to relieve stress:
- Sit or lie flat in a comfortable position.
- Put one hand on your belly just below your ribs and the other hand on your chest.
- Take a deep breath in through your nose, and let your belly push your hand out. Your chest should not move.
- Breathe out through pursed lips as if you were whistling. Feel the hand on your belly go in, and use it to push all the air out.
- Do this breathing 3 to 10 times. Take your time with each breath.
- Notice how you feel at the end of the exercise and regain control over your mind!
