Use these top 3 breathing exercises at any point in your day to tap in to a more relaxed and state of mind. Whether at work, home, or just need a reset- breathing exercises are the way to a less stressed you.
For most of us breathing comes so naturally. We need it to live, we do it all day. It’s like the beating of our hearts, we’re so good at it that we do it naturally and without thinking much of it. That is, until something or someone jostles us back into the present moment and our heart skips a beat or our breath gets taken away. Those moments usually followed by a higher heart beat or rapid and uncontrolled breath for an effecting experience.
But boy are we completely planted in the present moment after that.
But now we’re all frazzled and maybe a little stressed, anxiety is knocking on the door and the familiar feel of being overwhelmed starts kicking in. For a long time, whenever anxiety started piling up I didn’t really know how to deal with it. When I started feeling anxious I thought I just had to sit there suffering until it passed. Until I discovered breath control.
Now unlike the heart, we actually have full control of the breath. (Except Buddhist Monks. Side note: Buddhist monks are known for being able to lower their heart beat down to 30 bpm with breathing exercises and mind control!) But we can slow (and control) the breath. This is a form of mindfulness, meditation, and stress control.
The expansive practice of breathing exercises is called “pranayama,” which can be translated to “energy control.” When we’re stressed, we produce a ton of stress hormones and our body’s natural instinct is to go into fight-or-flight mode trying to fight it off, instead of actually relaxing and reducing the stress. Breath control launches us into a state of total relaxation- physically slowing the heart rate down, lowering blood pressure, and reducing stress hormones like cortisol.
“Once you own your breath, no one can steal your peace.”
Control your breath and find peace literally everywhere. Boss is getting on your nerves? Tune in to your breath. Kids won’t relax? Turn back to your breath. Regain peace. Know that you can tap into a state of relaxation at any point in your life, and that is a super power in itself.
Before starting any breathing exercise, go ahead and find a comfy seated position. You can sit in a chair or maybe in a crisscross position on the floor or pillow.
Sit up nice and tall, elongating through the spine, the neck, and reaching the crown of the head up.
You can place one hand on the belly if that feels comfortable. Otherwise you can let your hands rest lightly on top of your knees.
Lightly tuck the chin so that it’s parallel with the floor.
You can keep your eyes opened and maybe find a down cast gaze. Keeping the gaze soft and relaxed, not fixating on any one thing. Or, if it feels comfortable, feel free to close your eyes.
Now, let’s take a look at some breathing exercises.
Ujjayi Pranayama “Ocean Breath”
Stemming from the sound and tone, this breathing exercise is known as the “ocean breath.” The breath sounds are similar to those of the waves crashing on the forefront of a beach, and if you focus on the breath here long enough, you might even be able to take your mind to the beach. What could be more relaxing than that?
“Ujjayi” in Sanskrit means “to conquer,” this breath is most frequently used throughout high intensity yoga practices, as it serves as a constant anchor for the yogi to keep their focus on the breath instead of a wandering mind. Ujjayi allows for very rhythmic breathing and is practiced in sitting pose and through every other pose in a yoga practice.
This breath is meant to both energize and relax the body.
- Find your comfortable seated position. Feel free to explore movement with your body and breath here, perhaps finding various yoga shapes.
- Relax the body, relax your jaw and tongue.
- Inhale through the nose slowly and thoroughly. With every inhale, let the belly inflate with the air you’re taking in.
- At the end of your inhale, slightly constrict the back of your throat.
- Exhale through the nose.
- The breath you exhale should be a little warm, kind of like you’re fogging up a mirror, or going “aaaaahhhh” with a closed mouth.
- Find the space in the cycle of the breath where the inhale turns into an exhale. It’s kind of a blurred space and you might find that it’s quite hard to actually tell where one starts and the other stops.
- Allow each inhale to take your lungs to their fullest capacity, be super mindful of the exhale.
- As you become more and more comfortable with the exhalations, feel free to keep the slight constriction in your throat during the inhalations as well.
- The breath should be audible to you and someone standing a few feet away.
- Keep your mind on the sound of your breathing, allow every inhale to create new space in your body, and every exhale the sound of the ocean relaxes and soothes you.
Equalized Breathing
The practice is just like it sounds. Equal breathing, equal breath. The idea here is to match the length of the inhales with the length of the exhales.
Equalized breathing allows us to calm the body and remove our minds from distractions.
- Finding a comfortable seated position, or you can do this exercise laying down.
- Feel free to place a hand over the belly, if you’re laying down maybe you place the other over the chest.
- Spend a few minutes tuning in to your natural breath. Just observe the breath here. Is it shallow? Is it long? Do the inhales perhaps already match the exhales? Observe the natural inhalation turn into an exhalation with ease. Do not strain the breath.
- Whenever you’re ready, begin by inhaling for a count of 4.
- Hold the inhale at the top for a count of 4.
- Elongate the exhale for a count of 4.
- Hold the exhale at the bottom for a count of 4.
- Repeat the cycle for 5-10 minutes, or until you feel it has served its purpose for you.
- After a few rounds, feel free to take the count up to 6 or maybe even 8. Know that if you’re having difficulty with the breath, you can always lower the count to 2 or 3 until it becomes easier.
Alternate Nostril Breathing
This breathing technique is said to balance out the left and right hemispheres of your brain. The left hemisphere governs the analytic, organized, and logical side of you. The right side of the brain governs creativity, imagination, and intuition. The breath is both integrating and grounding. Alternate nostril breathing is one of the most beneficial breathing exercises out there. In addition to diminishing stress, the breathing exercise also removes toxins from the body by supporting lung and respiratory functions. The body is energized on a molecular level, as each cell gets oxygenated and rejuvenated.
- Take your comfortable seated position. Making sure to sit up nice and tall, elongating the spine and opening up the heart.
- The left hand can relax gently in your lap or on your knee,
- With your right hand, bring the right pointer and middle finger to rest in the space right between the eyebrows, your third eye space. We will be activating and using the right thumb and ring finger.
- Close your eyes and take a deep inhale and exhale through your nose.
- With the right thumb finger, cover your right nostril. Inhale through your left nostril slowly and steadily. Hold the inhale at the top for a brief pause.
- Take your right ring finger and cover your left nostril.
- Take your thumb off of the right nostril, and exhale through the right side. Pause briefly at the bottom of the exhale.
- Inhale through the right nostril.
- Cover the right nostril again with the thumb, hold the inhale at the top.
- Remove the ring finger and exhale through the left nostril. Pausing briefly at the bottom, then inhale through the left nostril. Cover left nostril. Exhale through the right.
- Try and match the length of the inhales to the length of the exhales, just like in equalized breathing.
- Repeat this exercise for 10 full cycles anytime you need to destress, feel anxious, or just need a reset.
Remember that by controlling our breath, we are controlling our heart rate, stress levels, and mind. Breathing exercises helps us build concentration and get rid of distracting thoughts that don’t serve much purpose. At first some of these breathing exercises might seem tedious, but their ability to relax and serve us is well worth developing a habitual breathing practice.