4 breathing techniques to get you through high-stress moments
You're always in control of your breath.
13 August, 2020
Photo: fizkes / Shutterstock
- Anxiety is triggered environmentally and emotionally, but a physiological response quickly follows.
- Calming breathing techniques help to tamp down the physiological response of anxiety.
- The following four exercises are known to help calm anxiety and develop focus.
Stressed? Use This Breathing Technique to Improve Your Attention and Memory, with Emma Seppälä
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ac308f8ef7490814bcb4c1841725cf35"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NrJZu6bGyHg?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><h3>Alternate Nostril Breathing</h3><p>Emma Seppälä, science director at Stanford Center For Compassion And Altruism Research And Education, says American culture values intensity yet undervalues calmness. We never shut off. While intensity has its place, every animal in nature inherently knows the necessity of rest in order to store up energy for when it's actually needed. Americans are careless with our energy reserves, which is why so many of us are chronically tired, overworked, and stressed out. </p><p>Seppälä knows that breathing changes our state of mind. She recommends a popular yogic breathing technique, <em>nadi shodhana</em>, also known as alternate nostril breathing. </p><p>Place the index and middle fingers of your right hand on your forehead. Use your thumb to close your right nostril while inhaling through the left nostril, then close the left nostril with your ring finger and exhale through your right nostril. Repeat this for at least two minutes, then sit quietly for another minute or two, breathing normally. </p><p>There are many variations of this technique. My favorite is a four-cycle breath: inhale for a count of four through one nostril, retain your breath for a count of four, exhale for four, hold your breath out for four. If you're new to this breathing technique, retention might initially create more anxiety than it relieves, so try the basic inhale-exhale pattern until you can last for at least five minutes before moving onto breath retentions.</p>Mind Hack: Combat Anxiety with This Breathing Technique
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0cd55bb6ac6c7dd5daab3c29b7a82843"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7xalaT2FwS8?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><h3>Power Breath</h3><p>Game designer and author of "Superbetter," Jane McGonigal, recommends the Power Breath: exhale for twice as long as you inhale. She says this will shift your nervous system from sympathetic to a parasympathetic tone—you'll calm down. Simply sit comfortably, close your eyes, and begin by inhaling for a count of four and exhaling for a count of eight. </p><p>This is also a popular yoga breathing technique. As with <em>nadi shodhana</em>, it can initially kick up rather than diminish anxiety. If you find long exhales challenging, begin by inhaling and exhaling at an even rate: a count of four in both directions. Then try to slowly increase your exhale to a count of five, six, and so on. Longtime practitioners can inhale for a count of four and exhale for a count of 50. As with any muscle, you can train your breathing. The benefits are immense. </p>Breathing Techniques to Help You Relax
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="56511aaa4d1c06cc65077b8daf7670fb"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RHpTR2wRc8c?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><h3>Focus Word Breathing</h3><p>Lolly, a Mind-Body Specialist at the University of Maryland Heart Center, offers what she calls Focus Word Breathing. Traditionally, this is known as Mantra meditation. Choose a word that has meaning to you—<em>calm</em>, <em>grace</em>, <em>ease</em>—and repeat it during every inhalation and exhalation. As your mind wanders, the word becomes a sort of flagpole that you've mentally planted to bring you back to this moment. </p><p>As a former sufferer of anxiety disorder, I remember how important my thoughts were when having a panic attack. The power of the physiological symptoms increased when I dwelled on negative thoughts. This spiral felt like being sucked into a vortex. By contrast, when I was able to redirect my thinking, the symptoms lessened. </p><p>Mantra meditation never completely worked during an attack. By that point, my physiology had been hijacked. But as a regular practice, this breathing technique is powerful. Think of it as training for the big game of life. You teach yourself to focus on beneficial words. Your attention goes where thinking leads you, but you also have control of your thoughts. By integrating a mantra with breathing, you're priming your mind to focus at will.</p>How to do Viparita Karani (Legs Up the Wall) w/ AnaMargret Sanchez
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6ebcd48808f1ef73d5d35b9b4f58e8e8"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YHxoiq1YivE?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span><h3>Deep Belly Breathing</h3><p>This exercise is commonly used by yoga instructors to bring their students into Corpse Pose (Savasana). Place your hands over your stomach while lying down and focus your attention there. Take deep, even breaths into your hands. As with the last technique, focus your mind there. Relax the muscles at your extremities: your toes, fingers, and forehead. Allow yourself to melt into the floor. </p><p>I love doing this breath while in <em>Viparita Karani</em>, otherwise known as Legs Up the Wall posture. The video above explains how to enter this pose; a blanket or pillow under your lower back makes the posture comfortable. Once there, I practice deep belly breathing. This technique always calms me down. I've recommended it to friends suffering from insomnia; they all responded with positive anecdotal feedback. </p><p>--</p><p><em>Stay in touch with Derek on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/derekberes" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DerekBeresdotcom" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://derekberes.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer dofollow">Substack</a>. His next book is</em> "<em>Hero's Dose: The Case For Psychedelics in Ritual and Therapy."</em></p>
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How We Breathe Affects Our Thoughts and Emotions, Northwestern Researchers Find
Inhaling through the nose activates the regions of the brain associated with memory and emotion.
04 January, 2017
Man with a lot on his mind. Getty Images.
Focusing on one’s breathing has been a preoccupation of Eastern philosophy for centuries and in some cases, millennia. It is considered a means to attain inner peace and illumination. Yogis and Zen masters alike have traditionally begun their teachings having students focus on their breathing. It seems that science has finally caught up. A new study published in the journal Neuroscience outlines the interrelationship between breathing and cogitation.
<p>Researchers at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine conducted the study. General respiration in adults is between 12 and 18 breaths per minute. Those who are in a stressful situation often take 20 breaths per minute. Assistant professor of neurology <a href="https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2016/12/rhythm-of-breathing-affects-memory-and-fear/" target="_blank" title="Northwestern University">Christina Zelano</a> wondered if breathing faster made us think more rapidly. She’s the lead author of this study. The idea is that faster breathing could mean quicker brain function and a better response time when faced with a dangerous situation.</p> <p>Zelano and colleagues discovered that the rhythm in which we breathe directly affects activity in our brain. Yet, there are a lot of factors involved such as how deep or shallow our breathing is and whether we do so through our nose or mouth. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KNn0NYjMWg" target="_blank" title="YouTube">Inhaling through the nose stimulates the brain</a>, it was found. Doing so through the mouth however causes little stimulation.</p> <p>This interrelationship was initially discovered by studying seven severely epileptic patients who were scheduled for brain surgery. Each was hooked up to an electroencephalograph (EEG), which measures brain waves. Several of these participants had electrodes surgically implanted inside their skulls in order to collect data on their seizures and find out where they came from. Soon, researchers discovered that brain activity was intimately linked with the act of breathing.</p> <p>In fact, there is an exact synchronicity between these two processes. The Northwestern team delved further and found that three major areas of the brain are affected by breathing: the hippocampus which is responsible for memory, the amygdala—our emotional center, and the piriform cortex, which controls our olfactory system or our sense of smell. These are all part of the limbic system which is responsible for our basic emotions such as anger and fear, along with our instinctual drives such as hunger, the sex drive, and caring for offspring. The limbic system is also responsible for our higher emotions.</p> <p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODMzODI2OS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MTI0MDkzOX0.mf1Ziubs2_3PwS2RxmENOKXqBX5htYJ6mgI-WEmS3Ko/img.png?width=980" id="bfb44" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8841a6b1686a2d41de1f0eab257e18a2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"></p> <p><em>The limbic system. By BruceBlaus. Blausen.com staff. "Blausen gallery 2014". Wikiversity Journal of Medicine. DOI:10.15347/wjm/2014.010. ISSN 20018762. (Own work) [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons</em></p> <p>These neuroscientists also discovered that there are major changes in brain activity when you inhale. Inhalation effects the amygdala, hippocampus, and piriform cortex. Now, researchers moved into a second phase. Here, 70 participants between the ages of 18 and 30 were recruited. Each was asked to look at images of faces on a computer screen that only lasted about a second, while hooked up to a machine that monitors breathing.</p> <p>Recruits were to determine whether the face expressed surprise or fear. The scientists wanted to know if inhalation or exhalation through the nose versus the mouth changed the participant’s recognition capability in any way. They discovered that when breathing in through the nose, participants could recognize a scared face a fraction of a second earlier.</p> <p>In a third portion of the study, 42 recruits were shown objects on a computer screen and were told to remember them. They were hooked up to a breath recorder at this time. Later, participants were asked what they remembered. This was meant to gauge memory, specifically how breathing affected the hippocampus. Those who breathed in when they saw the objects tended to remember better than those who breathed out. Also, inhalation through the nose made recall five percent more accurate.</p> <p>So how can you use this knowledge to your advantage? Cognition may work better when we inhale through our nose, especially when worried or scared. This can help us react better to situations. Deep breathing exercises can also improve our memory and help us to make better decisions where our emotions are a central part of evaluation. So should you stay with a partner whom you love, even though they don’t ever want to get married and you do? Breathe in deeply through your nose while you think it over. It should help you sort it out.</p> <p>Jay Gottfried is a professor of neurology at Northwestern and the senior author of this study. Gottfried said that these practices are already an essential part of focused breathing and meditation. But now we come to understand why they work on a biological level. “When you inhale, you are in a sense synchronizing brain oscillations across the limbic network,” he said. Though these findings are exciting, this study utilized a small participant pool. A much larger study must be conducted to find out the intricacies of how breathing and brain activity are interrelated and how one effects the other.</p> <p>To learn more about this study, click here: </p> <p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="db6f4f02ea93301c399e10c7054a0ff6"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1KNn0NYjMWg?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span></p>
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