15 Simple Breathing Exercises To Melt Stress And Anxiety

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So many of us feel overwhelmed from time to time. Life is fast, hectic, constantly connected, and full of demands. Sometimes it feels almost impossible to find time to get grounded, but reconnecting with yourself is vital for health and wellbeing.

Fortunately TGH has a solution that requires no expensive equipment or fancy therapy. We have listed our favorite breathing techniques that will have you feeling calm and collected in no time. These are the best for melting stress and anxiety – allowing you to get on and enjoy your life.

1. Don’t Forget To Breathe Out

This first one is not so much a breathing technique as a reminder for any times that you are feeling panicky – like you can’t catch your breath.

This is very common, and it’s scary if it happens to you. So if you ever feel like you can’t get a deep breath, the more you try the harder it gets and the  more you panic – remember this…..

1. If you can say ‘I can’t catch my breath’, then you are getting air, so this is not a dangerous situation, as uncomfortable as it may feel.
2. You need to EXHALE!

If you have filled your lungs with shallow, short, panic breaths, you won’t be able to take a deep lungful of air until you completely breathe out. And in a stressed out state it can be easy to forget this part.

So the first suggestion is to build up your breath awareness. While you are seated, with shoulders back and down exhale fully. This removes the carbon dioxide and increases the lung capacity for exhaling. So now, go ahead and breathe deeply and fully.

Simply being aware of this can be useful any time you feel yourself struggling to calm your breathing.

2. 4-7-8 Technique

This second technique was devised by Andrew Weil, a Harvard doctor, specializing in holistic health, and as we can see from the quote below, he believes that breathing is a powerful way to influence our moods.

“Breathing strongly influences physiology and thought processes, including moods. By simply focusing your attention on your breathing and without doing anything to change it, you can move in the direction of relaxation.”

His 4-7-8 Breathing Exercise is said to be one of the most relaxing and there are claims that it can put someone to sleep in just 60 seconds.

As the video shows, this is a very simple breathing technique, that can be done anywhere, anytime you need it. This is a powerful tool to have, to be able to invoke a relaxed state regardless of your surroundings.