3 Simple Breathwork Practices to Manage Anxiety
This blog is the second in a series of two blogs focusing on how simple breathwork practices can be a form of self-support when experiencing anxious feelings of fear, panic and worry. In a previous blog, we considered the role of awareness in any breathwork practice for anxiety. We also explored how your breath supports regulation within your autonomic nervous system (ANS). Both blogs have been informed by the accessible books on the topic of breathing: Breath, by James Nestor (2020) and Close your Mouth by Patrick McKeown (2004). In this blog, we consider three practical and simple breathing exercises that I’ve found beneficial for tapping into the power of the breath to aid emotional and neurological regulation and for managing anxiety.
3 breathwork exercises for managing anxiety
Attend to Posture
Attending to posture is a helpful breathwork practice for managing anxiety.
How you sit, stand and move your body impacts your breath. A tight, restricted posture results in tight and restricted breathing. A more open and relaxed posture allows for expansion that supports smooth and fluid movement of the breath within the body. To support a more expanded state, aim for posture that is supportive of breathing by allowing space for the respiratory muscles of the diaphragm to expand. If you notice your shoulders rounding and your bank hunching over, can you invite greater ease and expansion into your body? Allow your body to do what it naturally does: breathe. Breathing can be well supported when your posture allows your spine to extend, with your shoulders back and without tension. Aim to notice ease in your body and to allow your posture to support efficient and effective breathing. This can feel soothing and grounding - the opposite state to how you feel when you’re anxious.
2. Slow Down Your Breath
When you’re are relaxed, your breathing slows down. By slowing down your breathing, you can affect other bodily systems so that heart rate decreases, and cortisol levels drop.
· Find a comfortable sitting position, and place your feet flat on the ground.
· Let your breath flow as deep down into your belly as is comfortable, without forcing it.
· Try breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth.
· Breathe in gently and regularly. Some people find it helpful to count steadily from 1 to 5. You may not be able to reach 5 at first.
· Then, without pausing or holding your breath, let it flow out gently, counting from 1 to 5 again, if you find this helpful. In time, you can begin to slow down and extend the out breath.
· Keep doing this for a few cycles of breath - aiming to build your practice overtime to around 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Square Breathing for managing anxiety
This technique requires you to concentrate on your breathing and can bring a greater sense of balance and harmony. The counting element can offer a degree of distraction from anxious ruminating. As breath flows through the body in a rhythmic pattern, you begin to feel calmer and less stressed and anxious.
· Begin by slowly exhaling all your air out.
· Then, gently inhale through your nose to a slow count of 4.
· Hold at the top of the breath for a count of 4.
· Then gently exhale through your mouth for a count of 4.
· At the bottom of the breath, pause and hold for the count of 4.
As with any breathwork practice, it is important to listen to your own body - and avoid pushing yourself too hard.
If in any doubt, please do check with a medical professional before engaging with these practices.
Take a Moment to Breathe:
So, in these times of economic uncertainty, complex political world events and elevated tension, attending to the breath can be a cost effective (i.e., free!) form of self-care and self-support, equipping you to find greater ease, calm and balance in your daily life. I’d love to hear if any of the suggestions here free you up to catch your breath, and breathe a sigh of relief during an otherwise hectic world. And if you are curious to know more, I’d certainly recommend Nestor’s and McKeown’s books.
Next steps?
If you’d like to talk through how counselling can help you with a deeper exploration of your anxiety, do make contact with me, Claire Law. I’m a BACP Senior Accredited Psychotherapist offering professional counselling and psychotherapy in Preston, Lancashire and online for adults based in the UK.
We can talk through how online counselling or face-to-face counselling at my therapy room in Preston can help manage your anxiety, and help you to breathe more easily. I’d be glad to hear from you.
I can let you know my current availability for either:
Face-to-face counselling for anxiety at my therapy space in Preston.
Online counselling for anxiety via MS Teams
References:
· Gerritsen, R., & Band, G. (2018). Breath of Life: The Respiratory Vagal Stimulation Model of Contemplative Activity. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 12, 397.
· Ma, X., Yue, Z. Q., Gong, Z. Q., Zhang, H., Duan, N. Y., Shi, Y. T., Wei, G. X., & Li, Y. F. (2017). The Effect of Diaphragmatic Breathing on Attention, Negative Affect and Stress in Healthy Adults. Frontiers in psychology, 8, 874.
· McKeown, P. (2004). Close Your Mouth. Buteyko Books: Moycullen.
· Nestor, J. (2020). Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. Penguin Books: London.