Deep Breathe to Kibosh Stress
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I’ve been designing a relaxation class to help people learn to Relax! This means I’ve been doing a lot of research about how to de-stress and relax through physical and mental methods, meditation, and breathing exercises. My research has confirmed something I’ve known for some time now. You can decrease the amount of stress you experience simply by breathing deeply. Really. Often when we are stressed out, we take in short shallow breaths high up in the chest.

A simple way to find out if this is true for you is the next time you feel your blood pressure rising due to stress notice how you’re breathing and how tensely you’re holding your body.

Notice and then…take a deep breath. I’m not talking just a regular type inhalation, I’m talking about a wonderful soft breath that moves gently and deeply into the body and then is exhaled just as slowly and calmly. This type of breath is known by a number of names, such as abdominal, natural, diaphragmatic, and belly breathing. It’s easy to learn and is incredibly beneficial to practice. And when you breathe deeply during your most stressful times it’s as if most of the tension that was pressing down on you like two tons of black tar just slides off your shoulders and splats to the floor.

The key to abdominal breathing is to relax your diaphragm, which is a membrane under your lungs that is attached to the bottom of your rib cage. When you breathe in, instead of moving the stomach towards the spine and inhaling into the chest, let the diaphragm relax and lower so the belly expands like a balloon as you inhale. When you exhale the belly moves towards your spine; the balloon deflates.

It’s important when abdominal breathing to let the inhalations and exhalations be relaxed and gentle. When first learning we often explore the extremes by inhaling as much as possible and then exhaling all the air we can, which is just fine. However, once you know the boundaries of the breath ease back to about 70% or less so that you are not overtaxing your system each time you breathe. After all, we’re belly breathing to help reduce our stress.

To practice abdominal breathing:

• Lie on your back in a comfortable position.

• Close your eyes and place your hands on your belly, just below your navel.

• Inhale gently through your nose, slightly expanding your abdomen, while relaxing the diaphragm, which is just along the bottom of your ribcage.

• Exhale through your nose, abdomen moving slightly towards the spine.

• Continue breathing, gently in and out through your nose. Notice your hands rising with each inhalation and lowering with each exhalation.

• Focus your attention on your breathing. Gently allow any thoughts to move on.

This type of breathing is easier to learn while lying down, but once you have the knack of it you can do it anytime of the day or night, while standing, working, sitting, and especially just before sleep. And don’t forget to chest breathe simultaneously with the abdominal breath once you’re comfortable doing so.

I love to combine abdominal breathing with the following wonderful mantra when the mind needs a little extra something to focus on to keep it from drifting back to stressful thoughts. The mantra is based on one of Thich Nhat Hanh’s meditation exercises from the book The Blooming of the Lotus. You begin by inhaling as you say the first word then exhaling on the second word and so on. It’s best to say the words mentally so you can focus on breathing in and out through the nose.

Breathing In, Breathing Out Mantra

In (inhale)
Out (exhale)
Deep (inhale)
Slow (exhale)
Calm (inhale)
Ease (exhale)
Smile (inhale)
Release (exhale)

The smile is an interesting part of the exercise. And, yes, you actually smile during this part. When you do, notice how it suddenly fills your face and body with radiant smiling energy that then allows you to release any residual tension in your body on the next out breath. And like a round, you can just keep going with the mantra until the words and the breath have done their work.

Now is the perfect time to breathe deeply and put the kibosh on stress.
Mountain Rose Herbs. A Herbs, Health & Harmony Com

Photo Credit: ‘Magstefan’

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