Do you struggle with stress? Maybe you experience challenging days at work or at home? Maybe it’s difficult people or life situations? It’s frustrating, because it seems we can’t get away from stress, it’s all around us and part of our daily lives. Don’t despair. There is hope. No need to turn immediately to drugs or prescriptions. Try the natural method first. We’ve got a list of the top 10 breathing exercises for stress relief here for you. So try breathwork.
Breathwork can be a powerful form of exercise, and it can change your life forever. It’s amazing that something as simple as breathing exercises can provide so many health benefits. Breathing exercises are known to help relieve stress and promote relaxation. Below, we’ve listed the top 10 breathing exercises to relieve stress and help you enjoy your life with a sense of calm and tranquility. Read on.
Breathwork To Relieve Stress
Breathing exercises don’t necessarily include just one type of exercise. There are numerous techniques and exercises, and each has different and unique benefits. For example, there are specific breathing practices and breathwork exercises known to help promote attentiveness. In this article, you will learn about the specific exercises that are useful and beneficial for those struggling with stressful situations.
What Are Breathing Exercises?
Breathing exercises are not an invention of modern medical science. They have existed forever. Breathing exercises and practices and have been found in all of the major religions. Archeologists and scholars even discovered many religious scriptures containing different breathing methods.
Health Benefits of Breathing Exercises
Breathing exercises are powerful and carry various health benefits and healing powers. Also, many doctors and counselors are now recommending breathwork as a supplement to traditional western medications. Let’s get to know some of the specific health benefits that you can get by practicing breathing exercises:
Calms and Relaxes
You can achieve a peaceful mental state by practicing breathwork. Adequate oxygenated blood flow helps keep your nerves calm. Breathwork allows you to intake more oxygen into your bloodstream and breathe out toxins. This will help you to calm your mind when you are stressed or anxious and help increase your performance.
Encourages Mindfulness
Mindfulness refers to paying attention to the present without any judgment. This helps you gain control over your emotions and helps you stay stress free. Breathing exercises also focus on present time breathing which works as a mindfulness practice.
Strengthens Lungs
The lungs are a vital organ of our bodies that regulate the entire breathing process. Breathwork helps you to improve your lung capacity and strengthen your lungs overall. So, you’ll have better oxygen intake, and this promotes better mental and physical health.
Improves Sleep
Too much worry and stress can deprive you of sleep, which can have a huge negative impact on your well being. Breathing exercises can significantly ease your stress and anxiety, which in turn promotes better, more restful sleep.
Breathwork for Relaxation
Each of the breathwork exercises listed below are known to help rid you of stress. Working with a breathwork coach, and trying them all separately, will help you realize which one works best for you. While they are all known to be effective, we are all unique and special, and it is likely that one of the breathing exercises will be most effective for you, while another might be most effective for someone else. Consult with your breathwork coach to determine the best fit for you.
The Best Breathing Exercises to Relieve Stress
There are many different breathing exercises known to help people de-stress. Below, in no specific order, are our Top 10 picks for stress relieving breathing exercises. They are:
3 Part Breathing
Practicing the 3 Part Breathing technique helps deepen awareness of the three main “breathing spaces,” namely the belly, chest, and clavicle. Deep breathing brings in lots of oxygen and increases the circulation of oxygenated blood to the brain and the body. This increases mental attention and focus as well as digestion.
4-7-8 Breath
This breathing exercise is known specifically for promoting better sleep, calming nerves and swirling minds, and managing reactive emotions. The 4-7-8 Breath is used to counteract the fight-or-flight nervous response we experience when we are stressed. So if you are experiencing racing and swirling thoughts, also known as monkey mind, that are preventing you from relaxing and falling asleep, 4-7-8 Breath can help. It allows the mind to focus on the breath rather than focusing on your anxious or worried thoughts. Furthermore, it helps intake oxygen and regulate the exhale, both of which promote relaxation. Some have even called the 4-7-8 Breath technique a natural tranquilizer.
Box Breath
Interestingly, this technique is taught to the US military personnel, and is meant to be used to relieve anxiety and stress. It is calming, lowers blood pressure, and reduces anxiety.
Diaphragmatic Training
This is one of the most important exercises for any breathwork training regimen. It strengthens the diaphragm and assists in healing dysfunctions such as shallow or quick breathing. It also improves lung capacity, allowing all other breathing exercises to be more effective.
Coherent Breathing
This exercise encourages slow, deep breathing, which helps synchronize heart rate patterns to breathing, encouraging a feeling of calmness and stability.
Exhales Through Straw
This is a very simple exercise that is meant to reduce stress, improve lung capacity, and calm the nerves. This practice is especially effective for panic attacks. Komuso Design makes beautiful necklaces with breathwork straw pendants — a must have for breathwork enthusiasts.
Extended Exhales
Extending the exhale is not only an excellent method to improve lung capacity and shift state from anxious to calm, but it is also an imitation of one of most natural urges that signals relief and calm — the sigh. Breathing straws are useful for extending exhales as well.
Sighing
Sighing is a natural urge, but you can use sighing as a breathwork practice. The sigh signals relief to your body and mind. It releases pent up energy and frustration, and produces feelings of calmness and ease.
Alternate Nostril Breathing
Also known by its ancient name, nadis shodana, this exercise is balancing and grounding. It helps release tension, and promotes clarity of mind and relaxation in the body. It promotes good overall energy in the body and is best practiced on an empty stomach first thing in the morning.
Single Nostril Inhales, Left Side
This exercise is calming and grounding for both mind and body. Often known by its ancient name, chandra bhedana, this technique is known to cool, calm, and soothe.
The Komuso Shift pendant is a beautiful mindfulness reminder, a useful relaxation tool, and a fabulous statement piece of jewelry. We love this high-end breathwork tool, available in an array of colors and styles, that extends the exhale wherever you are.
Conclusion
There are so many useful breathwork techniques for you to explore that can help you unwind, relax, and feel stress free. They can positively affect your body and mind if you do them properly and make breathwork a regular practice. Working with a breath work coach to learn is always best, but you can always try some out on your own to start. You can get started anytime, so take the first step today on your breathwork journey to stress free living.
You can also read: How To Do Alternate Nostril Breathing