My yoga teachers are always highlighting the importance of breathing, saying…“Let your breath guide you” or “all you need to do is breathe!”. We take the process of breathing for granted as it automatically happens to keep us alive. But could we be using how we oxygenate ourselves as another therapeutic tool?
I talk to patients a lot about the importance of breathing exercises. It’s effective, free, achievable at any age and easier than you think. If you breathe deep down into your diaphragm and slow down between the inhale and exhale you activate the vagus nerve and furthermore the parasympathetic nervous system, which tells the brain you are safe, and helps to instill a sense of relaxation and calm. If you are not ready for breathing exercises just yet, simply singing, whistling or humming will do the trick and is easy to do on the way home from school or work?
If wanting to try some more structured breathing exercises, square or box breathing is my favorite exercise to get you started. I love that this technique is taught in the army and it’s called ‘combat breathing’. I figure if it’s going to help reset a soldier’s sympathetic stress response whilst in combat, it is going to work wonders for the average person needing to down regulate their stress response in everyday life.
Here’s how it works:
Choose a number to count/time your breathing - let’s say 4.
Inhale for the count of 4.
Hold for the count of 4.
Exhale for the count of 4.
And again, hold for the count of 4.
You can imagine tracing the lines of a square as you inhale, hold, exhale and hold.
Do this exercise with the mouth closed, i.e. through your nostrils.
Breathe deep into your diaphragm, feeling your ribs expand and contract as you go.
A few rounds will have you feeling calmer in no time! And best of all, you don’t need an app, a quiet room or a long period of time set aside. You can do this any time of day and anywhere. The more frequently the better, and definitely worth a try when you are feeling stressed and overwhelmed. Its a great one to teach your kids, and is an easy tool to use to rebalance an activated or dysregulated nervous systems.