4 Effective Breathing Techniques To Reduce Anxiety

Breathing techniques force us to remember that this metabolic act is much more than a physical process. Because breathing well produces pleasure, relieves anxiety and allows us to live better. Thus, something that would undoubtedly be of great use to us is to make this act a much more conscious, focused and harmonious exercise in our day to day life.

Most people have never stopped to analyze the way they breathe. In fact, the question would be, why do it? Our body is that almost perfect machine that performs a good number of processes automatically, thereby guaranteeing our survival. Thanks to this we can dedicate a good part of our energy to other tasks, such as reading this article, for example.

Now, questioning this simple scheme can do us good. Neglecting the body has consequences and allowing our emotions to grip us, also leads to worse results. Let’s not forget that an organism exhausted, stiff or controlled by excessive worry, rush or anxiety translates into faster and abnormal breathing, in a body that performs its metabolic tasks at an unbalanced and even dangerous pace.

You have to breathe better to live optimally and these techniques can help us.

1. Breathing techniques: the respiratory diaphragm

Most of us, when we think of breathing, instantly visualize a pair of lungs. Well, it must be said that the real responsible for this process is the diaphragm. It’s right there, under the lungs and separating the chest from the abdominal area. It moves when we breathe, and if we do it widely it will stimulate other organs such as the liver and a large number of tissues to promote blood circulation, even promoting the elimination of toxins.

This area of ​​our body must be taken into account much more, because the diaphragm is the essential part in most breathing techniques. So let’s see how to become aware of it and how to stimulate it.

• We place one hand on the abdomen and the other on the chest.
• The back should be straight.
• Now we take air through the nose deeply.
• We must make sure that the area that swells is the diaphragm (the abdomen) not the chest.
• Then we exhale through the mouth in a sound way.
• Ideally, take 6-10 slow breaths per minute.

2. Alternate breathing through the nostrils

This is one of the best known breathing techniques. It is also ideal to reduce anxiety, relax and promote better concentration on a day-to-day basis. These would be the steps we should follow:

• We will sit comfortably, always remembering to have a straight back.
• Now, with the right thumb, we will cover the right nostril.
• Next, we will inhale oxygen through the left nostril deeply until we reach our top.
• We hold our breath and then cover that left nostril and exhale through the right.
• We repeat the process in reverse.

It may seem somewhat complicated at first, but as soon as we automate the steps we will perceive its incredible benefits.

3. The breath of the bright skull or kapalabhati

Kapalabhati  is one of the most curious and effective breathing techniques to reduce anxiety and optimize our respiratory system. It helps us clean the airways and even improves lung capacity.

The term kapalabhati comes from Sanskrit and is made up of two concepts: kapala  which means “skull” and  bhati  which means “shine or the act of cleaning. ” Let’s see what it consists of:

• We sat down again with our backs straight.
• We bring the chin to the chest.
• We will close our eyes to better concentrate on breathing.
• We inhale deeply.
• Now we will do the following: we will proceed to make rapid exhalations contracting the muscles of the abdomen, imagining that with this act we bring the navel towards the spine.
• As you do these exhalations, your body will automatically inhale again. Ideally, you should do at least 10-15 rapid exhalations in a row. Rest for a few minutes and start over.

4. Visualization breathing technique

Many breathing techniques include various visualizations for deeper relaxation. However, it requires a bit more expertise so that the whole process, yes, benefits us and embraces us with those cathartic sensations capable of turning off tensions and hiding anxiety or stress.

Let us therefore take note of this very original strategy.

• We will lie on the floor on a mat or even on the bed.
• We will place one hand on the abdomen and the other on the chest to control that we breathe through the diaphragm.
• Now we will inhale deeply through the nose and imagining that a wave of the sea is covering us warmly from the feet to the head. We will feel its freshness, the bubbling of the water, the drag of the sea covering us …
• Now we will exhale through our mouths and at the same time we will visualize that same wave gradually withdrawing from us from head to toe, in a slow, relaxing way …

To conclude, as we can guess, these simple breathing techniques can help us improve our well-being, take care of our health and untie the knot of all those tensions that, almost without our realizing it, make us sick little by little. Let’s find a few minutes throughout the day to breathe better, to live in better harmony with our own body and its needs.