Breathing exercises are a great way to reduce stress and anxiety while allowing you to feel more relaxed overall. They can also help you sleep and make a number of lung conditions more bearable. Just paying attention to your breath as a whole can benefits your health tremendously.
In this article, we will take a look at some of the best breathing exercises for optimal relaxation. For the best effect, make sure to try them all and see which one works best for you.
1. Breathe from Your Abdomen
This abdominal breathing exercise is incredibly helpful to use before stressful events, like giving a big presentation, and to combat typical stress in everyday life. Abdominal breathing exercise is beneficial for anything that increases your adrenaline and raises your heart rate.
It can be very hard to control your breath when stressed, and the pacing might not come naturally. That is alright. You just need to keep practising, as practice makes perfect after all.
Place one hand on your chest and the other hand on your abdomen. Then, deeply breathe in through your nose, allowing your diaphragm to expand as it fills with air until it creates a slight stretching feeling in your lungs. Now, slowly exhale all the air out.
You want to take around 6 to 10 deep and slow breaths each minute for 10 minutes. Doing this each and every day can actually help lower your heart rate and blood pressure. If you continue doing this for 6 to 8 weeks, you’ll start to notice the health and relaxation benefits of this exercise.
2. Relax Your Muscles
The progressive muscle relaxation exercise works best when you are at home, sitting in a chair, or even in your car. You will be purposefully tensing and relaxing each muscle group in your body, focusing on one group at a time. This will allow you to get rid of any excess tension from your head to your toes.
Close your eyes and focus on tensing and then relaxing every muscle group for 2 to 3 seconds each. Start with your toes and feet, then move upwards. Head to your calves, then your knees, then your thighs, glutes, abdomen, chest, hands, arms, neck, jaw, and finish at your eyes.
The whole time you need to keep a deep, slow, and steady breath. Inhale through your nose and hold your breath for 5 seconds while tensing the muscle group you are focusing on. Then, exhale through your mouth as you relax the tensed muscle group.
Use this method to help keep track of the timing of breaths and muscle tensing. If you are holding your breath and it feels uncomfortable, just try it for only a few seconds instead of five.
3. Try Equal Breathing
Sama Vritti is also known as equal breathing. It is most effective to use before going to bed, and it has a similar effect to counting sheep. If you have trouble falling asleep or just want to relax during the day, this is a great breathing exercise.
It will take your mind off of any racing thoughts and other distractions. Sit or lie down in a comfortable position, with your eyes either open or closed. Inhale for 4 counts and then exhale for 4 more counts.
All inhaling and exhaling should be done through the nose. This will add a slight, natural resistance to your breathing and promotes focus. Once you have the basics down, you can try to do this with 6 to 8 counts for each inhale and exhale.
4. Alternate Breathing Through Each Nostril
Another great breathing exercise for relaxation is Nadi Shodhana, also known as alternate nostril breathing. This breathing exercise actually refocuses and re-energizes the body to help you feel more awake and alert, almost like having a cup of coffee.
Sit down in a comfortable meditation position. Hold your dominant hand out and press the tips of your pointer and middle fingers into your palm, leaving your ring finger, pinky, and thumb extended. Then, bring your hand up in front of your face and press the thumb onto the outside of one nostril.
Take a deep inhale through the open nostril. At the breath’s peak, release your thumb, press the ring finger on the outside of the other nostril, and exhale.
You will want to do this for 1 to 2 minutes and then switch sides so that you are inhaling through the nostril you were previously exhaling through and vice versa.
5. 4-7-8 Breathing Exercise
You can also use the relaxing breath exercise or 4-7-8 breathing. This is an alternative to equal breathing and can help you fall asleep and become more relaxed. It can also help you gain control of your breathing.
Sit or lie down in a comfortable area with your eyes either open or closed. Press the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth, open your mouth a tiny bit, and exhale until you get to the bottom of your breath.
Close your mouth and quietly inhale through your nose for 4 counts. Hold your breath for 7 counts, and then exhale slowly for 8 counts until you reach the bottom of your breath again.
Repeat this pattern for 4 full breaths. You can gradually work your way up to 8 full breaths.
Conclusion
Using breathing exercises is a great way to relax when you are feeling stressed or distracted. Take the time out of your day to put effort into mindful breathing.
These techniques do not take very long and are very easy to incorporate into your day. You can even receive lasting benefits from using these breathing exercises. Sometimes it is best to take a deep breath when you need to relax, and now you know just how to do that.
