I recently starting incorporating deep breathing more intentionally throughout my work day. I find myself intentionally breathing through many difficult situations like evaluation meetings, presenting to groups of patients, hearing traumatic stories from my patients, and even asserting myself with colleagues. I love using deep breathing to cope with stress  because it is something that you always have access to practice no matter what the situation.

The result of being more consistent with deep breathing I have found is that it instantly brings me into the present moment, allows me to relax, and helps me make more objective decisions and actions. I have also found that the more I practice it in my daily life (not just on my meditation cushion), the easier  and faster it becomes to succumb to the relaxed state associated with deep breathing.

Are you wasting your time with deep breathing? You might be if you aren’t doing it right. Deep breathing has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety, but the caveat is only if it’s done in a specific way. In fact, doing it incorrectly in a time of stress could lead to panting, panicking, or even hyperventilating.

So what’s the right way?

Imagine snapping your fingers like a hypnotist, and suddenly your “fight or flight systems” falls asleep. Deep breathing signals the “rest and digest system” to activate, calming the mind and body.

There are two important things to remember when using deep breathing to reduce stress:

• The first thing to remember is you want your exhales longer than your inhales.
  • This is because our inhales activate the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight), and our exhales activate the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest). You can think of it as a rectangle as you breath, with the shorter sides representing the inhale, and the longer sides representing the exhale. (see video below for demo).
  • This means that your breathing must be SLOW AND CONTROLLED. It is recommended to inhale through your nose, while exhaling through your mouth as if you were pushing air through a straw.
• The second thing to remember is belly breathing is key!
  • Diaphragmatic breathing (or belly breathing) is another important factor in using deep breathing to reduce stress. When you inhale your diaphragm should be expanding. So many people miss this important step, only inhaling enough the air to reach the top of the lungs. Or  even worse many people take shallow inhales while lifting their shoulders up. These two mistakes can actually increase anxiety in the moment.
  • So make your inhales fill your belly like a balloon, and your exhales contract your belly back in towards your spine. You can practice by placing your hand on the diaphragm (the center space just below your rib cage, the top of your belly) and making your your hand  is pushed out on the inhales and coming back in on the exhales. (see video demo)

Further Reading:

I also have a video on this you can watch here: