Tackle Stress Successfully via Breathing Excercise
Every day we are faced with a cascade of potential stressors. Meeting near-impossible deadlines, fear of being laid off, a mountain of household chores, family pressures, seeing the latest disaster on the news – all these make our adrenals go into an overdrive, leaving us stressed and depressed. It is hard on our body, horrid for the psyche and tough on our emotional self. Thus, we need to find super helpful stress management techniques to counter stress effectively.
Breathing exercises specially designed to relieve
psychological stress are restorative and give your nervous system a chance to
rest and recuperate. Take a deep breath. Take one more. Do you feel a wee bit
less stressed out? Yes, it does work! You've probably already been told, and
you've probably also read – ‘take a deep breath and calm down’. Now, while it
is very sound advice, the advice is incomplete! You’ve been told to take a
deep breath, but you haven’t been told how to take a deep breath! A good
breathing technique is easy and effortless, but super potent and tells
you how to breathe right, and that's what I'm going to show you! Breathing right – a sharp weapon in your
stress-buster armory! Breathing exercises are the most vital coping
techniques to manage your stress well. In fact, they can become your key to
peaceful repose! All the traditional relaxation methods - Yoga, Tai Chi, and
Meditation highlight the significance of breathing right. So, come on, let’s
breathe right! Put one hand on the belly button, the other on
your chest. Inhale; you’ll discover that you tend to use your chest muscles
only while breathing, rather than the muscles of the belly. When you breathe
in a shallow manner, it promises you all the air that you need to live, but
when under undue stress, when you breathe shallowly, you tend to develop
hyperventilation, light-headedness and anxiety. This stems from taking short
and shallow breaths! The first and foremost thing I ask my patients
who have been diagnosed with panic disorders and undue stress to do is to
learn and imbibe abdominal breathing. |
Deep Breathing Exercises to combat
anxiety
Deep breathing exercises help grapple with stress
effectively. Here are 3 exercises that’ll help you calm down and center
yourself:
A) The Abdominal Breathing
·
Place one
palm over your chest and the other over your tummy. Your hands will guide you
as to which muscles are coming in to play when you breathe.
·
Exhale
slowly through your mouth.
·
Close
your mouth and hold your breath for 5 seconds.
·
Now,
inhale slowly through the nose and push the tummy out when you take
the air in. Use the muscles of the belly to pull in the air. Once you've taken
in as much air as you possibly can; stop.
·
Now hold
your breath. For how long? Well, it’s for you to decide. Pause for as long as
feels comfortable and easy.
·
Exhale
through your mouth and suck the abdomen inwards. Hold your breath again for
couple of seconds.
·
Learn to
breathe more slowly and steadily than you used
to.
B) The Equal
Breath – Sam Vritti Pranayama
·
Sit
comfortably; and focus on your breathing.
·
After a
few minutes, integrate a mental count; and make the inhalation as well as the
exhalation each 4 beats. Maintain this for 5 rounds.
·
Gradually
increase the inhalation and exhalation to 5 beats each. Slowly and steadily
proceed to 10 beats. This may not be possible the first time you start, but
will most definitely happen with regular and sustained practice.
·
Try to
understand how your body and mind feel. The body tends to hold on to a lot of
tension at various places; try to relax and unwind.
·
When you
feel like ending the session, start breathing normally. Once again check with
how your body and mind feel. Do you feel less distraught and calmer, compared
to when you started? Try to integrate this practice in to your everyday
schedule for fabulous results.
C) The Humming
Bee Breath – Bhramari
The Humming Bee Breath or Bhamari is exceedingly effective in
the successful management of anxiety.
·
Sit
comfortably. Gently close your ears with the thumbs. Close your eyes and place
the other fingers over them; and relax your shoulders.
·
Inhale
slowly; when you exhale make a humming sound in the palate of the mouth.
·
Perform
10 rounds.
·
It is
very essential that you inhale and exhale slowly and unhurriedly.
·
You will
feel the vibrations in the brain, face, throat, chest and the rest of the body.
Sit still after 10 rounds for about 5 minutes; slowly open your eyes and end
the session.
Pranayama or the Yogic way of breathing correctly
is controlled and regulated breathing; it helps increase vitality and boosts
mental focus. Deep breathing has the potential to perk up our mood and
psychological state. It calms the nervous system and helps defy physical and
mental tension. Deep breathing techniques help you unwind when you get uptight
and helps de-stress proactively.
Reference: The Yoga Bible
Comments
Post a Comment