Do you need to reduce your stress now?
Hi I'm Michelle and today I'm going to guide you through breathing techniques are based
on a scientific research (points to screen) review into how slow deep breathing exercises
work to slow the nervous system and reduce stress.
So let's start going through these exercises step by step
Step 1: Position The first step is to position you body so
that you're either upright, ideally sitting in a chair or semi reclined and your body
is well supported and comfortable.
You'll find that deep breathing exercises are easier when you're upright compared with
lying down flat because upright positions give your lungs room to expand
Let's start with your stress relieving breathing technique.
Step 2 : Nose Breathing Take a moment to notice whether you're breathing
in through your nose or your mouth.
I want you to Try to breathe through your nose if you can during these exercises because
nose breathing promotes relaxation in the brain centres.
You don't need to breathe like this all the time.
If breathing this way makes you feel a little short of breath just return to mouth breathing
if you need to.
Step 3: Check your speed Take a moment to notice how fast you're breathing.
Does your breathing seem fast or slow ? Fast breathing is shallow and it's linked
to anxiety and stress.
The research suggests that you should breathe at about 9-10 breaths per minute.
To breathe like this and slow your breath, you need to get air down deep into the base
of your lungs.
Now I'm going to guide you through how to do this, step by step.
a.
Slow Inhaling Technique Start by positioning your hands around the
lower parts of your rib cage and upper belly with the tips of your 3rd fingers just touching
like this.
Now breathe in slowly, breathing into your hands so that your rib cage expands outwards,
out to the sides and your belly moves forwards so that your touching fingertips move slightly
apart like this To breathe slowly and deeply you need to get
the air to the base of your lungs down here,not up here at the top of your so try to expand
the lower parts of your rib cage with this abdominal or diaphragmatic breathing rather
than breathing lifting your upper chest and shoulders like this.
b.
Exhaling Now breathing out should feel effortless.
To breathe out, simply let the air leave your lungs, up through your wind pipe and out of
your nose or mouth.
There no effort physical effort involved in breathing out - it's just the soft passive
recoil of your ribs moving back down and your lungs emptying just like a balloon.
Feel your body relax and let go with your slow deep breath out.
Putting it Together Now let's put these steps together to help
you relax now.
Sit tall and raise your chest Close your mouth and slowly breathe in through
your nose for the count to 3 (with one and two and three and) expanding your rib cage
and moving your belly forwards Now breath out for the count to 3 and gently
allow your breath to leave your body, feel your chest and shoulders relax as you breathe
out Notice the brief pause between your in breath
and out breath and repeat this again, do you get the idea?
Try to keep a smooth rhythm to your breathing as you practice this technique, in for 3 and
out for 3 seconds.
The research doesn't state how long you need to do this for however I find I find that
using this technique for a minute or 2 helps me relieve stress.
Let me know in the comments below whether or not this technique helps you.
So let's review the key points for breathing to reduce stress:
breathe slowly deeply
and rhythmically in through your nose Aiming to do 9-10 abdominal breaths per minute
I really hope this technique helps you relax during times of stress, maybe you might like
to share this video with someone who's going through a stressful time now too.
Thank you for watching today and I'll see you next time.