Hello!
As a continuation from my previous post, Dealing with Stress and Anxiety, here it comes Conscious Breathing article.
Being aware of how you are breathing will help you to identify any signs of anxiety and to regain consciousness of the present moment. Practice conscious breathing every day and nasal breathing over mouth breathing is always more beneficial; whether stressed, anxious or not and it is absolutely essential for our wellbeing.
Because we feel constantly alert to a possible danger, we constrain everything, and our breathing and muscles are very affected by it. It is in these situations when we must apply conscious breathing the most, the more we work with our breath the best we can help our minds and bodies to respond to any given situation.
Breathing techniques that I highly recommend to you are as follows:
Simple, slow and low breathing. Inhaling from the nose and exhaling from the mouth for a little while and then both, inhaling and exhaling from the nose and spending the same amount of time breathing. Take care that you control the time you spend inhaling and exhaling; try counting in-between to be more precise. Lose the tension in your jaw, shoulders, close your eyes and feel the air passing through your lungs, chest and belly... in and out, slowly.
This exercise is best combined with a Mindfulness based Therapy.
Another breathing technique that I do love to practice is ‘Nadi Shodhana’ or ‘Alternate Nostril Breathing’. As the name indicates, it is the practice of breathing in and out from alternate nostrils. This exercise can really help with balancing both hemispheres of the brain, giving you a sensation of union and harmony from within. It is broadly used in Pranayama or Yogic Breathing Work.
Kundalini Yoga also has many different breathing techniques that can be useful for stress and anxiety, it really is worth having a try. I could not leave this section without mentioning Wim Hof’s Breathing Technique, I’m not planning to sit on, or bath in ice cubes anytime soon but it’s remarkable what can be achieved with a good habit of breathing work.
Find a comfortable position and start breathing!
Love
Maje x