​​​​Breathing techniques that will help you calm down

​​​​Breathing techniques that will help you calm down 😌

Your breathing under stress determines your emotional state. In moments of anxiety, breathing quickens and becomes shallow. It is normal from 9 to 15 breaths and exhalations per minute, but in a state of severe stress or a panic attack, the number can increase to 25-30 exhalations.

Rapid breathing causes an increase in heart rate, which further increases anxiety. Conversely, when breathing slows down, the heartbeat slows down, which helps to calm and relax. With the help of a deep type of “belly” breathing, you can switch from the sympathetic nervous system to the parasympathetic one. Slowing the heart rate will slow down the nervous responses and activate the neurochemical systems that will reduce the activity of the rebellious amygdala and the limbic system in general.

Inhalation and exhalation affect the body differently. Inhalation excites the nervous system, and exhalation calms. Under stress and anxiety, inhalation in people is longer in duration than exhalation. To calm the nerves, you need to concentrate on the exhalation, make it longer.

Here is the most correctly and accessible version of the abdominal breathing technique described:

 1️⃣ Place your hand on your stomach and feel if your stomach moves as you breathe.  Imagine that there is a balloon in your stomach.  On inspiration, it inflates, and the stomach stretches.  On exhalation, the ball descends, and the stomach decreases in size.

 2️⃣ Pay attention to the fact that the exhalation occurs by itself: nothing needs to be done for this. You simply relax the muscles, and the result is exhalation. It does not need to be forced, “squeezing out” the air from oneself, straining the muscles for this and exhaling with tension. Let the exhalation happen by itself, gently and smoothly.

 3️⃣ Breathe like this for 1-2 minutes, and then, when you get used to this type of breathing, begin to slightly lengthen the exhalation, so that it becomes longer than the inhalation. In this exercise, one should strive for deep soft breathing with the stomach, the duration of the exhalation should prevail over the duration of the inhalation.

 4️⃣ Close your eyes and breathe in this way for 3-5 minutes. Direct all your attention to the simple sensations associated with breathing: how the stomach moves during breathing, how the movement of air inside the body is felt, etc. Feel how such breathing affects your internal state. Usually 3-5 minutes is enough to feel the relaxation.