Time and time again, we’re told what a powerful tool breathing exercises can be for reducing anxiety and more specifically, the physical effects anxiety has on our body.
Yet how often have you gone hunting to find suitable breathing exercises for anxiety only to bump into a string of complex yoga jargon and techniques that take so long to master that they’re just not fit for purpose?
After all, when you’re in the grip of crippling anxiety or -worse- a full-blown panic attack, you simply don’t have the time to assume the lotus position and start worrying pranayama, whatever that is.
What you need is quick, simple solutions you can apply right there on the spot to relax your breathing and return to feeling calm and in control within seconds.
Today, we’ll look at five of the best breathing techniques for doing just that, ranging from powerful techniques you can use to curtail anxiety before it escalates, to quick-fixes you can use in an emergency whenever a panic attack strikes.
Why do breathing exercises for anxiety work?
Stop what you’re doing and take a deep breath. Doesn’t it just feel better?
In that moment, you’re focused only on that breath. Your mind isn’t occupied with reading this article, listening to background noise or getting lost in the thousand and one thoughts rushing through your mind. Instead, it’s tuned only to that breath, on the slow, deep inhale and calm, relaxing exhale.
Take another deep breath and this time, pay attention to how you feel. This time, you’ll notice that not only is your mind clearer because of the reason mentioned above but also that you feel physically different, even if only for a moment.
This is because, as you focus on those slow, deep breaths, you’re sending a message to your brain that it’s time for calm. Your brain, in turn, sends messages throughout your body that result in that feeling of calm washing gently over you.
Now, compare this to what happens when you’re in the grip of anxiety.
When you get anxious, you tend to do what’s called thoracic -or chest- breathing, releasing quick, shallow breaths in rapid succession.
Often, instead of slowing down your breathing, you get caught up in how those rapid breaths make you feel as though you’re not getting enough oxygen, thus escalating the level of panic. This sends all kinds of confusing signals to the brain which, in response, sends its own signals back through the body, negatively affecting your levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide. As a result, your blood isn’t sufficiently oxygenated and thus you end up with all the classic symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks such as a thumping heart, dizziness and muscle tension.
When you finally take note of our breathing and consciously return it to slow, even diaphragmatic breathing (breathing using your diaphragm), you signal to your brain that it’s time to correct the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, alleviating those symptoms and making you feel calm and relaxed in the process.
So, that’s the science stuff out of the way, but how do you actually use breathing exercises for anxiety?
Quick and effective breathing exercises for anxiety
Here are five quick and effective techniques you can use right now, or whenever you need them, to return yourself to a peaceful state of calm.
1. Easy abdominal breathing technique
Let’s start with one of the simplest and most effective techniques available.
You might have seen this referred to as “belly breathing” or “diaphragmatic breathing techniques.” Whatever name you see it by, the technique is essentially the same.
Here’s a video to help you go through the technique:
Abdominal breathing technique in action:
- Sitting or lying in a comfortable position, close your eyes, relax your shoulders and allow any tension in your muscles to disappear if at all possible.
- Inhale deeply and slowly through your nose. Your bellow should expand whilst your chest rises very little. If it helps, you can put your hand on your bellow and feel the inhaled breath pushing that hand up.
- Exhale slowly through your mouth. Keeping your jaw relaxed, purse your lips as you blow, though remember to keep the exhale nice and gentle. Again, you can keep your hand on your stomach and very lightly push down as you exhale.
- Repeat for several minutes until you feel calm again.
Like most of these exercises, you may find it helpful to practice this one even when you’re feeling anxious. That way, you’ll know just what to do when the time comes that you do need to use it.
2. Buteyko breathing method
One common symptom of an anxiety or panic attach is hyperventilating. This involves breathing so rapidly that it almost feels that you just can’t get enough oxygen into your lungs no matter what you do.
In actual fact, the very opposite is happening. Hyperventilation is caused by too much oxygen getting in, upsetting the oxygen/carbon dioxide balance and inducing those feelings of panic. The Buteyko method readdresses that balance, proving itself to be highly effective in stopping hyperventilation.
Here’s a video to help you go through the technique:
Buteyko breathing method in action:
- Sit comfortably, take a gentle breathe in through the nose.
- Just as gently, breathe out, again through the nose.
- Immediately following the exhale, pinch your nose with your fingers and hold your breath.
- Continue to hold your breath for as long as you can.
- When you feel a natural urge to breathe again, let go of the nose and breathe out.
- Resume breathing as normally as possible.
- Wait for 30 – 60 seconds and repeat until you feel calm and relaxed.
3. 1:4:2 Power breaths
Fans of best-selling author and performance coach Tony Robbins may already be familiar with this one.
Featured in Robbins’ groundbreaking 2001 book Unlimited Power, this powerful technique can help you quickly move from the short, shallow thoracic breathing that creates panic attacks to the deep, slow diaphragmatic breathing that leaves us calm and relaxed:
Like all the breathing exercises we’re looking at today, this one has the added benefit that by focussing on it and it alone, we’re able to take our thoughts away from the anxiety trigger, putting our minds in a clear, calm state from which we can better tackle what’s in front of us.
It’s called 1:4:2 because that’s the ratio used to determine how long to inhale, hold and exhale a breath. Using that ratio for an initial count of five, for example, the technique would look like this:
1:4:2 in action:
- Inhale for five seconds
- Hold the breath in for 20 seconds
- Exhale for 10 seconds.
If you find that this is too much, you can always adjust the number of seconds providing you stick to the same ratio.
You could, for example, do the following:
- Inhale for three seconds
- Hold the breath for 12 seconds
- Exhale for six seconds.
Tony Robbins recommends doing 10 “power breaths” three times a day, though even if you don’t remember to do it throughout your day, repeating this exercise ten times when you’re struggling with anxiety can really help with alleviating the symptoms you’re dealing with.
4. Equal breathing
If all that talk of numbers and ratios causes you more anxiety than it solves, here’s a much simpler version. This one focuses on breathing in and our for an equal number of breaths:
Equal breathing in action:
- Breathe in slow and steady through the nose for a count of four.
- Relax and exhale for the same count of four.
- Repeat until feeling calm and relaxed.
You might also find it helpful to use this one before bed if your anxiety is causing you sleep problems.
5. Alternate nostril breathing
Finally, we come to one of the trickier breathing exercises for anxiety, albeit one that can prove hugely beneficial in helping us move from thoracic to diaphragmatic breathing, as well as regaining focus when anxiety sends your thoughts into a spin.
Here’s a video to help you go through the technique:
Alternate nostril technique in action:
- Place your right thumb over your right nostril.
- Breathe in through your left nostril.
- Put your finger over your left nostril and breathe out through the right nostril.
- Alternate breathing in through one nostril and out through the other, blocking whichever nostril you’re not using.
Choose the best breathing exercises for your anxiety
Whilst some of these techniques are best used in specific circumstances (such as Buteyko for hyperventilation), each one ultimately achieves the same result — Getting us out of those fast, shallow breaths that cause our anxiety symptoms and back into the deep, relaxing breaths that leave us feeling calm.
To determine which one is best for you, you might want to take some time to practice each one and decide for yourself which is the most effective in alleviating your anxiety.
