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DEEP BREATHS
Watch 4 simple breathing exercises to beat stress and give you a boost if you’re feeling exhausted or sluggish
Boost your energy and sleep better with easy expert-approved tactics
WE all breathe, every minute of every day, taking around 22,000 breaths every 24 hours.
In fact, we probably don’t even notice our breath as it’s controlled by the autonomic nervous system, which just carries on without us having to do anything.
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Typically, at rest, the NHS states that a normal breathing rate is approximately between 12 to 16 breaths per minute.
But, when we’re stressed, our sympathetic nervous system, also known as ‘fight or flight’ mode, kicks in, which causes our breathing to get quicker.
Breaths may also become shorter and sharper.
When we focus on slowing our breathing, however, research has found that it can cause our parasympathetic nervous system to kick in, also known as our ‘rest and digest’ mode.
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This can cause us to feel less stressed.
It has been shown that the power of breath is huge.
So much so that various breathwork exercises can actually help to ease anxiety, reduce stress, boost our sleep and improve our focus.
Breathing correctly can even help to invigorate us and give us energy.
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Jasmine St Cliere is a breathwork expert at London-based Soulstice.
Here, she shares four simple follow-along breathing exercises.
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1. To manage stress and anxiety
Feeling like there’s too much to do in too little time?
Try the boxed breathing pattern, as used by Navy Seals.
“This is an impactful breathing pattern to help slow down and regulate the system by bringing pauses in between breaths,” Jasmine says.
Come into a seated position with a long and lengthened spine.
Place your hands on your knees. You can allow your eyes to close.
Notice if you feel any sense of stress or anxiety; Jasmine says this can be felt by an accelerated heartbeat and shorter, shallower breaths.
Pay attention to how your breath feels and consciously slow your breath down. Inhale through the nose and exhale through the nose.
Then, breathe in for three seconds, hold the breath for three seconds, exhale for three seconds, and hold for three seconds.
As you do this, think of each side of a box as you hold the breath, before moving onto the next side of the box.
Follow along with Jasmine in the video above and complete this exercise for several minutes, or as long as you feel you need.
When you finish, allow your breath to come back to a natural rhythm and open your eyes.
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2. To help improve focus
Feeling disoriented? Or struggling with a foggy brain after lunch?
Perhaps you have too much to do and don’t know where to begin?
Try the functional breath technique.
“This is how we look to breathe 99 per cent of the time,” says Jasmine.
“It’s a good habit to get into the practice of doing this breathing whenever you can.”
Have minimal restriction around your belly, ribs or chest. Undo tight clothing or change if you can.
Get into a seated position or lie down. Allow your eyes to close and try to let your ‘to do’ list fade into the background for now.
Focus on your breath and how you naturally breathe. At this moment, how is your body breathing?
Your nose is able to slow down, cleanse and warm the air that you’re breathing
Jasmine St Cliere
Jasmine says that you may need to shift to breathing through your nose.
If that's the case, seal your lips and allow the breath to move in and out of your nose.
“Your nose is able to slow down, cleanse and warm the air that you’re breathing,” says Jasmine.
When you're ready, bring your hands down to your lower belly to encourage your breath to move down into it.
As you inhale, feel the belly inflate, and as you exhale, feel the belly fall back towards the spine.
This helps to ensure you’re breathing deeply rather than taking short, sharp breaths.
After several minutes, or however long you feel you need, slowly open your eyes.
Four other simple breathing tricks
By Nevsah Fidan Karamehmet, breath expert and founder of Breath Hub
To ease panic
Use 4-7-8 breathing, a simple and effective way to reduce stress and anxiety levels.
How? Find a comfortable position, either sitting or lying down.
Inhale deeply through your nose for four seconds; hold your breath for seven seconds; then breathe out slowly for eight seconds. Repeat for several minutes.
To focus the mind
Use coherent breathing – this helps to balance the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems that control the fight-or-flight and rest-and-digest responses.
How? Simply breathe in for a count of four, then breathe out for four.
Make sure you are breathing in a connected way, with no pauses between the inhales and exhales. Continue this breathing practice for at least five minutes.
To boost energy
Use Kapalbhati, a rapid breathing technique.
How? Find a comfortable position.
Place your hands on your lower abdomen and breathe slowly and deeply, making sure to fill your lungs with oxygen. You should feel your abdomen expand as your lungs fill with air.
After taking this breath, exhale forcefully, using your diaphragm to push the air out of your lungs. Repeat this for about a minute.
To bring on sleep
Use Chandra bhedana, a yoga breathing technique, which can help to relax the mind.
How? Gently push your finger on your right nostril to block it and breathe in through your left nostril.
Once you have gently inhaled enough air that your lungs are full, block both nostrils and hold your breath for as long as feels comfortable.
Then, unblock just the right nostril and gently exhale, emptying the lungs of air. Repeat, alternating nostrils, until you begin to feel sleepy.
3. To help re-energise
Swerve the afternoon coffee; instead try this energising breathing routine.
Or, try this invigorating breathwork first thing in the morning to help set you up for the day.
“Whenever we inhale, we naturally bring an activation into our system,” says Jasmine.
“This type of breath focuses on deeper but also slightly faster inhalations than usual, to help with that surge of energy.”
Get into a seated position and allow your eyes to close if you’d like.
Bring one hand on the belly and the other to rest around the rib cage.
Bring an awareness to your inhale as you start to deepen the inhale.
Think about pulling the breath into the lungs. You might make a sound during this.
Then speed up the momentum of the inhalation, breaking it into two parts; first part into the belly, second part into the ribs.
Then, exhale slowly, letting all of the breath go.
Keep repeating this two-part inhale and one-part exhale for as long as you need.
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4. For better sleep
Need to wind down before bed? Stress and busy lives can make it hard to switch off at the end of the day, however Jasmine suggests trying this heart coherence breath exercise to lull you into a peaceful slumber.
Lie back on your bed. Place a hand on your heart or around your ribs and allow your eyes to close.
Inhale, then as you exhale, focus on all your muscles relaxing.
If your hand is on your heart, try to focus on your heart beating and its natural rhythm.
Now, when inhaling, try to imagine you’re breathing in through the back of your heart, inflating the chest.
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As you exhale, imagine an opening through the front of your chest, allowing for the breath to release.
Continue with this for several minutes until you naturally drift asleep.
How the 4-7-8 breathing technique can help you fall asleep in 60 seconds
IF you're struggling to sleep, it's likely you're waking up groggy and can only get through the morning with a huge cup of coffee.
Well, experts might just have the answer - the 4-7-8 technique.
Yogi Alexandra Baldi said that because this requires taking long deep breaths in and out, it can help you to fall asleep in just 60 seconds.
"Due to the deep diaphragm breath, the 4-7-8 technique has been known to not only treat insomnia, but also assist in managing cravings, controlling anger responses and improving migraines," she said.
"It is recommended that continued use of the 4-7-8 breathwork for a minimum of six weeks can begin to have a positive effect on one's heart rate, which ties in with stress and improves anxiety."
First, you need to place the tip of your tongue behind your front teeth and start to exhale through the mouth. This will create a whooshing sound.
You then should ensure your mouth is closed and begin to inhale through the nose for a count of four.
Then you need to hold your breath for seven counts.
Next, you need to start to exhale in a controlled way, for a count of eight, whilst still trying to create the whooshing sound.
In total, you should take yourself through four rounds of this technique and stick to the 4-7-8 ratio of inhaling and exhaling.
Advocate Dr Andrew Weil said this breathing technique should not be done if you're in a space where you can't relax.
"While it doesn’t necessarily have to be used for falling asleep, it can still put the practitioner into a state of deep relaxation," he told HealthLine.
"Make sure you don’t need to be fully alert immediately after practising your breathing cycles."