My anxiety flares up at the worst times. Oh I have an interview I need to nail, a important report due for my CFO or a presentation I need to give? Well, instead of acting like a super cool Finance Lady Boss, my anxiety attacks like to show up. I haven’t gotten to the point where I can’t breathe but my heart starts racing, my voice trembles, my brain stops being useful and I even cry sometimes (I hide this one). It’s embarrassing and detrimental to my quality of life so I had to find ways to deal with it asap. One of my biggest lifesavers is using breathing techniques for anxiety.
When I first was recommended using breathing exercises for stress, my mind went to paper bags. You know, like in the movies where someone is having a panic attack and starts breathing into a paper bag really quickly. It just didn’t make sense to me. I breath every day and it hadn’t helped my anxiety so far. There was no way I could benefit from this.
Luckily, I eventually put my preconceived notions behind me. Mostly, because my stress and anxiety weren’t giving much of an option. I was desperate. So, I started practicing different techniques to see which ones I liked the best.
Eventually I was able to put them into action when my anxiety would start to flare up. When you have these simple techniques in your back pocket, you can use them for stress management so you won’t have to go into a full blown anxiety attack (or at least as often).
My Favorite Breathing Techniques for Anxiety
There are a ton of breathing exercises out there. So to avoid overwhelming you (trying to reduce stress here), I’ve picked out some of my favorites to talk about. They are very easy to follow and very effective.
Mantra Breathing
I like to combine this style with meditation but it is totally beneficial by itself too. Don’t worry, you will not be shouting Om I swear.
This one is great because you can’t do it anywhere. You just need to have the privacy to close your eyes and not be bothered by anyone else.
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- Choose a simple mantra (word or phrase) related to your stress. Your matra is what you would like to feel. I like to use “relax”, “calm” or “I deserve happiness”
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- Close your eyes
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- Breathe in deeply through your nose. When you breathe in, say your mantra in your head. Try to feel the essence of that word or phrase and imagine that the air coming in is filling you with this feeling
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- When you breathe out, picture the anxiety and negativity leaving your body
- Repeat these steps for 10 minutes
Muscle Relaxation
This one is great for when you can feel your stress being held in your muscles. I know I hold my stress in my shoulders and jaw so this helps me get the stress out from its hiding spaces. This is best done on the floor but honestly I do it at my desk at work sometimes.
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- Take a few deep breaths to start to relax
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- Breath in and tighten the muscles in your feet
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- Breath out and relax your muscles
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- Breathe in and tighten the muscles in your calves
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- Breath out and relax your muscles
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- Breathe in and tighten the muscles in your quads and hamstrings
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- Breath out and relax your muscles
- Continues to do this for each muscle group as you work your way up your body including your face
Deep Breathing
This is a very simple technique that helps you become aware of your breathing. If you are able to, it is best done while lying down.
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- Put your left hand over your heart and place your right hand on your stomach
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- Breath deeply in through your nose and out through your nose
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- You belly should be expanding more than your chest. This is how you know if you are breathing deeply versus shallowly
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- While you breath deeply, focus on the movement of your chest and stomach
- Do this for at least 10 minutes
4-7-8 Method
If you can count, you can do this one anywhere. I used to do this one on the subway when I was stressed out.
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- Exhale completely through your mouth
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- Inhale through your nose while counting to 4
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- Hold your breath for 7 counts
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- Exhale through your mouth for 8 counts
- Repeat cycle 3 more times
Wim Hof Method
If you haven’t heard of Wim Hof, let me tell you, this guy is incredible. Here’s a casual list of his accomplishments:
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- Running a half marathon above the Arctic Circle, barefoot only wearing shorts
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- Swimming underneath ice for 66 meters
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- Hanging on one finger at an altitude of 2,000 meters
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- Climbing the highest mountains in the world while wearing shorts
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- Running a full marathon in the Namib Desert without drinking
- Standing in a container while covered in ice cubes for extended periods of time
You may be thinking, ‘okay great he’s not human, how does this help me?’ So, not only does he claim that his breathing technique gives him the ability to do these incredible feats, but he has helped normal people through breathing as well.
A Dutch researcher tested the immune systems of people who had followed Wim Hof’s training for 10 days. These participants were injected with an inflammatory agent while they performed the techniques. The Wim Hof group experienced lower levels of inflammation, and were less affected by the fever and nausea from the injection that the control group.
Intrigued? Well here’s how to do it. Disclaimer: this is slightly more complicated than the other methods but still very simple, I promise.
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- Get comfortable
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- Breathe in through your mouth fully and don’t exhale fully through your mouth, only partially. You will do this 30 times. It will feel kind of like you are hyperventilating. You may also get light headed but that is normal
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- After the 30 breaths, exhale fully and hold your breath. Your lungs will feel like they have nothing in them. Hold it as long as you can. I like to close my eyes during this part
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- Once you feel like you must breath in, take a deep breathe and hold it for 10 seconds
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- Exhale
- Repeat these steps for 3 more rounds
Putting it into Practice
Think fire drills. During a fire drill you practice where to go and what to do when nothing is on fire. So, you are going to have to do the same thing here. When you are having a bad case of anxiety, you don’t want to try to figure out some new way of breathing that is going to stress you out more. You will want to already have the breathing technique come second nature to you.
I personally like to do my breathing exercises at night. They help me wind down after a long day at work and put my mind at ease. When you are getting ready to head to bed, take few minutes to use one of these breathing techniques for anxiety. Rotate the techniques every few days so you have a few backups when your anxiety strikes. This way you’ll be totally ready for the anxiety fire going on in your brain.
Happy breathing!
Eliza B.
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