Deep Breathing Strategies to Reduce Anxiety

How Does Deep Breathing Reduce Anxiety?

Do you struggle with feelings of anxiety? If so, it’s good to know that there are ways to relieve your suffering. You can use deep breathing to reduce anxiety. Learn these strategies to take charge of your nervousness and experience the serenity you deserve. Control your anxiety with simple deep breathing techniques and tips detailed below.

Why Does Deep Breathing Help Anxiety?

When you breathe deeply and fully, your body calms. You may still be a bit tense, but your relaxed breathing can protect you from getting worse and ultimately from an anxiety attack. In an anxiety attack, you may have a tendency to hyperventilate, which increases the level of panic you experience. However, deep breathing can keep you in control.

Does Deep Breathing Help Anxiety?

Yes. Imagine this: When you hyperventilate, you take short, quick breaths in the top part of your lungs. Your chest expands, but you aren’t getting the full amount of air that you need to remain calm. The quick overload of oxygen you receive from shallow breathing makes your apprehension and panic even worse. It becomes a cycle that can be hard to break without practice. By doing the reverse, on the other hand, which is deep breathing, you can counter these effects that promote anxiety.

The Most Beneficial Way to Breathe

Any time you can concentrate on breathing fully – all the way down to your abdomen – you’ll improve your relaxation response to stressful situations.

If your chest is rising with each breath you take, you’re not expanding your lungs to full capacity. Because of this, your body usually lacks the oxygen it needs to thrive under the pressure of the moment. Try these anxiety deep breathing exercises instead…

Deep Breathing Techniques for Anxiety

Place a hand just above your belly button (abdomen) and breathe. If you’re breathing deeply, your hand will rise and fall with each breath.

Practice breathing slowly by taking full, deep breaths. You might feel a bit strange at first because you’re not used to it. You may even feel a bit giddy, but that’s normal. It’ll pass with practice.

If you do this, you’re getting plenty of air even if you don’t feel like you are. Your lungs can expand without your upper chest rising rapidly. Only your upper belly actually needs to rise and fall. At first, you probably won’t breathe this way naturally unless you are thinking about it ’cause you’re so conditioned to breathing laboriously from your chest.

Keep practicing this (abdomen) deep breathing technique, and you’ll soon be breathing better all the time.

How Does Deep Breathing Help Anxiety 

First, anxiety is often caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. It may simply be the product of over-active nerves that react too strongly to stimuli. However, regardless of what causes you to feel anxious, the most important thing is to alleviate it and reduce the degree to which it affects your life. Anxiety doesn’t have to stop you from living the life you deserve.

If you’re contemplating on reducing any medication or therapy you’re currently using, consult your physician before making any changes to your established regimen to incorporate these deep breathing strategies. However you can still start deep breathing right away even without removing any of your existing anxiety therapies.

There are no side effects to deep breathing, as this type of therapy is natural and healthy. And it’s something everyone can learn and benefit from. If you struggle with worry, you can feel more relaxed and in control by simply controlling your breathing. Begin practicing deep breathing techniques today and experience peace in the midst of the storms of your life.

Take time to easily perform deep breathing even at times when you’re not feeling anxious and stressed. This little trick is also extremely helpful in warding off anxiety before it happens.