Breathing Exercises
Physical exercise can be crucial for those who struggle with relaxation due to past trauma or anxiety.
IMPROVING YOUR BREATHING
Paying more attention to your breathing can be extremely effective for regulating emotions, stress, and anxiety โ especially when used with movement. Most forms of meditation use breathing techniques to relax the body and calm the mind. Finding the right breathing technique and making it part of a routine can help you experience the benefits it can bring.
There are many ways of practising breathing. Experiment to find what works for you โ here are a couple of simple exercises that may help you.
ACTIVITIES
Diaphragmatic breathing:
Diaphragmatic breathing โ also known as belly breathing or abdominal breathing โ allows effective use of oxygen as it reaches the lower parts of the lungs. Lie on your back on a flat surface with your knees bent. Place one hand on your upper chest and the other on your belly, just below your rib cage. Breathe in slowly through your nose, letting the air in deeply, towards your lower belly. The hand on your chest should remain still, while the one on your belly shouldย rise. Then tighten your tummy as you slowly exhale through pursed lips. The hand on your belly should move down to its original position. Do this for between five and ten minutes.
Square breathing:
This combines regulating breath with a visual focus. As you visually trace a square-shaped object you can see (like a picture frame, table, window or book), repeat the following seven times: 1 Inhale from the top-left corner to the top-right corner (count four) 2 Hold it from the top-right corner to the bottom-right corner (count four) 3 Exhale from the bottom-right corner to the bottom-left corner (count four) 4 Rest from the bottom-left corner to the top-left corner (count four).
Variations on square breathing include finger breathing (where you slowly trace around the thumb and fingers of an outstretched hand, inhaling as you trace up and exhaling as you trace down) and trace breathing (where you draw a shape onย a piece of paper and slowly inhale and exhale as you continue to trace the same shape without lifting your pen. The object is to make you more mindful of breathing by introducing a slow action or activity alongside the process.
Colour breathing:
Pick a colour that represents stress and tension for you. Then, paying attention to your breathing, imagine breathing out that colour as you breathe out all that stress and tension for a couple of minutes. Picture the coloured air it floats away and vanishes. Now pick a colour that represents comfort and calm. Imagine breathing in this coloured air for another couple of minutes and be mindful of how your body feels as you do so.
