Have you ever felt anxiety or stress, been deeply bothered, or felt on edge, and though you talked about it with friends, family, even a therapist, it didn’t totally go away?
Maybe things got a little better, but it felt like something was still lingering, like you just couldn’t shake the feeling? If so, you’re not alone, and there’s a reason for this.
What is anxiety and stress?
Anxiety and stress are actually a physical response of your nervous system, specifically the “fight or flight” response – which is why you can’t just “think” your way out of it.
When your body thinks it’s in danger (which happens often when you’re experiencing some sort of stress, or triggered by something in the present because of something that happened to us in the past), there are many physiological and hormonal responses that occur, such as the production of cortisol and fast shallow breathing, in order to aid you through a potentially dangerous situation.
This is a necessary response, because your body needs to learn what’s safe and what’s not – otherwise, you’d constantly be assessing the world around you and you’d never get anything done, or potentially find yourself in a harmful situation.
The dilemma with all of this is that your body sometimes thinks it’s unsafe and in danger when you’re actually safe.
For example, have you ever met someone who reminded you of a person who may have done harm to you in the past, either verbally, physically, or even someone who laughed at you at school?
How did you respond?
I would wager it may have brought up some unsavory feelings, maybe panic, fear, or at the very least, discomfort. Your body remembers everything, and it does this so it can keep you safe (thank you body!) … but this is not so helpful when you’re not in danger anymore.
Furthermore, we live in a society where we’re constantly bombarded with text messages, emails, family obligations, the news, global catastrophes…the list could go on. Your body detects all of these disturbances and your fight or flight system turns on… and for many of us, it doesn’t shut off.
This causes stress, and when it continues on for an extended period of time, this is called chronic stress – and chronic stress is highly detrimental to your body, potentially creating dis-ease and disrupting the balance and rhythm of your body.
What can you do about anxiety and stress?!
Thankfully, you have your breath – a magnificent tool for calming your nervous system and bringing it back into a state of rest.
Why? Because your breath is the only part of your autonomic nervous system that you have conscious control over.
Here’s how it works:
- When your fight or flight (sympathetic) system is turned on, you breathe short, shallow breaths.
- When your rest and digest (parasympathetic) system is turned on, also part of the vagus nerve (another whole post on that for another day), you breathe long, deep belly breaths.
- Your breath is directly related to the response of your nervous system.
- Your nervous system affects the way you breathe, AND, the miracle is… you can flip this!
- Consciously breathing (Breathwork) can affect your nervous system and bring your nervous system back into a state of rest and its’ natural self-regulatory state.
- This is AMAZING news!
You have a tool built inside of you (your breath!) that can help you live a more calm, peaceful, and joyful life.
By consciously breathing you can help your nervous system finish the fight or flight response and come back into a state of rest – and you can live in this state more often, and over time, you’ll feel calm most of the time.
This helps improve everything in your life, from your relationships, relationship to yourself and feelings of self-love, focus, healing trauma and other difficult emotions, and in general, living more in a state of peace.
If you’re dealing with some deep emotions or healing from trauma, I highly recommend working with a trained professional, though if you’re looking for some go-to strategies you can use throughout the day when you feel stressed or triggered, here are a couple of breaths you can do at any point.
Box Breath
Step-by-Step Guide:
- Find a comfortable spot and close your eyes.
- Inhale deeply through the nose for a count of four.
- Hold your breath for four counts.
- Exhale slowly out your mouth for another four counts.
- Hold your breath on empty for a final count of four.
- Repeat for three to five rounds, adjusting the pace as you go.
This breath is perfect any time of the day, and can also be done with your eyes open if need! If you want to be alone, you can always excuse yourself to the bathroom and do a couple rounds there.
4-7-8 Breath
Step-By-Step Guide:
- Inhale through your nose for a count of four.
- Hold your breath for a count of seven.
- Exhale slowly through your mouth for a count of eight.
This rhythmic pattern calms your nervous system, reduces stress, and promotes relaxation. You can incorporate this into your morning or evening routine or use it any time during the day when you need a dose of inner calm and renewed energy.
Alternate Nostril Breathing
Step-By-Step Guide:
- Gently close your right nostril with your thumb and inhale deeply through your left nostril.
- Pause momentarily, then close your left nostril with your ring finger and exhale through your right nostril.
- Inhale again through your right nostril, pause at the top and close your right nostril, exhale through the left.
- This cycle completes one round. Do this for at least 5 rounds or as many as you need to feel calm.
This technique is renowned for reducing stress, enhancing focus, and restoring a sense of equilibrium to your day.
