5-MINUTE BREATH TECHNIQUE TO REDUCE STRESS
How to breathe more effectively
If you are like the people we follow on Instagram you likely wake up at 5am, only after getting 8 hours of sleep, and start your day by either journaling or a quiet walk in the woods. After this we jump into our own private cold pools for some exposure therapy and cap it off with a balanced home cooked breakfast before 8am and ready to take on the day!
If you are like myself and the rest of the 99% of the planet the alarm goes off to wake you up as you realized you overslept by 20 minutes and still have to get yourself, and children/spouses ready for their day all while trying to manage incoming emails and text messages from clients or colleagues with things that they also need assistance for (immediately of course).
When you ask most of us what causes us to adapt unhealthy behaviors, lose track of our own wellbeing, and not prioritize things like social relationships the number one answer would most assuredly be TIME. Time is an interesting thing, we always want more of it, and when we get it we seemingly do not know how to manage it. In a country where anxiety and depression are on the rise, it is easy to see how our mindsets and environments make it easy for us to be everywhere except for where we are – the present!
Anxiety is the most common mental illness in the US affecting over 40 million of us each year. Defined as a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome, this feeling creates the opportunity for us to stay stuck in the FUTURE.
Depression, on the other hand, affects over 280 million in the globe everyday, and creates feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities you once enjoyed – thus seizing an opportunity for us to stay stuck in the PAST.
So, how do we come back to the present? Is there a tool that is easily accessible, we can utilize wherever we are, and that won’t take a long time to have benefit? The answer is a resounding yes, but it will surprise you.
The answer is: our breath.
Breathwork is becoming increasingly popular as a management strategy for stress and as a way to promote wellbeing, yet it seems exceedingly rare to meet people who have a consistent (and meaningful) breathwork practice. The answer to why this may be is likely due to the same reason a lot of people do not exercise. Not knowing how, when, why, what and with whom to breathe with usually results in many of us being stuck in habits that are comfortable and familiar – as in not doing breathwork.
But what if I told you that you could receive benefits from our anxiety and depression in a single session, even a session that lasted as little as 5 minutes? I think most people would likely say yes, however that still leaves us with the problem of how, when, where, and what to do – so let’s dive in!
Here is the easiest way for you to bring breathwork into your life to start achieving benefits for your physical and mental health:
Find any place in your home, office, or gym that you feel safe and/or comfortable
Inhale through the nose for a count of 5-6 seconds
Exhale through the mouth for 5-6 seconds (Note: Slowing down, and prolonging exhalation is the biggest hurdle for most of us, so we recommend using an app to help enhance your breathwork practice)
Perform for as long as you have time (Up to 5 minutes!)
Now, does it always have to be slow breathing? Absolutely not. In fact, fast paced breathing techniques have also been shown to improve immune and stress response. If speed is more your game, try the following steps:
Quickly inhale through the nose, and quickly out through the mouth
Repeat 30x
On your last breath out, hold your breath for as long as comfortable
Take a deep breath in, hold for 10 seconds
Whichever “adventure” you choose, the good news is each of these breathwork exercises should take under 5 minutes. With over 1,400 minutes in every day, even those of us hard pressed to find time and find our way back to the present should be able to take advantage of this quickly growing space in healthcare research.