Why conscious breathing might be the easiest step towards better self-care

“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor” Thich Nhat Hanh

On average we take about 12 breaths every minute, that’s about 17,000 breaths every day. How many of those breaths are you aware of? 

Luckily, we don’t usually have to think much about breathing. Our brains send out the right signals to our muscles so we don’t have to remember. 

However, there is benefit in becoming more aware of how we breathe. 

If you practice yoga or meditation, you probably already know how much calmer you feel after consciously taking deep breaths. 

We can use the simple act of breathing to take better care of ourselves.

The effect of stress on breathing 

You might become more aware of your breathing when you feel scared or anxious. Stress causes a surge of adrenaline in the body which makes your heart beat faster and means you start to breathe more quickly.

These reactions are controlled by the body’s sympathetic nervous system – often called the “fight or flight” response.

Breathing quickly involves shallow breathing – breathing from the chest only, rather than from the diaphragm (“belly breathing”). 

When you breathe shallowly, you actually end up over-breathing – you take in too much oxygen and breathe out too much carbon dioxide.

If this happens for too long it can cause hyperventilation.  

Resetting the nervous system

There’s another branch of the nervous system which looks after the body’s “rest and digest” response – this is the parasympathetic nervous system. 

When you’re stressed and breathing too quickly, it acts like an emergency brake to slow down your heart rate and calm your breathing.  

Ideally, there should be a balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic parts of the nervous system. 

One part or the other is always more active to ensure we have what we need at the right time – whether that’s increased energy to run for a train (the sympathetic part) or relaxing our muscles so we can digest our dinner properly (the parasympathetic part).

When we spend a lot of time being stressed, we can easily get stuck in the sympathetic part with our fight or flight response continuously “on”. 

If we don’t return to a state of rest and digest, our health starts to suffer. 

Like exercising without ever giving the body time to recover, we end up feeling depleted.

Conscious breathing is a really simple way of turning on our rest and digest system. 

How to breathe consciously 

Firstly, practice breathing from your belly and not your chest:

1.     Sit or lie down comfortably. 

2.     Put one hand on your belly just below your ribs and the other hand on your chest.

3.     Take a deep breath in through your nose and let your belly push your hand out. Your chest shouldn’t move.

4.     Breathe out through your lips as if you were whistling. Feel the hand on your belly go in. 

Then follow this simple conscious breathing technique:

1.     Sit in a comfortable position with your spine straight and close your eyes.

2.     Breathe in through your nose for a count of 4. Pause at the top of for a count of 2.

3.     Breathe out through your lips for a count of 6. Pause at the bottom for a count of 2.

Set a timer and start by breathing like this for one minute, increasing the time as you feel more comfortable. 

If the pattern of 4-2-6-2 doesn’t feel good you can increase or decrease the length of the inhales and exhales.

It’s important that the exhale is longer than the inhale each time – this increases the variation in your heart rate which helps you to relax more easily.

Remember it’s your belly that should rise and fall, not your shoulders. 

Benefits of conscious breathing 

• Helps relieve stress and anxiety

• Keeps cortisol levels in check and lowers blood pressure

• Releases muscle tension. Shallow breathing can cause neck, shoulder and chest pain.

• Toxins are released from our bodies through the breath. Breathing deeply helps this process work more efficiently and strengthens the immune system.

• A calmer nervous system improves digestion

• Better sleep

• Helps us feel more energised

• Research shows significant physiological effects on the respiratory and cardiovascular systems as well as on the nervous system

Whether you consider yourself to be stressed or not, practicing conscious breathing regularly is a good investment in your health. 

As well as helping you spend more time in rest and digest mode, it’s an easily accessible (free!) self-care tool when stress hits and you need to reset. 

The more often you practice conscious breathing, the easier it will be to access and the more effective it will be in times of stress.

If this blog has struck a chord with you and you find it hard to relax, I can help. Book a free discovery call with me to find out more:

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