Conquering Anxiety with Breathing Exercises

anxiety panic fear treatment help psychotherapy psychiatry Dr Jonathan Haverkampf

Understanding what causes your anxiety is often what brings relief from anxiety in the long run. Below there is a link to other resources on this website where you can read more on the treatment of anxiety with psychotherapy. However, there are also several techniques of working with the body that can be helpful. In the following, I will provide some breathing exercises. Please keep in mind to discuss with a health professional whether they are appropriate for you before trying them.

Deep breathing

  • Sit with your legs folded
  • Keep your back straight
  • Place your hands on your knees
  • Close your eyes and focus on your breathing
  • Slowly inhale for as long as you comfortably can
  • Now exhale
  • Repeat this 4-5 times
  • You can also perform this exercise lying down with hands on the side

Positive breathing

  • Sit with your legs folded
  • Keep your back straight
  • Place your hands on your knees
  • Close your eyes and focus on your breathing
  • Slowly inhale for as long as you comfortably can
  • Now exhale
  • While inhaling and exhaling, you are required to incorporate positive self-talk
  • You must use positive affirmations and speak positively to self
  • When breathing using terms like ‘I have got this’, ‘I don’t need to worry about this’, etc. can help reduce anxiety

Pursed-lip breathing

  • Sit with your legs folded
  • Keep your back straight
  • Place your hands on your knees or however comfortable
  • Close your eyes and focus on your breathing
  • Slowly inhale with your mouth closed
  • Now, open your mouth and form a pout
  • At this point, your lips must appear as though you are giving a kiss
  • Now slowly exhale with your lips pursed
  • Repeat at least 3-4 times

Alternate-nostril breathing

  • Sit with your back straight and your legs folded
  • Place your right hand’s tips of the index and middle finger on your forehead, between your eyebrows
  • Now, gently place the thumb over your right nostril
  • Place your ring finger on the left nostril
  • Lift your thumb and inhale from your right nostril and place your hand back on your right nostril
  • Exhale from your left nostril and then inhale from the same nostril
  • Repeat this a few times
  • Make sure to not force the breathing, this exercise is supposed to be gentle and relaxing

Box breathing

  • Sit with your back straight
  • your legs must be folded
  • Inhale while mentally counting up to four
  • Hold your breath for another 4 seconds
  • Now exhale slowly counting up to four
  • Now repeat this technique at least 4-5 times

The NHS in the UK has an article on Breathing exercises for stress

Healthline provides an article on 8 Breathing Exercises to Try When You Feel Anxious, and Verywellmind has similar information on 8 Deep Breathing Exercises for Anxiety

For other articles on anxiety and psychotherapy on this website, you may be interested in the following:

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