How To Harness The Power Of Deep Breathing

The power of deep breathing is all too often overlooked as a tool for managing anxiety and balancing the mind.

The simple truth is that breathing is an incredible wellness tool, and one that we all have the power to harness!

When you direct your consciousness to your breath, you are better able to:

• • Reinvigorate your energy levels
  • Release built-up stress
  • Focus your body, heart and mind
  • Increase your mind-body connection

Conscious Deep Breathing

Giving your full attention to your breathing can be hard to do. It’s easy to lose focus as your mind naturally wants to wander to other things.

Spending time focusing entirely on your breath, whilst being aware of the physical sensations of your body, will help to ease your mind and lower your stress levels. As you slow everything down, your body will be releasing hormones that promote peace, calm and relaxation!

This is something you can try at literally anytime. You might want to carve out a structured period to engage in deep breathing exercises, but you can also do it on the move, at work, while exercising, etc.

For example, if you are walking to work, then you may begin taking deep breaths in and out. Visualise the air as it enters your nose and travels down to the very bottom of your lungs, and then as it moves back up and out of the mouth.

If you prefer to give your full attention to this practice, then you may try laying or sitting down as you give it a try. As you do this, allow the sounds of your surroundings to wash over you, and push all distractions from your mind. Breathe in slowly and deeply through the nose and visualise the airflow as mentioned before. This is something you may want to do as you drift into sleep, but it can also be done at any point during the day to reset the mind to a peaceful place.

The Parasympathetic Nervous System

Let’s take a look at the science for a moment!

The parasympathetic nervous system is one of two branches of the autonomic nervous system, with the other being the sympathetic nervous system (concerned with fight or flight mode). The autonomic system is the branch of the peripheral nervous system that is responsible for involuntary processes inside of the body.

The activation of the parasympathetic nervous system is the answer when you are seeking a peaceful and relaxed state of mind.

It isn’t possible for the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems to be active at the same time, so your body can either be ready for fight and flight, or for rest and relax – and I know which one I prefer!

When your body spends more time resting then it does preparing to deal with stress, then you will likely experience the following benefits:

• Better blood pressure
• Stable blood sugar levels
• High energy levels
• Better sleep
• Better mood

With the many benefits to health and happiness that come with the activation of the parasympathetic system, you would be forgiven for thinking it is hard to achieve. The simple truth is that you can master this relatively quickly by regularly engaging in conscious deep breathing.

Breathing & Yoga

Harnessing the power of your breath is something that is always encouraged and explored within a yoga practice. When you are new to yoga, you might be more concerned with diving in headfirst to move your body and master the poses. However, taking the time to align your breathing with your movements will truly go a long way to boosting your practice.

When you breathe deeply during yoga, then you will also experience the stress-busting benefits of this practice in a heightened way.

Check out my past post on How Practicing Yoga Can Help Overcome Overwhelm!

Breathing Through Anxiety

Anxiety is something that anyone can struggle with at any point in their life. Sometimes the anxiety that you experience may be slight and easy to get under control. However, your anxiety may also sometimes be severe and hinder you while you’re trying to do everyday things.

Being aware of techniques that you can use to alleviate anxiety is a great way to help prevent the impact of it when it does strike.

New Year’s Day Workshop

For more advice and guidance on defeating stress and overcoming overwhelm, I’d love to invite you to my upcoming workshop.

In this workshop we will look to remind ourselves that there is always a solution waiting for us. The only insurmountable obstacles are the ones we create in our minds.

Perseverance and mindfulness will never fail to see us through the other side of hardship where joy can thrive.

We will begin with a mindfulness flow followed by discussing tools to take away to allow your 2021 to be filled with hope.