Breathwork for Stress

Stress Management 101

Four breathing practices that move the body out of stress and into relaxation. No belief required. You will be able to check yourself with a before and after heart rate test using a mobile.

Before you start

• When you breathe, don't completely fill and empty your lungs. Even with a super-powerful breathing practice such as snake breath, you get all you need without any discomfort.
• Extending your exhales. You can easily extend your exhales by making the breath audible. The more of a hiss it is the longer you can take to breathe.
• There is never any need to do any of these for more than two minutes. You will get all the effect you need with that, though you can repeat them. I would give yourself three minutes between each set, but four rounds is all you will ever need to do.
• Practice, practice, practice. Your goal is to find a practice that works for you then integrate it, which means making it a subconscious response through gentle repetition.
• Never compete with yourself. Consistent practice to integrate the practices is the key, not pushing your comfort zone. Remember these are here to help you cope better with being on the edge of your comfort zone, not to create a second front.

Safety

These are powerful practices. If you have any cardiac or cardio-respiratory issues (or if you suspect you have), please speak to your healthcare advisor before you use these.

Any discomfort or wooziness, stop and go back to ordinary breathing.

How do I know if I'm breathing in for the correct amount of time?

To count seconds, don't just count "one, two, three". Instead extend the counts by counting this way: "one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, three-one-thousand, four-one-thousand". This makes each count a full second.

Your job

• Find which practice works best for you.
• Find times when this can be easily practised.
• Culture the practice and explore the other ones.

If these don't work

Learn the relaxation practices instead. These two are free to read, no membership needed:

• The easiest introduction to Pranayama - extending the out breath, built on something you already do naturally, which is sighing.
• The Science of Pranayama - why breath work moves the body out of a stress response, and what the research actually shows.

Four practices, easiest first

• Each one works on the out-breath.
• The longer the out breath, the stronger the relaxation.
• Pick one and use it, rather than collecting all four.