Calming Breathing Exercises
Breathing - it’s easy right? It’s something our bodies do naturally without us thinking about it. So when we’re told to “breathe” as a strategy for calming down, it can seem silly. But there are some different ways to control your breathing that can help your body and mind calm down. I’ll go over two different techniques:
Box breathing or Tactical breathing
This breathing technique goes by a few different names. In the military it is sometimes known as tactical or sniper breathing, but a lot of people know it as box breathing. It works like this:
Inhale for four seconds
Hold the breath for four seconds
Exhale for four seconds
Keep your lungs empty for four seconds
And repeat. You can do this for as long as you’d like - either a preset amount of time, or just until you feel calmer. Some people incorporate it into their morning or nighttime routine.
It’s sometimes called box breathing because you can visualize this process as a box:
This exercise can be changed to whatever works for you! You can change the number of seconds (although I wouldn’t go lower than four). You can use an app to help guide the exercise - there’s a lot of options so find the one that works for you. Some of them have timers, let you adjust the number of seconds, or let you choose from different sounds to indicate when to move on to the next stage. You can also come up with your own visualization that helps you stay focused on the exercise: for example, some people see a balloon filling up and releasing air.
Five finger breathing/Take five breathing
This technique is great for people who do better with some tactile/hands-on feature, especially for younger kids. Hold out one hand with your fingers stretched wide. Then use a finger on your other hand to slowly trace the outline of your hand up and down each finger. When you trace up a finger, breathe in, when you trace down a finger, breathe out. Repeat as needed. This video shows an example, and can also be a great guide.
Breathing exercises can be a really helpful way to calm down, or help your child calm down. It’s best to practice these breathing exercises first when we’re calm. It’s hard to remember how to do something new when you’re upset, so if you practice it ahead of time, you’ll have more success when you’re upset!
Good luck!
Breathing exercises to calm your mind and body
To learn more about calming down and getting control over overwhelming feelings, contact me!
Further reading:
http://time.com/4316151/breathing-technique-navy-seal-calm-focused
https://childhood101.com/take-5-breathing-exercise/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq5EOFWYDCI&list=PLqWO_irL6HMHmLjLoZogXCQlH6H_pYiMU&t=0s&index=8