Breathing is one of the few things in your body that runs automatically but that you can also take direct control of. Slowing your breath, especially the exhale, signals your nervous system to settle, and a 2023 Stanford randomised trial published in Cell Reports Medicine found five minutes a day of structured breathing improved mood and lowered resting breathing rate more than the same amount of mindfulness meditation.
Breathing exercises will not resolve ongoing anxiety, trauma, or depression on their own, and they are not a substitute for counselling. What they are good for is bringing your body out of a stress response quickly enough to think clearly, get through a hard conversation, or simply get through the next ten minutes. If anxiety is what keeps bringing you back to this page, anxiety counselling looks at what is underneath it.
A structured 4-4-4-4 pattern to steady your focus before something that needs a clear head.
A double inhale and long exhale that resets your body in under a minute, the technique behind the Stanford study above.
A slower pattern for the end of the day, when the goal is winding down rather than staying alert.
The foundation most other breathing techniques build on, worth learning properly once.
Written for the ten minutes waiting in the car, a small window to reset between one part of the day and the next.
References
Balban, M.Y., Neri, E., Kogon, M.M., et al. (2023). Brief structured respiration practices enhance mood and reduce physiological arousal. Cell Reports Medicine, 4(1), 100895.
