It’s midterm season, COVID-19 anxiety permeates the atmosphere, and that breakfast burrito before your 8:30 am class leaves you barely any time. Stress can accumulate from even the smallest daily hassles, and it can leave you frazzled and vulnerable to illness, a disastrous combination.
One thing you can do as self-care is to breathe well. It may not be obvious, but we often engage in “chest breathing” that deprives the lowest part of our lungs of air, making us feel short of breath and anxious. Shallow, rapid breathing activates the fight-or-flight response, increases the heart rate and suppresses the immune system. Controlled diaphragmatic breathing, however, signals the brain that the parasympathetic response (which is involved in resting and digesting) can take over, slowing heart rate and encouraging a feeling of calm.
Here is one basic exercise you can do: while sitting upright or lying down with a hand on your stomach, inhale for five counts, pause, and exhale for six counts. The hand on your stomach should help you check that your abdomen is expanding as you breathe in. If it is too difficult to inhale and exhale for that long, you can try this exercise with shorter times for inhaling and exhaling.
Another exercise involves breathing alternately through one nostril. While gently blocking one nostril with your fingers, breathe out first then in through the uncovered nostril. Change sides after this exhale and inhale and do the same–all the while making sure to keep your breaths slow and steady. Doing these exercises 10-20 minutes a day will help reduce your stress and anxiety.
Perhaps if this sounds too much like another healthy habit that will not last, you may consider honing your singing skills. Singing is made possible through controlled breathing, and it develops the parts of the brain involved in emotion, attention, and body awareness. Endorphins, which make us feel happier, are released when you belt those resounding notes in the shower.
So whether you bemuse your roommate as you breathe conspicuously while touching your nose (and maintaining appropriate social distance) or when you decide to yodel along the hiking trails, being more conscious of this basic but essential part of human functioning can offer you peace of mind this week.
Works Cited
Alderman, Lesley. “Breathe. Exhale. Repeat: The Benefits of Controlled Breathing.” New York Times,
November 9, 2016.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/09/well/mind/breathe-exhale-repeat-the-benefits-of-cont
rolled-breathing.html?searchResultPosition=1Psych
Boyes, Alice. “Breathing Techniques for Anxiety.” Psychology Today, July 12, 2016.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-practice/201607/breathing-techniques-anxiety
Harvard Health Publishing. “Relaxation techniques: Breath control helps quell errant stress response.”
January 2015.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/relaxation-techniques-breath-control-helps-
quell-errant-stress-response
Keating, Sarah. “The world’s most accessible stress reliever.” British Broadcasting Corporation, May
18, 2020.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200518-why-singing-can-make-you-feel-better-in-lock
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