Deep Breathing Exercises: Try This For Less Stress

On the left, there is a female with brown hair, in a ponytail, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. On the right, there is an orange speech bubble with "The Benefits of Deep Breathing" written.

In this BIT: Explore this breakdown of the importance of deep breathing for less stress. In addition, discover top breathing exercises and how to calm down.

We’ve all heard these words before, especially when we are stressed – “Take a deep breath.” However, is there any truth in feeling less stressed when taking longer and more focused breaths? Read on to find out!

When we start taking deep breaths, our body activates the parasympathetic nervous system. This is a network of nerves that help our body relax, slow the heart rate, relax our muscles, and perform vital functions such as breathing and conserving energy. The main nerve that operates this system is the vagus nerve, the longest cranial nerve in our body. This nerve connects our brain all the way down to our large intestine. Firstly, the action of deep breathing will get more oxygen pumped to our brain and other organs. Secondly, the deep breaths will lead to slowing our heart rate and making us feel less stressed and calmer.

A study conducted on thirty-eight university students looked into how deep and thoughtful breathing could relieve stress and boost mood. The group was split in two; experimental and controlled. Once a week, the experimental group would participate in a 90 minute deep breathing session. Meanwhile, the controlled group would simply sit without any focus on their breath. Through testing heart rate and salivary cortisol levels, and continuing these sessions for ten weeks, the study found that the experimental group improved their mood, and experienced a decrease in stress.

Now that we know that deep breathing does help with de-stressing, the real question is how can we do this on a smaller scale? Meaning, if we don’t attend 90 minute breathing classes, how can we still experience similar effectiveness, and calm down? Below we share a few tips!

– Take a big sigh. Inhale through your nose, and then release in a big sigh. Feel the stiffness in your shoulders drop!

– Just breathe. Set a timer for 1 minute and focus fully on taking big and deep breaths. If you’re in class or even in public and can’t set a timer, keep an eye on the clock and breath until the time changes.

– Box-breathing. Navy SEALs use this method during demanding situations. Take a deep inhale for four seconds, hold it in for another four, then let it out for four seconds, hold for four and then repeat. Drawing a small picture of a square on a piece of paper or tracing on your hand can help with this exercise. Take a look at our image to help you visualize it.