Deep breathing exercises are often recommended as a valuable method for reducing stress, anxiety, irritation, and rage. Many people, however, find it difficult to practice deep breathing exercises because they either don’t believe it would help or they do it once and then stop.
However, as with many other things, practice makes better when it comes to breathing exercises.
The more you practice breathing exercises, the better you will become at them, allowing you to relieve tension, indignation, and irritation more easily than ever.
What are the benefits of breathing exercises for relaxing our bodies and minds?
Inside the nervous system, the body has two mechanisms: the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems. Both of these mechanisms play a part in why deep breathing exercises can help us relax.
Learn how the essence of our physiological processes plays a role in the positive outcomes.
The Fight or Flight Reaction
Our biological systems have an innate ability to respond to stress, particularly when confronted with a major threat. Humans have always had this ability as a matter of survival. In prehistoric times, humans came into contact with a wide range of wild animals, including bears and tigers.
In response to such a threat, our body activates the Fight, Flight, or Freeze Response, or FFF reaction.
The sympathetic nervous system is in charge of the physical sensations we experience when we are stressed, anxious, or angry or frustrated. Sweaty palms, an increase in heart rate, and faster breathing are some of the symptoms. The FFF response prepares our bodies to either run, fight, or freeze in response to a threat.
Threats Perceived
The problem with activating the Fight or Flight Response is that it can be activated whenever we perceive that we are in the presence of a threat – whether or not we actually are in the presence of a threat.
Even if we encounter negative situations in our lives, this does not always imply that they are a threat to our physical well-being.
Personal relationships, work responsibilities, job promotions, verbal arguments with others, and bad news about your health or the health of loved ones are just a few examples of situations that can set off the FFF response.
Despite the fact that all of these situations may be emotionally distressing or painful, our nervous system may interpret them as physically dangerous. As a result, our bodies activate the natural FFF response to prepare us to fight or flee.
Activating the Opposite Reaction
We must activate the parasympathetic nervous system to tell our biological systems that the situations we are in do not necessitate a fight or flight response. The parasympathetic nervous system produces the opposite response to the FFF, resulting in relaxation.
Another important aspect of the Fight or Flight Response is how it redirects your blood flow. Blood is diverted away from the brain to the extremities in the body, such as the arms, legs, hands, and feet, to prepare you to fight or run from a perceived threat.
Deep Breathing Reverses This Process
Since we’re not running or battling, breathing exercises redirect blood flow from the extremities to the parts of the brain that enable us to think, reason, and solve problems.
This is why breathing exercises can help us relax when we’re feeling stressed, angry, or frustrated. When blood returns to the brain, we are able to think more clearly.
How to Do Deep Breathing Exercises
Deep breathing can be done in a variety of ways to help you calm both your body and mind.
In times of tension or frustration, the best way to practice is to:
- Close your eyes.
- Inhale deeply while tensing the whole body for four seconds.
- Finally, slowly exhale.
- 4.Repeat this three or four times more to return to a relaxed and calm state.
As you can see, the body’s innate capacity to fight or escape from a perceived danger has been and continues to be useful throughout history. Reversing the process by breathing exercises, on the other hand, allows you to think more objectively and rationally about the tension or problem you’re dealing with.
