Can breathing techniques help me reduce stress?
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Dr. Dean Ornish answered:Your breath is the link between your mind and your body. It both reflects and affects your level of stress. In other words, your mind affects your body, and your body affects your mind.
When you’re relaxed, you tend to breathe more slowly and deeply. When you’re feeling stressed, your breath becomes more rapid and shallower, so it can be a way of letting you know when you’re feeling stressed.
When you become aware that you’re stressed, remind yourself to take some slow, deep breaths, which will reduce your stress level almost immediately. You breathe slowly and deeply when you’re feeling relaxed, and forcing yourself to breathe slowly and deeply can cause you to feel relaxed.
Besides connecting your mind and body, breathing is a bridge between your sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, which are your neurological yin and yang. During times of emotional stress, your sympathetic nervous system becomes stimulated; after the danger has passed, your parasympathetic nervous system is activated.
Find out more about this book: The Spectrum: A Scientifically Proven Program to Feel Better, Live Longer,...
Your breath is the link between your mind and your body. It both reflects and affects your level of stress. In other words, your mind affects your body, and your body affects your mind. When you’re relaxed, you tend to breathe more slowly and... More -
Dr. Kathleen Hall answered:Research shows us that breathing techniques affects us by altering the pH of the blood, or changing blood pressure. You can train your body’s reaction when you are experiencing stress to lower the production of stress hormones. Slow deep breathing stimulates the parasympathetic system, this is the system that calms our mind and body. Deep breathing puts the brakes on the stress response.Research shows us that breathing techniques affects us by altering the pH of the blood, or changing blood pressure. You can train your body’s reaction when you are experiencing stress to lower the production of stress... More -
Dr. Vonda Wright answered:At any stressful point during the day, you can instantly lower your blood pressure and relax right where you are. When you breathe slowly through your nose, a gas called nitric oxide is released from your nasal passages into the bloodstream. This gas acts on the blood vessels to dilate them and lowers your blood pressure naturally. You will have moments of relaxation.
Stop reading, close your eyes, and breathe slowing through your nose for a count of ten. Exhale slowly through your mouth the same way. Repeat this 5-10 times.
Use this technique whenever you need a little breather. Under chronic stress, you take shallow breaths and may even hold them. This causes shunting of blood to the brain and makes you more alert, but it makes the kidneys less effective at filtering the salt out of your blood and explains why chronic stress can lead to high blood pressure.
Find out more about this book: Dr. Vonda Wright's Guide to Thrive: Four Steps to Body, Brains, and Bliss
At any stressful point during the day, you can instantly lower your blood pressure and relax right where you are. When you breathe slowly through your nose, a gas called nitric oxide is released from your nasal passages into the bloodstream.... More
