How breathing can reduce stress and anxiety

In the relentless rhythm of day-to-day life, looking after our mental health has never been more important.

Here our therapist Emily explains one strategy that helps many people: deliberate and mindful breathing.

Breathing is clearly a vital part of our existence, but there is more to it than just using it to survive. Breathing techniques, if used regularly, can reduce the body's physical symptoms of stress and anxiety and calm the mind.

How it works

Understanding the function of our breathing when we are under stress can help paint a bigger picture of how breathing impacts our mental health.

When we are stressed, we hyperventilate – which means ‘too much breathing’.

The average adult takes around 15 breaths per minute when relaxed, but when stressed our ‘flight or fight’ mode kicks in and our breathing speeds up. As we are not actually running away from danger, we don’t use up extra oxygen and the excess oxygen builds up in our bloodstream. This can lead to symptoms such as dizziness, feeling faint, numbness and breathlessness.  

An effective way to help with our stress and mental health is to balance out the gasses in our body through breathing techniques. These techniques are something that anyone can do and takes very little time, and the purpose of breathing exercises is to get rid of the excess oxygen.  

Here are our top tips for getting started:  

Tip 1 - Choose a breathing exercise that works for you

Firstly, choosing a breathing exercise that works for you is important. One example is ‘rectangular breathing’ which involved breathing in for 5 seconds, and out for 7 seconds then repeating.  

Here's another example of Mindful Breathing from the NHS Every Mind Matters programme You Tube channel. You can speak to your therapist at NHS Berkshire Talking Therapies about relaxation techniques too.

Tip 2 - Practice it regularly

These types of exercises are quick but effective when used regularly as they help to control you breathing and reduce the physical symptoms associated with stress and anxiety. Practice will make this easier for you to do this. 

Incorporate a breathing technique into your daily routine, for example, before brushing your teeth or first thing in the morning can help remind you to to practice your breathing exercises. Putting a reminder on your phone, or a note somewhere you will see it can also act as a visual reminder too.

Tip 3 - Notice when you may need it

Practicing breathing exercises like this will help you to notice when your breathing has changed due to stress or anxiety and when it may help for you to use one of the techniques.

Tip 4 - Stay active

Staying active is one of the best things you can do for your mental health. Even small changes to exercise more frequently day to day can make a big difference to how stressed or low you feel day to day and will help your physical health too.

Find out more

Visit the NHS website to find out more about NHS breathing techniques for stress Breathing exercises for stress - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

Read our Therapy in Focus blog Five ways to keep your stress under control | NHS Talking Therapies Berkshire (berkshirehealthcare.nhs.uk)

Read our Therapy in Focus blog Five ways to get more active | NHS Talking Therapies Berkshire (berkshirehealthcare.nhs.uk)  

Get started with NHS Talking Therapies. Complete our online referral form to book a free, individual wellbeing assessment with a professional therapist Sign up to Talking Therapies (berkshirehealthcare.nhs.uk)