Breathing Exercises — Explained

The breathing exercises listed below are featured in the Regulation Strategies Overview post that outlines which of these exercises may be most helpful for different emotional states. Of course, all of these exercises can be used at any time if you find that it feels good in your body and helps you tolerate or move through an emotion with more ease. I encourage you to give them all a try until you find what works for you! My personal favorites are Breath Counting, Belly Breathing, Alternate Nostril Breathing, and Loud Sighing, and I’ve found they can all serve different purposes for me.

Box Breathing

Box Breathing got it’s name because it involves a 4-step breath, with each step taking the same amount of time. Additionally, many people visualize a box when breathing to further anchor them to the exercise. To start Box Breathing, first take a normal inhale and exhale. Then, inhale for the count of 4 seconds, hold your breath for the count of 4, exhale for the count of 4, and then hold your breath for the count of 4. Repeat this exercise at least 3 times or until you notice your body calming down. You can always change the count to be shorter or longer, just make sure you use the same number for the inhale, holds, and exhale.

Breath Counting

Breath Counting is similar to Box Breathing except you get to choose any number for each of the breathing parts. Additionally, if holding your breath doesn’t work for you, you can leave it out. A popular breath count is inhaling for 4 seconds and exhaling for 6 seconds. Generally, you want your exhale to be longer than your inhale. Another common breath count, which can be especially helpful for anxiety (though it doesn’t work for me personally) is a 4-7-8 count, so inhale for 4, hold for 7, exhale for 8. My tried and true breath count, that I discovered after adding holds to the 4-6 count is 5-2-7-2. I like to have shorter holds (2 seconds), and a 5 second inhale and 7 second exhale feel calming and grounding to me. Try out different counts and see what feels good for you!

Finger Breathing

A client taught me this exercise! If counting keeps you too much in your head, and not grounded enough in your body, finger breathing could be for you! Using a finger on your right hand, inhale as you trace up the right side of your thumb, pause at the top if you’d like, then exhale as you trace down the left side of your thumb. Repeat with the other fingers, inhaling on the way up, exhaling on the way down. Try to anchor your focus on each of your fingers being traced up and down. You can do this under your desk, on Zoom, or where ever else you might need to, without having to track the breath count. You can do both hands if that feels helpful, or go over the same hand as many times as you need.

Belly Breathing

Belly Breathing is great because you can do it anywhere, anytime. If you are in public, you can surreptitiously place your hand on your lower belly. If you are somewhere more private and feel comfortable, place one hand on your chest and the other on your belly. When you inhale, try to fill up your belly without having your chest rise. When you exhale, feel your stomach deflate as your chest stays where it is. Often times when we feel anxious or panicked, we end up only breathing in our chest, which sometimes can result in hyperventilating. Even if we don’t hyperventilate, rapid chest breathing sends danger signals to our body, causing us to panic more. Slow, belly breathing sends the opposite message — that we are safe and that everything is going to be ok.

Alternate Nostril Breathing

Alternate Nostril Breathing (Nadi Shodhana in traditional yoga practices) can be especially helpful when, due to anxiety or panic, you’re not able to get a good breath in (using a brown bag to breathe can also be helpful for this!). It always allows me to get a good deep breath, no matter how I am feeling. To start, you’ll place your ring finger and thumb on either side of your nose and rest your pointer and middle fingers gently between your eyes. Use your thumb to close one nostril as you breathe in through the other nostril. Close both nostrils, then release your thumb to exhale on that side. Keep your fingers where you are and inhale on that same side. Hold again at the top with both nostrils closed, then release your ring finger and exhale that side. Repeat as many times as you need, but usually 3-5 reps is a good start.

Lion’s Breath

Lion’s Breath (Simhasana in classic yoga) is great for when you need to release something — stress, anger, etc., and it’s also kind of silly and fun! While sitting on the floor or in a chair, place your hands on your knees or out in front of you and spread them out like lion’s claws. Take a deep inhale in, and when you exhale, look up in the direction of the space between your eyebrows, open your mouth wide, and stretch your tongue down in the direction of your chin. Exhale forcefully with a “haaaaaaaa” sound.

Loud Sighing

This one is exactly how it sounds! Similar to Lion’s Breath, this is also great when you need to release an emotion or a burden you’re carrying. Take a deep inhale and on your exhale, let whatever you are feeling in your body, come out as a sound. If you can, allow yourself to be as loud as you need. Your exhale can be a large sigh, spluttering your lips like a horse, humming, or anything that feels good. Try to use your whole chest and belly to get the sound and the breath out. Perfect for when you only have a couple seconds but need some relief!

As always, don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions!