Just Breathe

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It may sound strange to think about focussing on our breath. Don't we breathe all the time anyway? You are right - we do breathe all the time but the way we breathe can have a significant impact on how we are feeling. When anxiety or panic is around, our breathing can become shallow and fast - this activates our stress response and can increase feelings of anxiety or panic. If we focus on our breath and try and breathe deeply and slowly we can calm both our body and our mind.

Have a go at the breathing exercises below. It can really help to practise these when we anxiety, panic or distress are not around so they are familiar to you when you do need to use them.

4-7-8 Breathing

Empty your lungs of air by breathing out until you feel like there is no air left.
Breathe in quietly through your nose for a count of 4 seconds
Hold your breath for a count of 7 seconds
Breathe out forcefully through the mouth, pursing the lips and making a “whoosh” sound, for a count of 8 seconds

Repeat as many times as you need to.

Belly Breathing

Put one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach.
Breathe in deeply through your nose, try to make sure your hand on your stomach rises and the hand on your chest stays as still as it can.
Breathe out very slowly, then clench your stomach muscles.
Make sure that your out-breath is longer than your in-breath

Repeat this as many times as you need to.

Hot Chocolate Breath

Imagine you are holding a cup of your favourite hot drink - it can be hot chocolate, coffee or tea.
Feel the warmth of the drink through the mug, warming your hands
Take a long deep breath in to smell your drink, filling your nose with the scent.
Then blow slowly on your drink to cool it down.
Make sure that your out-breath is longer than your in-breath.
Repeat as needed.

(You can do this activity with an actual drink if you want to - it will smell good and a bonus is that you can enjoy the drink afterwards too!)

Box Breathing

Step 1: Breathe in, counting to four slowly. Feel the air enter your lungs.

Step 2: Hold your breath for 4 seconds. Try to avoid breathing in or out for the 4 seconds.

Step 3: Slowly breathe through your mouth for 4 seconds.

Step 4: Repeat steps 1 to 3 until you feel more settled.

Repeat this as many times as you need to.

Finger breathing

Step 1: Place the index finger of one hand on the outside of the pinky finger on your other hand. As you breathe in, trace up to the tip of your pinky, and as you breathe out, trace down the inside of your pinky.

Step 2: On your next inhale, trace up the outside of your ring finger, and on the exhale, trace down the inside of your ring finger.

Step 3: Inhale and trace up the outside of your middle finger; exhale and trace down the inside of your middle finger.

Step 4: Continue finger by finger until you’ve traced your entire hand.

Step 5: Reverse the process and trace from your thumb back to your pinky.

If you would prefer to have a video to guide you, check out this link.

Guided Breathing

If you feel like you would like some help with breathing exercises, these websites or apps offer breathing exercises that will guide you through the type of breathng you select. You can use these directly from the links below or from within the apps. Make sure you turn on your sound.

Calm - Use this link or download the app and use the Breathe Bubble to reach a calmer space.

Mentemia - Download the app and open the guided breathing tool. Choose one of three different breathing patterns to try.

Small steps - Try this breathing exercise - you can shift the slider to select regular or deep breathing. If you are feeling panicked, deep breathing is the best option.

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