Relaxation breathing is a simple process and can be done anywhere, anytime. You’ll notice immediate results and with frequent practice you’ll be able to develop breathing habits that benefit you in the long-term. You’ll notice that your breathing will become slower and deeper.

Start by making yourself comfortable. Keep both feet on the ground. Relax your body as much as you can.

When you practice this on your own try to minimize distractions – no TV, music or chaos around you, especially as you’re just learning. You can close your eyes or gently hold your gaze while looking at something.

Breathe in slowly through your nose. Hold it a moment and slowly breathe out. Repeat that 2-3 times. You may already notice that your body relaxes as you do that.

Take another couple of slow breaths in and out of your nose. What do you notice about the temperature of the air when you breathe in and when you breathe out? Is the temperature different when you inhale than when you exhale?

Put one hand on your chest, one on your abdomen. Breathe in and out. What part is moving, your chest or your abdomen?

Take a few more slow breaths and purposely move your abdomen in and out as you breathe. When you do this, you’ll get the full benefit of more air in your lungs, slower breathing, increased oxygen intake and more energy.

As you breathe in and out you might use some visualizations that help to support stress reduction. Here are a couple ideas:

Color Breathing

This exercise focuses on a strategy of visualizing colors along with breath movements. As described above, you want to take long deep breaths that come not just from the chest but also from the abdomen.

1. Start by getting in a comfortable position. Both feet should be on the ground. Relax your body as much as possible. Close your eyes or turn your gaze down.

2. Begin to breathe comfortably and deeply. Keep the rhythm of your breathing natural and relaxed.

3. As you breathe in, imagine a warm yellow color entering your body. You might imagine this starting to appear in your belly, your heart or another part of your body. You can picture the color slowly spreading throughout your body.

4. As you breathe out, imagine a cool blue color leaving your body.

5. Continue this deep relaxed breathing. On each inhale, visualize a warm yellow color entering your body. On each exhale, imagine a cool blue color leaving your body.

6. As you continue slowly breathing, imagine a warm yellow glow spreading throughout your body. With each inhale, this warm glow spreads further and further throughout your body. Eventually this warm, yellow glow reaches to the top of your head and to the tips of your fingers and toes.

Wave Breathing

The visualization part of this exercise focuses on imagining that your breath is like waves, the kind you would find at an ocean or lake.

1. Start by finding a comfortable sitting position and closing your eyes or turning your gaze downward.

2. Begin to breathe comfortably and deeply. Keep the rhythm of your breathing natural and relaxed.

3. As you breathe in, imagine a gentle wave reaching the shore.

4. As you breathe out, imagine that same gentle wave flowing back into the water.

5. Continue this deep relaxed breathing. On each inhale, imagine another gentle wave reaching the shore. On each exhale, imagine that same wave flowing back into the water.

6. As you continue slowly breathing, keep visualizing your breath as continuously moving waves.You may imagine exactly what the waves look like. What color is the water? How far up the shore do the waves come? Are the waves smooth or frothy? You may also imagine the sound that the waves make as they flow in and out from the shore. Is the sound very quiet or more noticeable? How do the waves sound different when they are coming in as compared to how they sound when they are going out?