Breathing Tools

I recently did a poll on Instagram, and learning about breathing tools got a lot of interest. Perhaps this is because people are curious about trying them, but they don’t know where to start. Maybe you've heard counsellors going on and on about practicing breathing tools, but you've never really felt like it worked, or struggled to make time to try it on your own. That's fair. It can feel a bit awkward at first, and for some people who are really good at keeping busy, slowing down to breathe and be mindful can actually be more anxiety provoking. I recommend taking it slow and paying attention to how you feel before and after trying it out.

There is a lot of scientific research backing up why tuning into our breath is healthy and helpful. Breathing exercises help:

-us to slow down and be mindful of our body and breath

-lower our blood pressure and heart rate

-calm our nervous system and lower stress hormones

-give us time before responding-reduce stress and promote relaxation

-reduce lactic acid build-up in muscle tissue

-balance levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood

-improve immune system functioning

-increase physical energy

-increase feelings of calm and wellbeing

I'd like to share a few of my favorite breathing tools here with you. They are easy and you can try them out and see what feels good for you. When I'm practicing these in sessions with clients, I like to do a little check in before and after. Ask yourself, how stressed do I feel? Try rating your stress on a scale out of 10, with 10 being the most stressed and 1 being calm. What am I noticing in my body? Then re-rate after trying the breathing tool.

Five finger breathing:

To do this one, you spread your fingers out and use the index finger of your other hand to trace up and down your outstretched fingers. Each time you trace up, you inhale, and then when you get to the fingertip you start to exhale on the way down. I like this one because it combines the breathing with built-in movement using the tracing and you can do it anytime and anywhere.

Smell the cookie & cool it off:

This one is exactly as it sounds. Imagine that you are holding a freshly baked cookie in your hand, and you are taking in the smell of the baking. Breathe in a long inhale and then exhale like you are trying to blow the cookie to cool it down before you can eat it. This is a great tool to teach kids because of the visualization of the cookie, or you can imagine blowing out a candle or a bubble wand.

Box breathing:

Box breathing uses a visualization of following the shape of a box in your mind while inhaling, holding, and then exhaling. In between each breath, the idea is that you pause and hold for 4 seconds before exhaling. If you are someone who likes to have the tactile aspect, you could do this while tracing out the box shape on the palm of your hand or your thigh if you are sitting.

If you’re not sure where to start, you can always try a guided breathing session using an app or YouTube video. I really like to use the Breathr App (https://keltymentalhealth.ca/breathr) for guided short breathing exercises. Feel free to reach out and let me know what you think or what you try.

Happy exploration,

Lisa