Have you ever tried deep breathing? Like really tried 5-10 slow deep breaths in a row to calm yourself down?

MY STORY

I have a confession: I used to kinda laugh at deep breathing. I just didn’t think it really worked. As a new counselor, I believed deep breathing was simply a stereotypical tool often prescribed by therapists in the movies…along with the phrase: “how does that make you feel?” 

Then, something happened that completely shifted my perspective on deep breathing. 

Several years ago, my family was in the middle of a long and very stressful transition, and I found my stress and anxiety levels sky rocketing. During one particularly stressful situation, I decided to try deep breathing. 

To my surprise, it helped! My body and brain actually began to feel calmer! Deep breathing has been one of my go-to calm-down strategies ever since.

HOW DEEP BREATHING WORKS

You may be curious to know why (or how) deep breathing works, so here’s my simplified explanation: When your body is in a stress response (fight or flight), cortisol and adrenaline are increased to prepare to fight or flee. 

As your heart rate rises to pump those chemicals through your body, your body sends a signal to the brain that you are in stress mode, so your brain signals for even more cortisol and adrenaline, and the cycle continues on and on…until you send a different signal to your brain.

You can stop this cycle and begin to calm your body and brain by slowing your respiration through deep breathing. 

This slows your heart rate, which decreases the cortisol and adrenaline running through your body, and signals to your brain that you no longer need fight or flight mode (there’s no longer danger). 

As you can see, deep breathing is pretty powerful and calms both the brain and the body.

SPECIAL TIP

Two tips to make your deep breathing exercise more beneficial: 

1. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, if possible.

2. Exhale longer than you inhale. So for example, if you count to 4 on the inhale, you might try counting to 6 on the exhale. This longer exhale calms your body even better!

BREATH PRAYERS

You can take this up a notch when you combine deep breathing with Scripture meditation (the power of God’s word). This is called Breath Prayer, and it targets stress at the physical and spiritual levels!

Breath prayers go like this: choose a verse or phrase. As you inhale, think about the first half of the verse, and as you exhale, think or say the second half of that verse. Repeat this about 5-10 times.

For example, you could use a popular verse: 1 Peter 5:7, which says, “Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.”

Breathe in: “I cast all my cares on you, God.”

Breathe out: “Because You care for me.”

Repeat x5-10 times

Another verse that many use for anxiety is Psalm 56:3, which says, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in You.”

Breathe in: “When I am afraid,”

Breathe out: “I put my trust in You.”

Repeat 5-10 times

TRY IT

This week, as you are navigating the stress of the holiday, I would encourage you to:

1. Go ahead and choose any verse or phrase you’d like to use as a breath prayer. 

2. Type the verse in a note on your phone, so you’ll have easy access when you need it. 

3. Then, as your stress rises, find a quiet room (or corner of a room) and try a slow, deep breath prayer. 

4. Repeat 10 times.

5. Notice how your stress level decreases! 

Let me know how it goes…and what verse or phrase you choose!