Breathing Exercises: Anxiety Relief

Last Updated on June 7, 2022 by Tracey McGrath

Breathing exercises for anxiety are a great way to help return to a place of calm presence.  Anxiety can be an underlying constant sense of worry and dread. It can also surface in some women as anxiety attacks that seem to come out of the blue.

You can practice these breathing techniques for anxiety relief anytime.  They are simple and effective tools for anxiety relief that anyone can easily learn. 

Women’s Anxiety Symptoms

Anxiety greatly impacts your quality of life.¹ Women are almost twice as likely to have anxiety as men. This could be due in part to hormonal changes experienced throughout life. Some common signs and symptoms may be nausea, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, and/or dizziness. In some women, it may show up as avoidance of things that used to bring joy and fulfillment. That could be due to perceived fears or worries about what might happen.2

Like any new practice, getting started can sometimes be the most difficult challenge.  Set the intention to take care of your body and mind.  Then you shift away from thinking of the exercises as just something else you have to do.  It becomes a self-care or self-healing practice that truly benefits you and your body.

Decide to give yourself a tool to use when anxiety strikes.  This shift in your mindset will help you use these breathing exercises for anxiety. Doing these breathing exercises daily creates a healthy habit to help reduce your anxiety symptoms and literally rewire your brain.³   

Best Breathing Exercises for Anxiety

#1 – 3 Deep breaths

Do this breathing exercise lying down, sitting or on the floor.  Close your eyes and settle your body.  Relax your shoulders. Take in one deep long breath through your nose and hold for a count of one.  Sigh it out through your mouth.  Repeat this two more times.  Open your eyes.

Just these 3 breaths help to settle your nervous system and trigger your brain to calm down.

#2 – Body Scan

This practice involves tightening muscle groups and relaxing them.   I recommend doing this practice lying down.  Start at your feet and squeeze the muscles in your toes and ankles as you breathe in.  Then release as you exhale.  Move up your body slowly.  Squeeze your calves as you breathe in and release as you exhale.  Then squeeze your thighs.  Your hips, your abdomen, your chest, your arms, your fists, your neck.  And finally, squeeze your face and relax.  Relax your jaw and let your mouth fall open.  Relax your eyes, your ears, your scalp.  Take note of how your body feels.  

Sometimes you may fall asleep before you finish your body scan.  That’s ok!  And a wonderful way to relax into sleep.

#3 – Trapezoid breathing

This is a common breathing exercise to help with anxiety or a racing mind.  It is usually called box breathing. But a longer exhale can actually calm your nervous system down more so I changed the shape to a trapezoid. A trapezoid has 3 sides that are the same length and one longer side.

This breathing practice helps to focus your mind away from racing thoughts.  You can choose to do this practice seated or lying down. 

You breathe in for a count of 4, hold for a count of 4, breath out for a count of 7, and hold for a count of 4.  Then repeat this cycle four times.  It sometimes helps to imagine in your mind that you’re drawing a trapezoid.  This simple exercise helps to calm your nervous system immediately.

Long Term Effects of Anxiety on the Body

Anxiety over time if left untreated can lead to depression. It can also increase your risk of a heart attack. Women with anxiety often have digestive issues and headaches too. And anxiety can interfere with good quality sleep.⁴ There are effective treatments and medications that can help. You do not have to live your life in fear and worry. Stress reduction strategies such as meditation and/or breathing exercises are effective treatments for anxiety.

Anxiety can start in childhood and go untreated for years. Oftentimes women may not realize that the way they feel is even anxiety. By identifying it you can more effectively treat it. Let’s get started with some simple breathing exercises for anxiety relief.

How to Establish a New Habit

Habits are just actions repeated over and over.  At some point, it starts to happen without you thinking about it.  That’s where we want to get with your healthy practices.  For example, you don’t really think about brushing your teeth.  You may think about it as part of your routine but once you’re doing it you don’t have to think about how to do it.  It still takes effort on your part to start the activity but once you’re in the activity it is seamless.

A habit can gain traction with information about the end results.  So, let’s take the toothbrushing example again.  You know that not brushing your teeth will lead to cavities.  Filling a cavity involves needles, numbing, and time spent away from doing something fun.  These are all reasons to brush your teeth supported by avoidance.  This can be an effective way to start a habit.  

James Clear’s book Atomic Habits is an excellent resource for habit creation.  He explains how and why we create or don’t create habits.  And gives actionable steps to help create your new desired habits. 

How To Start New Habits That Actually Stick

But in my experience, you also need support to continue the habit with information on immediate results.  Because over time even though a habit becomes ingrained in us, it also has the possibility of falling off.  Life gets complicated.  Things happen that shake up our routines.  Illness, moving to a new place, new job, new schedules, new babies.

You still need immediate gratification to support your daily habit.  In the teeth-brushing example, you will have nice smelling breath immediately.  Perhaps whiter teeth with minimal effort, and a fresh clean feeling after eating or drinking are also nice benefits of daily brushing.  These effects help to encourage you to do the action over and over getting that result immediately.

Anxiety Relief is Possible

Take care of your body and mind with simple breathing exercises for anxiety relief.  Anxiety is a common and treatable condition in people of all ages but especially women. Talk to your doctor about anxiety that is debilitating or affecting your daily life.

Some women with anxiety may see great benefits from using meditation, journaling, yoga and EFT tapping. Use these breathing exercises in addition to resources like EFT tapping and meditation to give yourself effective tools to reduce your anxiety.

References:

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2139931/#:~:text=For%20each%20domain%20of%20quality,001)
2. https://www.womenshealth.gov/mental-health/mental-health-conditions/anxiety-disorders
3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23125828/
4. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/generalized-anxiety-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20360803
5. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/mental-health/anxiety-and-sleep
6. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/how-electronics-affect-sleep
7. https://www.newsweek.com/secret-productivity-rest-1679040

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