calm breathing
What is calm breathing?
Calm breathing is a technique that helps you slow down your breathing when feeling stressed or anxious. This is a technique used by people who face significant challenges in their chosen careers and who need to calm down and manage their responses quickly. Athletes use calm breathing to get ready for competitions and soldiers going into combat use this technique.
Calm breathing is important
When you feel anxious, your breathing will change. When we are anxious, we tend to take short, quick, shallow breaths or even hyperventilate.
This type of anxious breathing can actually make feelings of anger and anxiety worse!
Doing calm breathing can help lower your anxiety, and get you back in control
Calm breathing is a great portable tool that you can use when feeling anxious
Step 1: How to do it
Take a slow breath in through the nose (for about 4 seconds)
Hold your breath for 1–2 seconds
Exhale slowly through the mouth (over about 4 seconds)
Wait 2–3 seconds before taking another breath (5–7 seconds for teenagers)
Repeat for at least 5 to 10 breaths
Step 2: Practice, practice, practice
In order for you to be able to use this new tool effectively, you need to be an expert at calm breathing.
The only way to become an expert is to practice this skill daily.
Rules of practice:
Practice at least twice a day, doing 10 calm breaths in a row.
Once you are comfortable with this technique, you can start using it in situations that cause anxiety.
Please try to practice calm breathing at least once a day. Working on this technique daily is scientifically proven to support the brain chemistry that enables us to cope in difficult situation.
Calm breathing – a bit more detail
When we feel really worried, sometimes our breathing changes and gets faster. When this happens it can make us feel even more worried and like we can’t calm down even if we try.
To help you when you’re feeling worried, we want to teach you something called calm breathing. This is something you can use no matter where you are to slow your breathing down, which will help you to feel calmer and less worried.
How to do it
Calm breathing is super-easy, and there are only 4 steps to remember:
Practice, practice, practice.
Practicing calm breathing when you wake up in the morning and before you go to bed at night is the best way to get really good at it.
Take a look at our body mapping and time out tools for more about learning how to stop your emotions getting the better of you during emotionally-charged situations.
If you need support, please get in touch with My CWA.
Our helpline is open 24/7 so you can call us at any time – 0300 123 5101.