Calm Breathing Technique
You can download this resource as pdf here.
What is “Calm Breathing”?
Calm breathing is a technique that helps you to 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. 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. 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.
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
How to do Calm Breathing
STEP 1: Take a slow breath in through your nose for 4 seconds.
STEP 2: Hold your breath for 1 second.
STEP 3: Breathe out slowly through your mouth for 4 seconds.
STEP 4: Wait 2 seconds before taking your next breath and repeat 5-10 times.
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.
