Personal Achievement Article from Dr. Nick

Focused Breathing Tips
for Stress Reduction

by Nick Lazaris, Psy.D.
The Performance Doctor

Breath is the single most powerful tool for stress reduction. Proper focused breathing techniques will allow you to feel better and reduce stress before it grabs a hold of you. Good breathing should be practiced throughout the day if you want to feel your best and manage your stress levels.

When breathing is at an optimum level you will achieve a state of relaxed vitality and your cardio-pulmonary system will be conditioned and strengthened. Your mental and physical state is also affected by how you breathe. For example, the emotional state of depression is often seen in our breathing by frequent sighing or shallow breathing.

As you know, when you are tense, frightened, or angry you hold your breath. Similarly, when you experience physical pain you will tend to grasp for air.

In my work over the past 28 years, with individuals who struggle with fear, stress and performance anxiety, I have discovered that deliberate, focused breathing is incredibly effective in inducing a relaxed state in your mind and body.

Research has proven that your heart rate, blood pressure, and even body temperature can be affected by how you breathe. By supplying your body with a constant and plentiful source of oxygen and exhaling more completely, your body is able to expel dangerous toxins, which benefit your entire body.

6 Rules for Practicing Focused Breathing

1) Prior to practicing, make sure your spine is straight.

2) Inhale through your nose with a long, sustained breath
(not fast, shallow breathing)

3) As you inhale, imagine your lower stomach is filing with air (you are actually filling up your lower lungs)

4) Hold your breath for a count of 3

5) As you exhale slowly through your mouth, for a count of 6, picture tension and anxiety leaving your body.

6) Associate your focused breathing with words such as “Calm”....”Relax”

The more you practice focused breathing, the more you will discover its benefits and become more aware of your negative breathing patterns. Commit to making the focused relaxation breath a complete replacement for the short and shallow breathing that has kept you from experiencing relaxation and an anxiety-free life.