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Try This: How to Use Relaxation Breathing to Calm Yourself Down

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Try This: How to Use Relaxation Breathing to Calm Yourself Down Try this: How to use relaxation breathing to calm yourself down Relaxation breathing is a way of breathing that can help calm Math made easier your mind and body. The goal of relaxation breathing is to refocus your attention from upsetting thoughts (e.g., I'm One study found that students with going to lose the race; I’ll fail the exam) and unpleasant high math anxiety were less anxious, physical sensations (e.g., feeling sick, short of breath) to did better on exams, and reported something else that is not upsetting (e.g., your breathing) and feeling calmer when they practiced eventually to go back to what you were doing (e.g., running, relaxation breathing before writing writing an exam) before you became distracted by worry or tests. physical discomfort. Research also shows that just five Learning how to use relaxation breathing to calm down and minutes of relaxation breathing at the destress is not hard. It will take some practice, but you’ll start of each math class can decrease notice a difference very quickly. Research shows that when anxiety and increase end of semester they practise for about 15 minutes a day, most people grades in math. experience the benefits of relaxation breathing in less than 14 days. To master relaxation breathing, you’ll have to learn how to: a) breathe slowly, and b) stay focused on your breathing. Before you start doing relaxation breathing exercises, find a quiet place where you can practise this skill five days a week at about the same time each day. Ideally, there should be an upright chair where you can sit comfortably. Have your feet on the floor and hands on your lap. Learning how to breathe slowly 1. Make sure you're sitting in an upright position. Your back should be straight and you should not be slouching. 2. To start, take one big deep breath in through your nose. 3. Then, exhale through your nose. Try to go as slowly as you can, making sure you feel comfortable. Exhale for about 4 or 5 seconds, if possible. When you think that you have almost emptied your lungs, try pushing out the last bit of air slowly. But remember, the goal is to stay comfortable. Don’t overdo it. 4. After you have emptied your lungs, pause and hold your breath for about 3 seconds, or less if you're uncomfortable. Always go slowly and make sure it feels comfortable. 5. Next, start inhaling through your nose, slowly filling your lungs. Keep your shoulders more or less still. When you inhale, your chest and abdomen (i.e., the top part of your stomach) should fill with air. Inhale as slowly as you can for about 5 seconds, or as long as you feel comfortable. 6. Aim for 15 repetitions of steps 2 to 5. It only takes about 5 minutes to do the entire routine of 15 repetitions. ---------------------------------------------------------- © 2016 MyHealth Interactive Magazine Find hundreds of helpful tips and strategies at www.myhealthmagazine.net | Info about subscriptions | Info about workshops | Get the phone app For individual use only. No part of this material may be copied, reproduced or distributed with a valid license or permission of MyHealth Interactive Magazine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada Learning to focus on your breathing The next skill you’ll have to learn is to focus your attention on your breathing for as long as possible. Repeat steps 2 to 5 from the previous exercise, but this time, try to notice when you become distracted. As soon as you start thinking about other things, try to refocus on your breathing. At first, you’ll discover that your mind will wander off shortly after you start concentrating on your breathing. Your task is to practise noticing the moment your attention drifts away and quickly refocus on your breathing. Aim for 15 repetitions of the relaxation breathing routine you just learned. You can try to extend the amount of time that you spend exhaling, pausing and inhaling, but only if it feels comfortable. Using relaxation breathing as often as possible Don’t forget to use relaxation breathing any time you feel stressed out, worried, or overwhelmed with negative thoughts. You don’t have to sit down. Whether you're writing a test, riding the bus, or having an argument, just stop for a moment, focus on your breathing and perform the inhale/exhale/pause routine you learned. Even if the situation doesn’t allow you to do 15 rounds of relaxation breathing, a few deep breaths will still do the trick. Try to make relaxation breathing a part of your morning routine. You’ll be more relaxed and more likely to remember to use it again during the day. If you can’t fall asleep because you keep replaying worries over and over again, give relaxation breathing a try. It will slow down your busy mind and relax your body. Remember, take a deep breath, try to exhale for about 5 seconds, pause for 3 seconds, and then inhale for about 5 seconds. Stay focused on your breathing and you’ll be asleep before you know it. Sources: Baer RA. Mindfulness training as a clinical intervention: A conceptual and empirical review. Clinical Psychology: Science & Practice 2003;10:125–143. Must watch! Conni Sharp, C., Coltharp, H., Hurford, D. & Cole, A. M. (2000). Increasing Mathematical Problem-Solving Performance through Relaxation Training. Mathematics Education This animated video will help you find the Research Journal, 12, 53-61. Davis, D.M. & Hayes, J.A. (2001) What Are the Benefits of Mindfulness? A Practice Review right tempo to master relaxation of Psychotherapy-Related Research, Psychotherapy, 48, 198–208. breathing. Breath in as the boxes expand and Hofmann SG, Sawyer AT, Witt AA, Oh D. The effect of mindfulness-based therapy on exhale as they collapse. Watch the video and anxiety and depression: A meta-analytic review. Journal of Consulting and Clinical practice relaxation breathing any time you Psychology (2010);78(2):169–183. [PubMed: 20350028] Arkowitz, H. and Lilienfeld, S. (2014, September/October). "Is Mindfulness Good feel stressed out, worried, or can't sleep. Medicine?" Scientific American, 5(25), pp. 74–75. Retrieved from www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-mindfulness-good-medicine. Click here. Khoury, B., Lecomte, T., Fortin, G., Masse, M., Therien, P., Bouchard, V., Chapleau, M. A., Paquin, K., & Hofmann, S. G. (2013). Mindfulness-based therapy: A comprehensive www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXItOY0sLRY meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 33, 763–771. Santor, D. A., Thanh, L. & Bradley, K. (2016). Acquisition of relaxation breathing and mindfulness skills in fourteen days Semple, R. J., & Lee, J. (2011). "Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for anxious children: A manual for treating childhood anxiety." Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications. Tad T. Brunyé. Learning to relax: Evaluating four brief interventions for overcoming the negative emotions accompanying math anxiety. Learning and Individual Differences (2013):27 1–7 ---------------------------------------------------------- © 2016 MyHealth Interactive Magazine Find hundreds of helpful tips and strategies at www.myhealthmagazine.net | Info about subscriptions | Info about workshops | Get the phone app For individual use only. No part of this material may be copied, reproduced or distributed with a valid license or permission of MyHealth Interactive Magazine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada .
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