Breathing Exercises

We can become aware of our breathing, and we can choose to breathe slow, deep, and relaxing breaths, and this will calm our stress and anxiety, and will stimulate this restorative response of our parasympathetic nervous system.

Breathwork is a practice that helps significantly in reducing anxiety. Breathwork, just as the name implies, is working with our breath to support mental, emotional, and physical healing. There is a wide range of breathwork practices, and many of them have quite different results.

Our breath and our nervous system are intimately connected, so we can use intentional breathing techniques.

The vagus nerve is the largest cranial nerve in the body. It begins in the brainstem and extends down into abdomen, connecting to many major organs along the way. The vagus nerve is a part of the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for many of the involuntary processes in the body, such as breathing, maintaining our heartbeat, digestion, etc.

Breathing is both an involuntary and voluntary process. In other words, our body is always breathing when we aren’t aware of it, but we can also choose to breathe and control our breath. When we do make this a voluntary process, we can affect this parasympathetic nervous system.

The parasympathetic nervous system controls the restorative and regenerative response of the nervous system, or our “rest and digest” response, as opposed to the sympathetic nervous system’s “fight or flight” response. Through slow, deep breathing, we can actually stimulate the vagus nerve, as well as this “rest and digest” response, and we can trigger a relaxation response in the body as a whole.

Exercise Daily

Exercise is an essential part for complete physical health. It is also essential for mental fitness and can help to reduce stress and anxiety. Exercise is very effective at reducing fatigue, improving alertness and concentration, and at enhancing overall cognitive function.

When stress affects the brain and its many nerve connections, the rest of the body feels the impact as well. On the same note, if your body feels better, it has a positive impact on the mind. Exercise and other physical activity produce endorphins, chemicals in the brain that act as natural painkillers and also improve the ability to sleep, which in turn reduces stress.

Regular aerobic exercise, the movement of the body, has been shown to decrease overall levels of tension, elevate and stabilize mood, improve sleep, and improve self-esteem. Even as little as five minutes of aerobic exercise can begin to stimulate anti-anxiety effects.

Spend Time In Nature

Being in Gods creation in nature and connecting with it through our senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch, is extremely therapeutic and healing to our entire body and mind.

The sounds of the forest, the scent of the trees, the sunlight playing through the leaves, the fresh, clean air — these things give us a sense of comfort, they ease our stress and worry, and they help us to relax and to think more clearly. Being in nature can restore our mood, give us back our energy and vitality, refresh and rejuvenate us.