Lower your stress levels with correct breathing technique
Regardless of whether it’s your job or other things that are making you stressed, the right breathing technique can help you stay calm.
Do you feel you’re stressed a lot in your daily life? If so, what stresses you out the most? Is it work? Family relations? Finance? Studies?
Is stress dangerous?
The World Health Organisation declared stress the great health epidemic of this century, and a report from 2008 revealed what stresses Norwegians out the most: 62% said work was their greatest source of stress, particularly their boss. Second, 46% said finances, then family came in at 28%. It may be that these numbers would have been very different if the study had been done during the pandemic, but as far as I know, this wasn’t done.
Another study shows that 65% of leaders in Norwegian businesses say they are so dutiful that work becomes a burden. (68% of women and right under 63% of men).
It is important to note that stress over a short period can be good for us: it helps us clear our mind and stay focused during a presentation or performance, for example. It’s when stress becomes stored in our body or continuous that it starts becoming dangerous.
Read more: the autonomous nervous system – fight or flight
– I AM ALSO A HUMAN PRONE TO STRESS
I once read that roughly half of the population is more easily stressed than the other, and when I read that, I was immediately convinced: “I am one of those who are prone to stress.” Today, I’m happy about this, because now, I have a tool I can use when I need it – my breathing. Because I’m easily stressed, I’m also entirely aware of when I’m stressed. I get pain in my neck and between my shoulder blades. This is my warning that it’s time to calm down! Time for a breathing break! It’s strange, but I often hear clients say, “But that’s easy for you to say, you’re so calm.” Then I think about how there’s really been a big change in my stress levels since I turned breathing into my full-time job.
How do you know you’re affected by stress?
The symptoms of stress can include:
- poor memory
- struggling to concentrate
- your mind racing
- always worrying
- muscle tension in your neck and shoulders
- tension headaches
- bad digestion/stomach pain
- pain or tension in your chest or between your shoulder blades
- inner turmoil; can also cause shivers or twitches in the body
- sleep problems, both in falling asleep and waking up throughout the night; nightmares
- bad mood
- irritability
- feeling unsatisfied
- feeling antisocial, pulling away
- restlessness, hyperactivity
- loss of appetite or overeating
- drinking too much alcohol
As you can see, the symptoms are many and contradictory. For example, we can become both inactive and hyperactive from stressing too much and for too long. While some pull away from anything social, others have a need to be “where it happens” and can be overly social as a result. Only you can tell whether your symptoms are stress-related or not.
Why is long-term stress dangerous?
According to Dr Bruce Lipton, up to 90% of all visits to the doctor’s office are caused by stress! There are many reasons for this, but I will here talk about the one that breathing can definitely help relieve: an overactive sympathetic nervous system – fight-or-flight mode.
Dr Bruce Lipton claims the main reason is right here, in the production of the stress hormone cortisol from the adrenal glands during stress. This hormone causes blood vessels in the internal organs to contract, as more energy is needed in the arms and legs – the body is preparing to fight (or run away from) an external danger, rather than the dangers that come from the inside, like bacteria. We’re not able to fight both dangers at the same time, so the body has to make a choice.
When the body is in fight-or-flight mode, our immune system is no longer a priority and is put on hold, because we have more than enough to handle fighting the potential external dangers.
It’s just that, in most cases, we’re not facing a real danger but stressful thinking. And we can’t fight these thoughts with our arms and legs!
So, while we’re getting stressed over thoughts of close family members we’re worried about, or finances or our work situation, our body stays in fight-or-flight mode and our immune system remains on hold. That’s why we say stress is dangerous. Our body becomes less resilient against internal attacks.
How can we fight the dangerous stress?
One of my regular clients says that by regularly practising the breathing techniques, she’s found that her stress and muscle tension are more easily relaxed.
“Anette’s instructions in the guided breathing meditations are easy to understand, and she instructs with a comfortable voice. I can concentrate on the breathing technique and just be “in the moment” as Anette steers the frequency of inhalations and exhalations, and how long they should last. My experience with doing the breathing meditations regularly is that stress and muscle tensions relax more easily. The variety in the exercises means I don’t get sick of them.”
– Anne S. K. Sinnerud
The easiest way to start fighting against the lasting stress is to regularly practise consciously controlled breathing. When we calm down our breathing pattern, we simultaneously activate the rest-and-digest part of our nervous system, calm our heartbeat, expand the blood vessels of the internal organs and lower our blood pressure. This activation of the parasympathetic nervous system, or rest-and-digest mode, simultaneously activates the important vagus nerve and “turns the immune system back on”. Research has found that slow exhaling is the easiest method of activating this nerve.
Do you want to learn more about the various breathing techniques for reducing stress? Read more here.
“I use your guided breathing meditation on Nettpust daily, and I’ve noticed changes in my body. I have a little more energy, my body is less stressed and a little less on high alert, and I’m much more conscious of how much I’ve been holding my breath over the years. I can now practise having freer breath, and more flow and energy in my body.
My body has been on its last legs, with symptom overload from both complex PTSD and ME. This past year has been the first time I feel I’m living without threats in my life, and can finally start calming down my body. And with your breathing techniques, I have – for the first time – found a way to work on my breath that isn’t triggering.”
– Anonymous client
Sources and suggested reading
In Norwegian: https://karrierestart.no/helse/596-flink-pike-syndromet-blant-menn
In Norwegian: https://forskning.no/arbeid-forebyggende-helse-helse/hvorfor-kan-stress-gjore-oss-syke/522158
In Norwegian: https://www.lommelegen.no/annet/helse-og-arbeid/artikkel/stress-oker-risiko-for-disse-12-sykdommene/69023084
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jul-10-he-50310-story.html
(Shows that slow breathing is probably the best tool against stress)
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201905/longer-exhalations-are-easy-way-hack-your-vagus-nerve
(Shows that slow exhalation is the easiest way to activate the vagus nerve)
https://featheredpipe.com/feathered-pipe-blog/breath-affects/
(Shows your breathing’s effect on your immune system)
In Norwegian: https://www.nettavisen.no/stress/sjef/undersokelse/sjefen-stresser-oss-mest/s/12-95-1540958
