Stress Management Methods 1: Rhythmic Breathing

Creating the experience of relaxation is necessary to offset the injurious effects of recurring stress on the body. Through the use of relaxation techniques, one can begin to reverse this cumulative, hurtful process, and connect to the body's remarkable possibility for self-healing.

Herbert Benson, M.D., Harvard Professor and stress reduction expert, first coined the phrase "Relaxation Response" in the early 1970s to explain the physiological and mental changes that occur when one consciously relaxes. In The Wellness Book he indicates that the relaxation response is "a physiological state characterized by a slower heart rate, metabolism, rate of breathing, lower blood pressure, and slower brain wave patterns."

Here are some of the valuable changes that take place when your body is resting in the Relaxation Response:

1. Heartbeat and respiration are slowed.

2. Oxygen consumption is markedly reduced.

3. The expiration of carbon dioxide falls.

4. Blood pressure stabilizes.

5. Blood lactate levels (which some researchers believe are associated with panic attacks) decline sharply.

There are various proven techniques which promote this state of profound rest and release. This article concentrates on rhythmic, deep, diaphragmatic breathing.

This vital stress relief tool is "right under your nose" and as close as your breath! When you drop into slow, deep breathing, the in-breath fills your lungs and causes your lower belly to expand as the diaphragm falls downward into the flexibility of your soft, relaxed belly.

Try it right now:

Relax your body and release any noticeable tension. Let your tongue and jaws relax, lower jaw releasing away from the upper jaw. Relax your shoulders away from your neck. Let your belly relax and soften, freeing yourself of all tightness in that part of your body.

Become aware of your breathing just as it is. Now take a deep, full breath, allowing the breath to flow all the way down into the lower belly.

It is helpful to imagine that there is a small balloon in the belly. As you breathe in, let that balloon gently fill with air. As you exhale, feel how the balloon smoothly collapses.

Take in several of these measured, restful, deep breaths.

Then begin to notice that there is a slight pause that spontaneously occurs at the end of each exhalation. Give yourself permission to wait here without rushing to take the next inhalation. Allow the next inhalation to surface as your body is ready to receive it.

Take pleasure in the comforting tranquility of the pause. Float peacefully in the silence of this pause between exhalation and inhalation, letting the breath come about by itself. Let the breath breathe you!

If you are just learning diaphragmatic breathing, you can learn it more easily by lying on your back with your knees bent. In this posture, it is easier to feel "soft-belly", diaphragmatic breathing. Be mindful of the feeling of the belly rising with the inhalation and falling with the exhalation. Let the breath initiate that movement. You can also place your hands on your abdomen and let yourself breathe into their warmth. Feel how the weight of the hands rises with in-breath and falls with exhalation. A heavy book placed upon the abdomen will accomplish the same thing.

Another wonderful means to find deep belly breath is to lie face down on your belly. In this position, the only way you can breathe is diaphragmatically!

Lastly, it can sometimes be useful to let yourself sigh out loud with the out-breath. Sounding is a wonderful way to release stress and tension.

Deep, diaphragmatic, soft-belly breathing has a profound effect on the body. Just three minutes of soft-belly breathing can move your body out of Stress Response mode into the Relaxation Response! And if you can remain in that Relaxation Response for just 20 minutes each day, you will go a long way toward counteracting the injurious effects of recurring stress on your body.