You can use breathing techniques wherever you are for some instant calm when things are tough: at your desk, when you’re in an exam (or queuing up to go into one) or even when you’re having a difficult conversation with someone.
Remember: the more you practice them, the more natural they will become.
Getting ready:
Find somewhere comfortable and quiet to practice where you won’t be disturbed.You don’t have to do these techniques for long – 5 or 10 minutes is enough to feel the benefit.You might want to set an alarm on your phone to tell you when the time is up.
7:11 Breathing
This is really easy to remember. You just need to make sure you make the out-breath (exhale) longer then the in-breath (inhale).Some people inhale for a count of 7 and then exhale for a count of 11. REMEMBER! You don’t have to use such a long count!
An inhale of 4 and an exhale of 7 is perfectly fine!
You can do this anywhere – it can be done very subtly even when you’re talking to someone or in class.
Focused belly breath
This is a good one to do at home or before you go to sleep at night.
- Take a few normal breaths to begin with.
- Then, take a full inhale through your nose – see if you can make your belly rise with the air you breathe in.
- Hold the breath for a brief moment and then exhale s l o w l y through your nose.
- Breathe in, hold for a second, breath out.
- Try and make the inhale and exhale an equal length.
- If it’s hard to make your belly rise with the inhale, don’t worry. Just focus on the breath in, hold, breath out pattern. It’s enough just to do this.
- Once you get the hang of it, you might want to add some counting to it. You could count up to ten, thinking the number in your head on the exhale.