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Deep breathing is likely something you have heard about before, but do you know why it is beneficial and what it does in your body when you’re stressed?

First, lets talk about our stress response. It is the brain’s reaction to perceived dangers- this can be a car suddenly pulling out in front of you or simply walking into a room full of new people. That stress response increases your heart rate, your breathing, and releases neurochemicals to help your fight or flee from that danger- the fight or flight response. When there is no real danger to run from or fight off, we have to be the ones to turn off that response in our brain. Deep breathing helps us tell our brain to shut off the response because it helps us to calm our heart rate back down.

Deep breathing is when we breath slowly in through our nose, hold it for a few seconds, and then slowly out through our mouth. If you place your hand on your stomach you should feel it rise and fall with each breath. This may sound simple but it can feel very difficult when we are really stressed. That is why consistent practice of it can not only ease our daily stress but it also makes deep breathing more effective when we are facing a sudden stressor.