Why breathing works

Breathing is an important part of our body's natural response to stress.

When you're feeling anxious, scared, or upset... 

Your body goes into  "fight or flight" mode.

😮‍💨 😮‍💨 😮‍💨

This means that:

👉🏻  your heart beats faster

👉🏻  your muscles tense up,

👉🏻 you breathe more quickly and shallowly.

⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️

Doing effective breathing exercises can help you calm down because... 

It sends a message to your brain that everything is okay.

[These are best explained in-person or during an online session]

AND/OR

⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️

When you do these breathing exercises:

You activate your parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for slowing down your heart rate and relaxing your muscles.

Sometimes a feeling a calm will come quickly, but sometimes it will take longer to be effective.

[The exercise may need to be repeated 2 or 3 times to actually feel a sense of relief from the anxiety.]

However the more you use the breathing techniques to calm down, the better you’ll get at it.

The goal is for it to become second nature.

Even during times of high pressure and intense anxiety.