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Stress has become a pervasive “lifestyle disease”

In an increasingly busy world moving at a dizzying pace, new research shows almost half of Americans now suffer adverse health effects from stress. These health problems include hypertension, anxiety or depression (two sides of a single coin), insomnia, and obesity.

To relieve stress, Americans often engage in unhealthy behaviors. Surveys, such as one conducted in 2006 by American Psychological Association in partnership with the National Women’s Health Resource Center and iVillage.com, show that the most common ways people try to combat stress are comfort eating (eating when not hungry, making poor diet choices), smoking, excessive alcohol and caffeine intake, and inactivity.

This unhealthy coping behavior may alleviate symptoms of stress in the short term, but creates significant health problems in the long run. And the health problems themselves are a new and deeper source of stress.

A closer look at what we are looking for

What do we feel when we experience stress? A sense of compression. A sense of pressure, of overwhelming demand that we feel we cannot meet, and a lack of control over our lives.

When we seek to alleviate stress, what we seek is the opposite: a sense of expansion, of freedom, of boundlessness, of inner power. It should come as no surprise that caffeine and food loaded with fat, cholesterol, and empty calories aren’t going to get us there. Likewise, inactivity, smoking, and excessive alcohol cannot give us a sense of power and control, weightlessness, and enterprise.

It makes a lot more sense to turn to the one thing we do effortlessly, which is in itself the most restorative and grounding thing we do: breathing. Its expanding inhales, its relaxing exhales, its sheer routine and dependability are a comfort and a sensuous restorative like no other.

How breathing and stress affect each other

A lot of attention is paid to heart rate, when it comes to stress. We correctly associate a fast and irregular heartbeat with stress and anxiety. In fact, the heartbeat doesn’t respond to just the brain, but also to each breath you take: As you breathe in, your heart rate naturally speeds up. As you exhale, your heart rate naturally slows down. In a relaxed person, slow, easy breathing creates slow, smooth heart rate changes that create an inner sense of calm, of coherence.

A stress response to anything such as a difficult conversation with someone, driving in busy traffic, or nerves before public speaking changes your heart rate independently of the breathing-related variations, leading to irregular heart rate changes that create a feeling of panic, of unrest.

These “stressed” heart rate changes can cause ragged and irregular, forced or shallow breathing — which disrupts an optimal and even supply of oxygen to the brain. Likewise, steady and relaxed breathing can give the brain what it needs to function best and smooth the heart rate back into a regular, natural variation that is free of stress response.
Simply put: Breathing in a relaxed, effortless way relieves stress and creates a sense of balance and calm.

Stress reduction, one breath at a time

Whereas overeating, drinking and smoking for stress relief are costly, damaging and ineffective, breathing is free, easy, effective. Plus, it’s something we already know how to do and can do anywhere!

Here are a few of quick breathing exercises that are easy to remember, developed by a physio-psychologist, for relaxation. You can do them anytime you are looking to combat stress with a sense of expansion, of freedom, of inner power:

Pursed-lip breathing
Breathe effortlessly, relaxing your abdomen muscles. (Don’t try to slow down your breathing: Slowing down our exhalation is natural as we relax, as if we took a blown up balloon and let the air out slowly and gently.)

Purse your lips as if you were going to blow out a candle, or as if you were going to whistle. Relax your lips a little more than they if you really were whistling. You can also imagine yourself blowing soap bubbles. Breathe in…and breathe out slowly, gently, naturally. Breathe with your lips gently pursed like this for a few minutes, feeling your exhalation naturally lengthening as you blow your candle…or bubbles.

Abdominal breathing
Place one hand over your lower abdomen and one on your chest and breathe comfortably, through your nose if you can. Use your hands to help you notice where your body moves as the ai