Comments to: crs@uvm.eduReviewed as of 4/20/98
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EXERCISE 3
Breathing Exercises
These examples of breathing exercises are designed to increase
body awareness, reduce tension, and increase feelings of being
centered and relaxed. Breathing exercises, when combined with
music and creative visualization, have increased effectiveness.
1. Breathing Awareness
Lie down on the floor with your legs straight,
slightly apart, toes pointed slightly outwards,
arms at your sides, not touching your body, palms
up, and eyes closed.
þ Pay attention to your breathing and place your hand
on the spot that seems to rise and fall the most as
you inhale and exhale. (Be aware that if this spot
is in your chest you are not making good use of the
lower part of your lungs. People who are nervous
tend to breathe many short, shallow breaths in
their upper chest).
þ Place both of your hands gently on your abdomen and
follow your breathing. Notice how your abdomen
rises with each inhalation and falls with each
exhalation.
þ Breathe through your nose. If possible, clear your
nasal passages before doing breathing exercises.
þ Is your chest moving in harmony with your abdomen,
or is it rigid? Spend a minute or two letting your
chest follow the movement of your abdomen.
þ Scan your body for tension, especially your throat,
chest, and abdomen.
2. Deep Breathing
þ Although this exercise can be practiced in a
variety of poses, the following is recommended: lie
down on a blanket or rug on the floor. Bend your
knees and move your feet about eight inches apart,
with your toes turned outward slightly. Make sure
your spine is straight.
þ Scan your body for tension.
þ Place one hand on your abdomen and one hand on your
chest.
þ Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose into
your abdomen to push up your hand as much as feels
comfortable. Your chest should move only a little
and only with your abdomen.
þ When you feel at ease with this, smile slightly,
inhale through your nose and exhale through your
mouth, making a quiet, relaxing, whoshing sound
like the wind as you blow gently out. Your mouth,
tongue, and jaw will be relaxed. Take long, slow,
deep breaths which raise and lower your abdomen.
Focus on the sound and feeling of breathing as you
become more and more relaxed.
þ Continue deep breathing for about five or ten
minutes at a time, once or twice a day, for a
couple of weeks. Then if you like, extend this
period to 20 minutes.
þ At the end of each deep breathing session, take a
little time to once more scan your body for
tension. Compare the tension you feel at the
conclusion of the exercise with that which you
experienced when you began.
þ When you become at ease with breathing into your
abdomen, practice it whenever you feel like it
during the day, when you are sitting or standing.
Concentrate on your abdomen moving up and down, the
air moving in and out of your lungs, and the
feeling of relaxation that deep breathing gives
you.
þ When you have learned to relax yourself using deep
breathing, practice it whenever you feel yourself
getting tense.
> Time:
Each exercise can take as little as 5 minutes or as much as 20
to 25 minutes according to individual preference. With a group,
start with 5 to 10 minutes.
SOURCE: The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook, Davis, McKay,
Eshelman, New Harbinger, 1980.
Comments to: crs@uvm.edu
Reviewed as of 4/20/98