Belly Breathing
Belly breathing may help stimulate more relaxed and slower breaths. In many cases, we use muscles in the chest and neck to take shallow breathes, especially during stressful times. Instead, belly breathing uses the diaphragm located at the chest’s bottom. Here is how to do it:
– Lie or sit down comfortably with one hand on the belly and the other on the chest
– Breathe in deeply through the nose. Make sure the hand on the belly rises with this breath, while the other on the chest should remain still
– Breathe out and lower the hand on the belly
– Count with each breath and be aware of the rise or fall of your hand
Perform 20 breaths and then return to the normal breathing pattern. [2]
