Take Slow Deep Breaths to Calm your Nerves
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| Take Slow Deep Breaths to Calm your Nerves photo credit Carol Oliver @caroliveer @unsplash |
When you feel shaky and your mind starts to go blank, wouldn't you hope that their's something you can do to prevent yourself from going downhill.
How about this tip to calm your nerves: Take slow deep breaths.
A lot of stuffs in life can cause a person to feel nervous and anxious, like speaking in public, taking an examination, and talking to an interviewer. If you're wondering that in spite of all these serious stuffs, you're only getting a simple advice that tells you to breath slowly, then don't take this lightly...
There's an actual science behind this. You see, when you take slow deep breaths, you activate your brain's parasympathetic system which creates a sense of calmness and relaxation. Your heart rate and blood pressure decreases. Meanwhile, your blood oxygenation is enhanced. You regain control.
You may notice that when you're anxious, your blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing increases. This is because stress activates your brain's sympathetic center. The opposite happens when your parasympathetic nervous system is activated.
How to take slow deep breaths?
- 1. Breath in slowly through your nose for about 4 seconds.
- 2. Hold your breath for about 2 to 3 seconds.
- 3. Exhale slowly through your mouth for about 4 seconds.
- 4. Hold your breath for about 2 to 3 seconds before inhaling.
- 5. Repeat step 1.
Continue doing slow breathing for about 10 to 15 minutes to ease your mind.
Did you know that controlled breathing techniques to calm the nerve and reduce stress is actually an ancient practice that often goes along side with meditative practices in the eastern world.
Resources:
Zaccaro, Andrea et al. “How Breath-Control Can Change Your Life: A Systematic Review on Psycho-Physiological Correlates of Slow Breathing” Frontiers in human neuroscience vol. 12 353. 7 Sep. 2018, doi:10.3389/fnhum.2018.00353
Russo, Marc A et al. “The physiological effects of slow breathing in the healthy human” Breathe (Sheffield, England) vol. 13,4 (2017): 298-309.
Take Slow Deep Breaths to Calm your Nerves
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