Breathing to Regulate Mood
Breathing to Regulate Mood, if you’re like most people your moods fluctuate and it doesn’t take much to make you anxious.
Situations that you used to look forward to and handle with ease, such as school or work life, being with friends and family, can suddenly leave you feeling overwhelmed and irritable.
If your mood swings are strong enough to interfere with your daily life then you need to do something about that. Seeking help from a trained therapist or Doctor can help and so can this breathing exercise.
This exercise uses and trains neurostimulative brain control to help alleviate moodiness or depression.
Supplying oxygen to the brain improves a person’s well-being. We have seen in MRIs that the whole brain dances when subjects do the breathing exercises.
You can do this exercise whenever you feel like it, but it can be an especially powerful exercise to try if you are feeling melancholy, moody, or depressed.
Do not force it — feel it!
- Sit or lie down in a safe, comfortable place.
- Feel and try to relax every part of your body. Observe and be aware of what you are feeling, seeing, and hearing, without judgment. Just be present.
- Take twenty deep breaths. Fully in and letting go.
- On the last breath, breathe in deeply, hold it, press your chin toward your chest, tense your pelvic floor, and direct that tension up your core toward your head.
- If you are experiencing any physical discomfort, focus your attention there and observe. Tense the muscles in that area. Hold the breath for a maximum of ten seconds.
- Release the breath and all tension.
- Repeat two or three times or until you feel better.
I also recommend the Wim Hof Method, an amazing breathing technique.
(From Wim Hof, The Wim Hof Method. Ebury Publishing)