3 Ways Breathing Can Affect Your Mood

We have known for millennia that breathing is very closely related to our minds and our mood. Breathing meditation is based on this knowledge and contemporary clinical psychologists are beginning to experiment with it as a means of helping improve mental health.

It’s important to understand how your breath affects your mood so that you can learn to better control your inner lives. Here are three ways breathing influences our mental states.

Shallow Breaths

Shallow breathing is linked to feelings of stress and anxiety. When you’re feeling very anxious and ill, if you take a moment to pay attention to your breath you will probably notice that you are taking very short and shallow breaths. This tells your body that you’re anxious or scared.

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When I was a teenager, I started getting panic attacks and suffered from ruminating thoughts of fear. The origin of those episodes is a story I have shared many times before despite of major disapproval and judgment; and we can open up that dialogue again one day. For now, I want to share how debilitating and isolating that feeling can be in a new country with zero close connections. Of course I had family but mental health just wasn’t a common topic for it’s time or the culture. You only have yourself to pull you out of the dark abyss. You HAVE TO BECOME YOUR OWN CHEERLEADER 📣 . Among the chaos, I built my resilience. I fought for my mental well being and started developing tools to help myself hack my own mental state. These tools have served me well over the years and helped me regain ground during other challenging periods in my life . Why am I telling you this? I am telling you this because I know how paralyzing anxiety can be. I know how challenging it can be to fight the fights alone. And I also know that rolling over and just giving in is not going to serve us. So I ask you this… WHAT IS YOUR PLAN OF ACTION for yourself? . If the feeling is getting heavier and bigger, when will you opt out of Netflix, and other bandaids, and decide to seek some intervention? My tools work. I have used them on people with trauma and they have gotten relief. My goal is to introduce a tunnel through that emotional block so you can achieve some relief. Come join me this Saturday at 11 am on ZOOM for a community gathering of Breathing Meditation. I am confident it will be of benefit🙏❤️ LINK IN BIO☝️ . #thrivenotsurvive #breathingmeditation #mentalhealthmatters #mindfulnesscoach

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Deep Breathing

A good way to combat this is to take big, deep breaths right down into your belly. Deep breathing slows your breath down, prevents the shallow breaths, and makes your body release calm hormones instead of adrenaline.

Square Breathing

A good way to aid the deep breathing is to breathe in to the count of four, hold to the count of four, and breath out to the count of four. This regulates your breathing and helps it stay regular. Soon enough, you’ll feel calm and relaxed.

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Breathe with intention.. 🌬 ⠀⠀ Mantra: “I Release, Purify, Cleanse & Grow through the Power of Breath.” 🌙🙏🏽🧘🏽‍♀️✨ ⠀⠀ Full, free, deep breathing is one of the most accessible & easy to learn rituals to enhancing physical, emotional & spiritual wellbeing. ⠀⠀ Cleansing breath work is a powerful practice that can quickly & actively lead to a release of stress & emotional build up. ⠀⠀ Whenever we have an emotional release, it comes out in some way through the mouth. Whether it be crying, laughing or anger, the mouth & breath play a major role in the experience. ⠀⠀ The lungs are a major organ of elimination, & the most significant way that we alkalize our bodies is through our breathing. ⠀⠀ Focusing on clearing your lungs with a large yawn-like exhale will refresh & clear your body physically, emotionally & spiritually. ⠀⠀ Any where, any time, you can use this method to release tension & built up energy in the body. ⠀⠀ When stretching & opening the body with large deep breaths, you allow for areas of congestion to be discharged through the blood & lungs. ⠀⠀ ༄ Take some time to yourself (even if it’s just 1 minute) to slow down & become conscious of your breath. ⠀⠀ ༄ Inhale deeply & slowly through your nose. ⠀⠀ ༄ Then opening your mouth, release the breath, emptying out your lungs on the exhale through your mouth, encouraging the release of stagnant air, particulate, & carbon dioxide. ⠀⠀ ༄ Open your jaw wide & allow for a large volume of air to move through your trachea. ⠀⠀ ༄ You can also try adding a “Haaaaah” sound as a way to vibrate & increase the opening of your heart & clearing of stagnant energy. . ༄ Visualize any toxins, low energy or stress leaving your body through your exhaling of air. ⠀⠀ Doing this as a daily cleansing ritual or in times of stress will help to relax your body & introduces an act of conscience living to your day. ⠀⠀ Love & gratitude always, Tsari. Xx ⠀⠀ ✨💖🧘🏽‍♀️🌬🙏🏽🌙✨ ⠀⠀ Photo via @angel.gracepsychic

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