One way to manage high stress levels is to learn to perform breathing exercises. When you start to feel stress, you can engage in breathing exercises to help calm yourself down. This is a great stress-relieving method because anyone can do it at any time. It is particularly useful for people recovering from addiction because it does not involve the use of any other substances. It is a safe practice that has many benefits—reducing stress, introducing calmness, along with other benefits.

Deep Breathing to Relieve Stress

Normally when we breathe, we take in short breaths and inhale and exhale without even thinking about it. Taking deeper breaths and focusing on what you are doing as you breathe can help you calm down and relieve your stress.

To do this, simply breathe in deeply through your nose paying attention to your body as you do so. Then, breathe out of your nose slowly, and picture yourself releasing stress as the air leaves your body. Do this several times until you start to feel less stressed out.

How to Focus on Breathing

For some people, it may be difficult to get themselves to focus on their breathing. These tips can help. Start by closing your eyes and sit in a comfortable position. Try to clear your mind and focus only on breathing in and out. You can also try to picture yourself breathing in calmness and breathing out tension and stress. Another technique is to slowly count to five as you breathe in through your nose, and slowly count to five again as you exhale.

Using breathing exercises to manage your stress is a simple way to reduce your stress levels. For those recovering from addiction, this is a safe and easy method for lessening the stress they are dealing with.