Mindful Breathing: Definition, Techniques, & Benefits

What Is Mindful Breathing?

Mindful breathing is a type of mindfulness, which refers to being aware of the present moment without judgment. When we practice mindful breathing regularly, it allows us to remain in the “here and now” to better improve our moods, regulate our emotions, and feel less distracted.

Mindful breathing has existed for centuries and is fundamental to Indo-Tibetan yoga and meditation. Pranayama (yoga breathing) was first systematized in 200 B.C. and mindfulness breathing (as part of Thai Buddhism) dates back to 250 B.C.¹

Mindful breathing meditation can be done in many different ways, but its most important aspect is to focus on control of your breath. Even though breathing occurs automatically and is involuntary, you can learn to control its rate and depth. This helps bring your attention back to what’s happening in the current moment. You can practice mindful breathing at any time, whether you’re standing in line at the grocery store, in a yoga class, or waiting for the bus. Mindful breathing is a great grounding technique to use in times of anxiety or distress.

Mindful breathing may be used for:

• Stress management: When we are stressed, we can feel as though we are being pulled in a million different directions. Mindful breathing can assist with stress management by offering you space to come back to the present moment, slow down, and focus on one task at a time.
• Emotional regulation: Mindful breathing can help with emotional regulation as it grounds you in the present, helping you better control emotions and reactions to stressful situations.
• Anger management: Mindful breathing allows you to recognize how your body feels when you experience intense emotions or situations. Therefore, it can assist with anger management by encouraging you to become grounded before reacting to a situation.
• Increasing focus: By bringing you back to the present moment, mindful breathing can assist you with increasing your focus as it may enhance attention networks in your brain.²
• Decreasing anxiety: Mindful breathing can decrease anxiety as you take time to notice your current thoughts and environment, instead of worrying about other things.
• Increasing self-awareness: Practicing mindful breathing creates a deeper connection between your body and self, and can help you gain a better understanding of your emotional reactions.

Benefits of Mindful Breathing

Mindful breathing can be practiced regularly or used in moments of stress or emotional dysregulation. The breath is a powerful tool. Mindful breathing has many benefits beyond helping us manage our mental health, as it can also help lower blood pressure, decrease cortisol levels and inflammation, and manage pain.³

Benefits of mindful breathing may include the following:

Nervous System Regulation

Mindful breathing activates the parasympathetic state of our autonomic (or automatic) nervous system, also known as the “rest and digest” state. Our autonomic nervous system consists of a bundle of nerves, the most important one being our vagus nerve. This is because it responds to our environment and makes up 75% of our autonomic nervous system.

Our autonomic nervous system is controlled by our brainstem. When we practice mindful breathwork, it allows our nervous system to relax and return to a state of calm. It also brings the logical area of our brain (frontal lobes) back online, working to improve our rationality and decision-making skills. Research shows a positive correlation between our breath and our heart rate variability, suggesting that breathwork has a positive impact on our overall well-being.⁴

Mindful breathing can be beneficial for:

• Pain relief: Mindful breathing can ease pain by taking our attention away from negative thoughts that may increase discomfort. Research shows that mindful breathing and mindfulness meditation can also help one disconnect from the thalamus, the part of our brain that processes pain.⁵
• Reduced amygdala activity: The amygdala is a part of our brain that helps control emotions and emotional responses. When we have activity in our amygdala, it can trigger feelings of anxiety or fear. By slowing down and focusing on our breath, we can reduce this emotional activity.⁶
• Management of stress-inducing neurotransmitters: Neurotransmitters associated with stress, such as norepinephrine, melatonin, serotonin, and dopamine, may be decreased when mindful breathing. Mindful breathing practices can relax us, bring us back to a calmer state, and help us manage our stress responses.⁷
• Increased parasympathetic nervous system response: When we feel anxious, fearful, or stressed, our breathing often becomes more shallow, thus activating our amygdala and stress hormones. When we practice mindful breathing, we activate our parasympathetic nervous system response (rest and digest), and bring our body and brain back to a neutral state.
• Decreased Insomnia: When the nervous system is dysregulated, it can impact the production of melatonin. Mindful breathing stimulates the vagus nerve to return to a state of relaxation, allowing a person to sleep better.

Physical Functioning

Mindful breathing is not only beneficial for our emotional and mental health but also our physical health, as these are all connected. When you are feeling overwhelmed or anxious, your breath becomes shallow and stress responses are activated. By taking deep, controlled breaths, physiological systems in the body work to reduce heart rate, stress hormone levels, and blood pressure. It can even improve memory retention.

Physical health benefits of mindful breathing include:

• Improved respiratory functioning: Mindful deep breathing can have the same effects as cardiovascular exercise when practiced consistently, and will improve your lung capacity.
• Improved cardiovascular functioning: Mindful breathing can actually decrease your risk for cardiovascular disease and improve conditions such as diabetes type 2, high cortisol, and hypertension.⁸. Furthermore, practicing mindful breathing can lower your blood pressure and heart rate immediately in the moment.
• Improved digestion: Mindful breathing exercises can improve your digestion by providing more oxygen to your digestive system. This can reduce stress in your gut, increase digestive strength, and help your body absorb more nutrients. It can also help you eat more mindfully as it encourages you to notice signals for fullness.
• Increased neurological functioning: Mindful breathing can aid in neurological functioning by helping to decrease mental distractions and increase your cognitive performance.²

Mental Health

Mindful breathing can help you get in touch with your body and its sensations, keeping you connected to the present moment. When you focus on your breath, you are no longer thinking about other things (worries, stressors, or negative thoughts), allowing these unwanted thoughts and feelings to fade away.

Mindful breathing is a part of many interventions used to manage mental health in counseling of all ages, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavioral therapy, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), and somatic techniques.⁸

Mindful breathing can help in the management of:

• Symptoms of anxiety
• Emotional dysregulation
• Symptoms of personality disorders
• Anger
• Symptoms of depression
• Neuropsychological aspects of trauma
• Chronic pain

Is Mindful Breathing Effective?

Mindful breathing is an effective tool to manage anxiety, stress, depression, and pain, as well as digestion and blood pressure. The practice of mindful breathing can increase positive thoughts, promote positive relationships with others, and foster self-awareness of your emotions.

One study found that mindful breathwork decreased test anxiety for students and increased their positive automatic thoughts.⁹Mindful breathing is an integral part of many mental health modalities, and is also suggested by medical doctors to help manage and prevent chronic health conditions. Because it can be done with no equipment and very little training, this is a powerful technique accessible to everyone.

Mindful Breathing Exercises

You can practice mindful breathing alone or in a group, standing up or lying down, and without any special training. However, it is most effective if you are in a quiet place without distractions, so you can really focus.

At first you may feel awkward with this practice, but the more consistent you are, the easier it will become. There is no right or wrong way to practice and it can be unique to each individual. However, some people prefer a more structured approach and there are many guided breathwork scripts available on YouTube, Spotify, and through apps like Calm.

Below are five mindful breathing exercises:

1. Triangle Breathing

Triangle breathing involves imagining a triangle or three points while inhaling and exhaling. This gives your mind a visual to focus on and increases air flow into your body. Triangle breathing can be done anywhere and, because it doesn’t take much time, is a good exercise to do in public or before a big event to ground yourself.

To practice triangle breathing, follow these steps:

• Sit or lie down comfortably.
• Breathe in for three seconds while imagining the first side of the triangle.
• Hold for three seconds, imagining the second side of the triangle.
• Breathe out for three seconds, imagining the third side of the triangle.
• Repeat three to four times.

2. Anchor Breathing

Anchor breathing is a breathing exercise that focuses your mind on your breath to keep you  anchored in the present moment.

To practice anchor breathing, follow these steps:

• Place your hand where you feel your breath the most–this could be on your belly, in front of your nose, or on your ribcage. This placement is your anchor spot and where you focus your attention
• Breathe in and focus on your anchor.
• Breathe out and focus on your anchor.
• If your mind wanders, bring your attention back to the anchor spot.
• Try it for one minute, and add on time as it feels more comfortable.

3. Alternate Nostril Breathing

Alternate nostril breathing, also known as Nadi Shodhana, creates balance in your breath by circulating air in and out of one nostril at a time. This is a great practice to do before you meditate, to help bring peace and relaxation into your body and mind. You can also practice this anytime you feel anxious or overwhelmed.

To practice alternate nostril breathing, follow these steps:

• Sit up tall but comfortably.
• Let your left hand fall into your lap and bring your right hand in front of your face.
• Bring your right pointer and middle finger to rest on your forehead between your eyebrows.
• Close your eyes and take a cleansing, deep inhale and exhale.
• Use your right thumb to close your right nostril.
• Inhale through your left nostril.
• Close the left nostril with your ring finger and hold the breath with both nostrils closed.
• Open your right nostril and release the breath.
• Repeat on the other side.
• Practice 5-10 times or until you feel more calm.

4. Diaphragmatic Breathing

This type of breathwork, also known as “belly breathing,” involves using your diaphragm to increase air flow into your lungs, thus increasing oxygen levels in your bloodstream. This type of breathing allows you to become aware of your breath deeper into your body, as normal breathing is usually very shallow. Diaphragmatic breathwork focuses on making your belly rise and fall as you inhale and exhale, so you can learn to engage your diaphragm to take deeper breaths.

To practice diaphragmatic breathing, follow these steps:

• Sit with a straight spine, either on the floor with crossed legs or on a chair with feet flat on the floor. You can also lie down comfortably.
• Place one hand on your stomach beneath your rib cage.
• Place your other hand in the middle of your chest.
• As you inhale through your nose, draw your breath inward and feel the hand on your stomach move outward as it fills with air. Your chest should remain still.
• Exhale through pursed lips and tighten the abdominal muscles. Again, the chest remains still, but feel your stomach fall downward as you exhale.
• Try to practice this for 5-10 minutes at a time, a few times a day.

5. 4-7-8 Breathing

4-7-8 breathing is often associated with better sleep quality, but it can also be used to manage anxiety, stress, and even blood pressure. 4-7-8 breathing is an easy technique that can be done in only a few minutes.

To practice 4-7-8 breathing, follow these steps:

• Sit or lie down in a comfortable position. If you are trying to fall asleep, you should practice laying down.
• Exhale through your mouth making a whooshing noise.
• Close your lips and inhale through your nose for four seconds.
• Hold your breath for seven seconds.
• Exhale through your mouth for eight seconds, making another whooshing sound.
• This is one “cycle” –start with four cycles of this practice and increase up to eight as necessary.

Who Can Practice Mindful Breathing?

Anyone can practice mindful breathing, which is probably its best benefit. You don’t need any special training to do so, and there is really no right or wrong way to start. Encouraging mindfulness in kids and mindfulness in teens can help them better regulate their emotions and decrease stress responses. Even those with chronic health conditions that affect breathing, such as COPD, can be positively affected by mindful breath work.  However, if you’re unsure about how to practice it or are afraid of doing it incorrectly, you have a few different resource options.

Professional options to help you practice mindful breathing include:

• Yoga: If you’ve taken a yoga class, you’ve noticed how much emphasis is placed on the breath in order to foster the mind-body connection. Yoga teachers can help you learn more about mindful breathing and easy, accessible ways to practice it.
• Mindfulness-based cognitive behavioral therapy: MBCT is a blend of cognitive therapy that teaches people how to address their thoughts using mindfulness principles. This type of therapy often uses mindful breathing as a way for clients to stay in the present moment and notice any thoughts that come up without trying to change them.
• Support groups: Mindfulness support groups can connect you with other individuals wanting to incorporate and learn more about mindfulness techniques. Support groups are a great way to not only receive help, but also give support as well.
• Chiropractor: A chiropractor can help teach you mindful breathing exercises, but they can also be practiced while getting adjusted. For example, focusing on your breath and inhaling before the adjustment, and exhaling while it’s happening. This can allow you to remain connected to your body and become more grounded.

How to Practice Mindful Breathing

The beauty of mindful breathing is that it can be done anywhere, at any time. Although it’s ideal when you’re first starting to be in a quiet, distraction-free place, as you practice more, you can perform mindful breathing anywhere–even in line at the grocery store!

When first starting, it can be helpful to have a script or guide to follow to provide structure. Set aside time every day to practice and, if possible, do so in the same place so your brain begins to recognize this habit as part of your daily routine. It can be done morning or night, standing up or laying down, and for as little as one minute.

Below are tips for practicing mindful breathing:

• Find a script you like: Finding a script ensures that you aren’t scrambling to find a way to breathe mindfully on your own. Listen to a few different kinds, ask a friend for a referral to one, or join a support group. Look for one that best suits your individual needs.
• Prepare your environment: Find a place where you can be comfortable without distractions. Silence your phone, turn off your tv, and minimize any other distractions.
• Begin your practice: Let go of any mental clutter and just focus on your breath.
• Count your breaths: This can help you keep track of your breathing. You can also set a timer so that you don’t need to worry about counting.
• Focus on sensations: This is important to deepen the connection to your body and build self-awareness. Notice any sensations that occur and don’t assign them a label of “good” or “bad.” Simply be aware of what’s happening in your body at this current moment.
• Journal: A journal entry doesn’t have to be long or detailed—just write down anything you notice that might be helpful. You may look back at this in a few months and notice positive changes you’ve been able to maintain!

Final Thoughts

Mindful breathing exercises can make you feel calmer, relaxed, and more in touch with your emotions. It can also help regulate your nervous system and acute stress responses to increase your mental and physical well-being. There are many techniques for mindful breathing and it can be done by anyone at any time. It is a valuable resource when coping with stress, anxiety, and feelings of overwhelm.