Breathing exercises provide an extremely simple, effective and convenient way to relieve stress and reverse the stress response, reducing the negative effects of chronic stress.

Chronic stress can be harmful to your body and mind. It puts you at risk for health problems. When you're stressed, your body responds by releasing hormones that increase your blood pressure and heart rate. This is called the stress response.

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How do breathing exercises reduce stress?
Breathing exercises reduce stress by increasing oxygen exchange, which lowers blood pressure, slows the heart and releases any pressure on the abdomen. These physical changes also benefit your state of mind -- focusing on your breath brings you into the present and into a mindful state.

Many people inadvertently become shallow breathing -- an unconscious pattern of breathing in through the mouth, holding the breath and taking in less air. Prolonged shallow breathing can actually put the body in a cycle of stress, affecting everything from mental to physical health and even susceptibility to disease. While we shouldn't be in a controlled breathing state for long periods of time, starting a few minutes of practice each day can make us more aware of our habits outside of exercise.

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Choosing the right breathing exercise
1.Counted Breathing
The easiest breathing technique is counting your breaths, which is great for beginners. We first count 1 on the inhale, 2 on the exhale, 3 on the inhale, and so on. We can choose to count to 5 and repeat

2.Belly breathing
Find a comfortable position with one hand on your stomach and the other on your chest. Inhale through your nose, puff up your belly, and exhale through your pursed lips. Repeat several times.

3.Box breathing
Inhale for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4, at the end of the exhale for 4, and repeat. This is a very deep breathing exercise that has been shown to calm and regulate the autonomic nervous system.

4.Alternate Nostril Breathing
As you inhale, place your finger over your right nostril and breathe through your left nostril only. On the exhale, switch nostrils and breathe only through your right side. In yoga texts, this method is said to balance the left and right hemispheres of the brain to produce a stable and pure state of mind.

There are many other ways to practice breathing exercises, but these are the most popular and effective methods. If you want to do more breathing exercises, you can choose a breathing exerciser like OPUMP to help you. You can perform different exercises to see which exercise is best for you.