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To keep stress from taking its toll, learn how to breathe mindfully

By Michelle Konstantinovsky

Learning how to manage stress can be tough. But letting stress go unmanaged isn't an option either — it can start to take a serious toll on your health. Everyday unmanaged stress can lead to digestive problems, increase your cholesterol and blood pressure levels and reduce your body's immune response. Luckily, even if your schedule is scarce on opportunities to relax, you can turn something you already do on a daily basis into a powerful way to minimize stress.  

That's right. You can reduce stress just by breathing — how's that for basic? The key is to take a couple of extra seconds to be aware of how you're breathing. Slow, deep, even breaths allow you to take in more oxygen while relaxing your shoulder, neck and upper chest muscles.

Practice this kind of mindful breathing any time you start to feel overwhelmed. Jane P. Ehrman, a behavioral health specialist at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute, recommends this 2-minute breathing exercise:

1. Take a slow, deep breath in from the abdomen.

2. Exhale slowly, with control, through pursed lips as though you're flickering the flame of a candle.

3. Take a normal breath in between.

4. Repeat this three to four times in one sitting, and repeat the entire series three to four times a day.

"Imagine inhaling a comfortable energy, exhaling tension and negative thinking," Ehrman says.

When you have a chronic condition or other long-term stressful situation, your feelings may be tougher to manage, even when you try this technique. If you suspect that you might need more help dealing with your stress, talk to your doctor, who can help by referring you to a counselor or other mental health expert.   

Published on May 6, 2016.

Michelle Konstantinovsky is a freelance writer in San Francisco.