Stress Mastery: The Art of Coping Gracefully

Breathing Variations

You need only do the most basic breathing awareness exercises to achieve a much more relaxed state of body and mind. As long as your breathing is becoming slower, quieter, and deeper, you are moving in the right direction. Quite frankly, the hardest part is remembering to remember to be aware of your breathing and then to practice. But the fact remains that wherever you are you still have to breathe, so you might as well practice doing it properly in a manner that will help you stay calm, yet alert. However, for those of you who would like to experiment with breathing further, you can play with these variations to give you increasing control over your breathing.

Variation 1

In this variation you are simply going to add the ...