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A Simple Breathing Exercise To Calm Your Mind & Body

Author:

Robin Berzin, M.D.

February 07, 2020

Doctor & Founder Of Parsley Health

By Robin Berzin, M.D.

Doctor & Founder Of Parsley Health

Robin Berzin, M.D. is a functional medicine physician and founder of Parsley Health. She received her master's from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and was later trained in Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital.

February 07, 2020

Not all breaths are created equal. Case in point: A simple, timed breath routine where the exhales are longer than the inhales can be powerful enough to soothe the nervous system and the overworked mind.

What makes this kind of breathing so calming?

When your exhale is even a few counts longer than your inhale, the vagus nerve (running from the neck down through the diaphragm) sends a signal to your brain to turn up your parasympathetic nervous system and turn down your sympathetic nervous system.

The Ultimate Guide To Breathwork

The sympathetic nervous system commands your fight-or-flight response. When it fires, your heart rate and breathing speed up and stress hormones like cortisol start pumping through your bloodstream, preparing your body to face a threat. If the threat is "A lion is chasing me and I need to run away," this response is helpful. But if the threat is "I'm late to work!" this response not particularly helpful—and, in fact, it can be damaging. When cortisol is elevated too frequently or for too long, it disturbs the body's hormone production.

The parasympathetic system, on the other hand, controls your rest, relax, and digest response. When the parasympathetic system is dominant, your breathing slows, your heart rate drops, your blood pressure lowers, and your body is guided back into a state of calm and healing.

Putting your body in a parasympathetic state is easier than you might think; it just takes a slight manipulation of the breath.

Step-by-step instructions for this calming 2-1-4-1 breath:

To begin, sit still and tall somewhere comfortable. Close your eyes and being breathing through your nose.
Inhale for a count of 2. Pause at the top of your inhale for a count of 1.
Exhale gently, for a count of 4. Pause at the bottom of your exhale for a count of 1.
Keep your breathing even and smooth. If the 2-4 count feels too short, try increasing the breath lengths to 4 in and 6 out, 6 in and 8 out, and so on. (If longer breaths create any anxiety, there is no need to push yourself. The most important thing is that the exhale is longer than the inhale.)
Set a timer and breathe this way for at least 5 minutes to see a difference in your mood.