Energy and Focus Mindful Breathing

Getting Ready

Duration

5 minutes

Materials
  1. Chair
  2. With or Without Headphones (preferred with headphones)
  3. Safe and peaceful space
Treatment Modality

Individual and Group

Frequency

We recommend practicing this activity at least 5 times a week.

Other helpful topics to use this activity for
  • Building Healthy Communication Skills
  • Developing a Positive Attitude
  • Evaluating Messages
  • Overcoming Fear
  • Forgiveness
  • Social Media and Your Health
  • Stress and Anxiety Release
  • Calming and Destressing

The What

Around 70% of your body’s toxins are released through our breath. Carbon dioxide is a natural waste product of your body’s metabolism. The benefits of breathing deeply help the systems in the body to process this more efficiently. Breathing exercises also release endorphins throughout the body.  Endorphins interact with opiate receptors in the brain to reduce our perception of pain.  The upward and downward movement of the diaphragm helps remove toxins from organs, promoting improved blood flow. It increases the production of oxygen levels and in turn, rising levels of energy. Overall, breathing exercises reduce stress, blood pressure, anxiety. They promote focus, release toxins, and self-awareness. Breathing exercises also benefit you by helping you feel more confident and able to let go of old belief systems as well as negative thought patterns that no longer serve you. As discussed earlier, letting go of old stories previously held onto on a subconscious level gives you new emotional depth and positive perspective. And breathing exercises do this by clearing the mind, slowing down our thoughts, stabilizing the flow of oxygen in the brain, and stimulating the release of feel-good hormones.

The How

When people are anxious, they tend to take rapid, shallow breaths that come directly from the chest. This type of breathing is called thoracic or chest breathing. When you’re feeling anxious, you may not even be aware you’re breathing this way. Chest breathing causes an upset in the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the body resulting in increased heart rate, dizziness, muscle tension, and other physical sensations. Your blood is not being properly oxygenated, and this may signal a stress response that contributes to anxiety and panic attacks.

We recommend that you do your exercises in the same place every day. Somewhere that’s peaceful and quiet. Don’t worry if you’re not doing it right or enough. Just bring your focus on the sounds and rhythm of your breathing or the environment around you.

Only do what you can, and with enough practice, it will become second nature to you.

Do breathing exercises at least once or twice daily. Try to do them at the same time each day to reinforce the habit. Or only do them as needed.

The following mindful breathing exercise is the best quick breathing exercise to increase your focus and energy. Energy and focus breathing exercises have multiple benefits, such as:

  • The body deals with a lot of toxins in our environment, food, and water- air pollution, contaminated water, everyday food, etc.
  • De-stressing.
  • Calming Effect.
  • Increasing energy and focus.
  • Improved clarity.
  • Improving digestion.
  • Lowering heart rate and blood circulation.
  • Improving posture.
  • Improved emotional and mental health.

What we love about these exercises is that it can significantly help you with your academic performance! Do these breathing exercises when you need energy and focus to study for an exam, for relieving tension before speaking in class or at an event, when lacking the motivation to finish a project that you have been procrastinating about, when needing creative ideas, when you’re tired and need to stay awake for a class, when you’re stressed, when presenting a project.

 

Let's Begin

Let’s begin!

 

Energy and Focus Mindful Breathing

Energy and focus-inducing breathing exercise

(5minutes)

 

  1. You can perform this exercise as often as needed. It can be done standing up or sitting down.
  2. If you find this exercise difficult or believe it’s making you anxious or panicky, stop for now. It’s normal for some individuals with chronic stress to feel this way in the beginning. Try it again another time with less time (at least 1minute).
  3. Be seated with your spine straight, shoulders back. Legs and arms uncrossed.
  4. Also, you can keep your eyes open or closed.
  5. Gently place and keep your tongue onto the roof of your mouth, the gum line until you have completed.
  6. Keep your mouth entirely and comfortably closed the entire time.
  7. You will be inhaling and exhaling through your nose. You’ll be breathing not slow and not too fast. You’ll be inhaling and exhaling in a rhythmic breath.
  8. Bring your attention to your spine. Inhale through your nose and draw the abdomen in towards the spine and allow the spine to expand. Keep your shoulders relaxed.
  9. And, exhale through your nose, relaxing your abdomen. Allow the spine to relax and feel the energy move down your navel (abdomen relaxed/out).
  10. Repeat this breathing exercise for 5 minutes. As you practice, increase your breathing by one minute and no more than 10minutes of this breathing exercise. In other words, allow 10minutes maximum for this energy and focus breathing exercise.