Feeling overwhelmed? One of my favorite tools to decrease stress and anxiety is called Three Abdominal Breath. It is easy to learn, doesn’t take long and you can do it anywhere. Start by breathing into your lower abdomen, then middle abdomen (stomach area), and finally your upper abdomen/chest. Hold your breath at the top for three seconds. Then slowly let the air out of your upper chest, then middle abdomen, then lower abdomen. Hold your breath out for three seconds. Repeat this breathing exercise for a minimum of five cycles. You can do this as many times throughout the day as you’d like. This is also a nice exercise to try before eating meals to make sure your body is in a relaxed state for optimal digestion.

Anxiety is one of the most common symptoms that I treat as an acupuncturist. These days, our stress load can be too much for our nervous systems to handle. When we get overly stressed our bodies try to protect us by switching into a sympathetic state also called fight or flight. While this system can be helpful, especially if we are in danger or are dealing with an acute stressor, our nervous systems can get stuck in this sympathetic state. When this happens we want to have tools like Three Abdominal Breath to bring us back into a parasympathetic state also known as rest and digest. Otherwise, we will have a constant feeling of anxiety and low-level stress. What tools do you use to decrease stress?

Book an acupuncture session to lower stress levels and decrease anxiety.