By Stephanie Scott
he key to improving our health and well-being may be as simple as breathing. Breathwork, or controlled patterned breathing, can boost your immunity, lower stress, reset the nervous system, decrease pain, and improve circulation.
The benefits of mindful breathing aren’t limited to improved physical health. Breathwork can be a powerful tool in fighting anxiety and emotional stress for people of all ages. “When anyone breathes with intention, it allows time for a sort of pause,” said Stephanie Chapman, a Yoga Alliance-registered yoga teacher and the co-owner of Bloom Yoga Studio in Shreveport. “The goal of breathing can be to slow or control anxiety and stress or simply encourage mindfulness in your day-to-day activities.”
In addition to teaching yoga, Chapman has also taught business classes at Haughton High School for 20 years, and she’s found the techniques that work with her yoga students are just as useful for her high school students. “There are several different breath regulation practices related to yoga, all with different goals or purposes,” she said. “With my teen students, I typically practice ‘block breathing’ when they’re stressed or anxious. Block breathing has them slowly inhale through the nose for a 4-count, hold the inhale for a 4-count, then release the breath through their mouth for a 4-count. We repeat this 4-8 times.”
The anxiety students can feel before taking tests can also be addressed with deep breathing. “Before a test, I have students take a slow, deep, lengthened breath in through their nose and then release the breath through their mouth with a sigh,” Chapman said. “I use this breath practice to center and calm my students to make them aware of the slow intentional breath coming into the body and the exhale as they remove any unwanted thoughts or feelings before beginning their task.”
There seems to be a never-ending list of stress-inducing situations these days but being intentional about our breathing can bring that necessary pause we can all use to regulate our response in those moments, particularly for kids and teens who are still learning how to manage anxiety. “Life in general sometimes seems to go so fast, and I notice that teens don’t always take time to stop and think before they react to a situation,” Chapman said. “When anyone chooses to control their own breath, it can be very powerful and have a totally different effect on the body than all the other involuntary breaths we take in a day. It is a practice that everyone can engage in.”