Relieve Stress & Anxiety with Simple Breathing Techniques
Breathing exercises can be a great way to help relieve stress and anxiety. This video focuses on two relaxing breathing techniques: Square breathing (aka box breathing, 4×4 breathing, 4-part breath, etc.) and Pursed breathing.
I start off with Square breathing. It’s so good at helping to relieve stress and anxiety that it’s sometimes used in the military to help calm nerves before stressful situations.
It’s performed just how it sounds–using your breath to make a square. Use imagery as well and imagine making a square or following something with a square pattern with your breath. Each position is 4 seconds. Breathe in for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 4 seconds, breathe out for 4 seconds, and hold your breath again for 4 seconds.
Pursed breathing is another breathing technique that can help relieve stress and anxiety, and it can also help make your lungs stronger. For this one, use diaphragmatic or belly breathing. Breathe in for 4 seconds, and then breathe out with pursed lips for 8 seconds.
Yoga at bedtime can help you fall asleep faster and sleep better. Trudy, a registered yoga teacher and fellow Physical Therapist, stops by to show me a therapeutic yoga bedtime routine.
When should I stretch, and what kind of stretch should I use? Dynamic or Static? This video explores how pre and post workout stretching can help prevent injuries, and the importance of knowing when to do each version of stretching.
Fibromyalgia and other chronic pain conditions can cause pain all over the body. This is often called widespread pain. The key to finding relief with stretches and exercises with these types of conditions is to find the right amount of intensity for you. Lying down while performing simple stretches and exercises often helps.
The Epley Maneuver for Vertigo can be very effective at relieving vertigo symptoms, but it’s a procedure that should be performed by a physical therapist or other health care professional. This video is for demonstration purposes only.
BPPV, or Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, can literally stop you in your tracks. Hopefully this vertigo treatment with Brandt Daroff exercises will help. As always, make sure you are properly diagnosed because vertigo symptoms can be coming from something more serious.
Bell’s Palsy is the sudden weakness of your facial muscles on one half of the face. These exercises may seem like you are just making funny faces, but this will help get the weak muscles working again.
There is some new research that shows certain isometric exercises (contracting muscles without movement) can help prevent and treat high blood pressure, or hypertension. Here are some examples.
Do you find yourself plopping down in a chair? This video will show you some simple tips on how to sit down and stand up safely from a chair to prevent that plopping!
Muscle Scraping can help promote tissue healing, improve motion, and help reduce pain. This form of scraping therapy evolved from the traditional Chinese medicine healing technique known as Gua sha.
Breathing exercises can be a great way to help relieve stress and anxiety. This video focuses on two relaxing breathing techniques: Square breathing (aka box breathing, 4×4 breathing, 4-part breath, etc.) and Pursed breathing.
