By Jenna Shelton
Have you ever noticed how you breathe when you are stressed out? What about when you are relaxed? The next time you are feeling either of these emotions, take a moment to notice how your body feels and what your breathing pattern feels like. Is it heavy, fast and shallow, or deep, slow and steady?
Breathing exercises can affect your whole body. Not only are they a great way to relax, but they can relieve stress and reduce tension, and they are super easy to learn. You can do them anywhere; in fact, most people would not even be aware you were doing these exercises in public because you do not need any special tools or equipment to do them.
There are a lot of different breathing exercises out there—ones that can be learned on apps or during yoga or meditation—but here are two of the most popular breathing exercises currently to help manage stress and improve relaxation.
Breathing exercises like these can be practiced at L&C’s weekly FREE yoga class offered on Wednesdays at 6 pm on Zoom. For more information, please contact Student Activities Advisor, Jared Hennings at jhenning@lc.edu or by phone at 618-468-6400.