Breathing Exercises for Anxiety: 8 Techniques and How to Do Them

Breathing exercises for anxiety work by slowing the breath down and making the exhale longer than the inhale. A slow, long exhale shifts the nervous system toward rest, and a steady count gives a racing mind something to hold on to. Belly breathing, a long exhale, box breathing and the calming pranayamas of yoga (Chandra Bhedana, Sitali, Ujjayi and Nadi Shodhana) all use that principle. They can take the edge off stress and anxious moments. They do not replace treatment for an anxiety disorder.

Anxiety is common. The World Health Organization estimates that around 301 million people lived with an anxiety disorder in 2019, and far more know the ordinary kind: a tight chest before a meeting, a mind that will not settle at night. Below are eight techniques, from the simplest to the ones that take some practice, with the steps for each.

Why the breath affects anxiety

Breathing is the one part of the stress response you can steer on purpose. When you are anxious, the breath tends to get fast, high and shallow, up in the chest. Slow it down and lengthen the exhale, and two things happen. The heart rate drops slightly on every exhale, a normal rhythm called respiratory sinus arrhythmia, so longer exhales mean more time in the slower phase. And your attention moves from the thought that is spinning to a count you can follow.

In yoga this practice is called pranayama, the yogi's art of breathing. Prana means breath or life force, and ayama means extension. Most of the calming pranayamas extend one thing in particular: the exhale.

Before you start

• Practise when you are calm first. A technique you have done twenty times at home is one you can use in a stressful moment. Trying a new one mid-panic is harder.
• Slow, not big. Huge breaths can make you light-headed. Aim for a quiet breath that fills the belly and the lower ribs.
• Breathe through the nose unless the technique says otherwise.
• Five minutes is enough to feel a change. Daily practice counts for more than long sessions.
• Stop if you feel dizzy or tingly, and go back to a normal breath.

1. Belly breathing (diaphragmatic breathing)

The base for everything else. The diaphragm, the dome-shaped muscle under the lungs, moves down as you inhale, and the belly moves out to make room. Anxious breathing skips this and lifts the chest and shoulders instead.

1. Lie on your back or sit in a chair with support behind you. Loosen anything tight around the waist.
2. Place one hand on your belly and the other on your upper chest.
3. Breathe in through the nose for a count of three or four. Feel the lower hand rise while the upper hand stays still.
4. Pause for a moment.
5. Breathe out slowly for a count of four to six and feel the belly fall.
6. Continue for five minutes.

If the belly will not move, let the upper belly go soft first. Our 15-minute belly breathing class works on exactly that.

2. The long exhale (and the double inhale sigh)

Breathe in for four, out for six or eight. That is the whole technique, and it is the one to reach for first in a stressful moment.

A close relative is the physiological sigh, used as a practice called cyclic sighing: a full inhale through the nose, a second short top-up inhale, then a long, slow exhale through the mouth. In a 2023 Stanford study (Balban and colleagues, Cell Reports Medicine, 108 participants), five minutes of cyclic sighing a day for a month improved mood more than the same time spent in mindfulness meditation. It was one study, but it fits what we know about the long exhale.

1. Inhale through the nose until the lungs are about full.
2. Take a second, shorter sniff on top.
3. Exhale slowly through the mouth until the lungs are empty.
4. Repeat for one to five minutes.

3. Box breathing

Four equal counts, like the four sides of a box. It is widely taught to soldiers, police and first responders, and it is often linked to the US Navy SEALs through former SEAL Mark Divine, who popularised it. It is neutral rather than sleepy, which makes it useful when you need to stay alert, on the way into a meeting or in a queue.

1. Breathe in through the nose for a count of four.
2. Hold for four.
3. Breathe out for four.
4. Hold with empty lungs for four.
5. Repeat for three to five minutes.

If the holds make you uneasy, shorten them to two, or drop them.

4. The 4-7-8 breath

A method taught by the American doctor Andrew Weil, who based it on pranayama. The ratio is what matters, not the speed.

1. Sit with a straight back. Rest the tip of your tongue on the ridge behind your upper front teeth and keep it there.
2. Exhale fully through the mouth with a soft whoosh.
3. Close the mouth and breathe in quietly through the nose for four.
4. Hold for seven.
5. Exhale through the mouth, with the whoosh, for eight.
6. That is one breath. Do four in total.

Weil recommends no more than four breaths at a time for the first month. Many people use it to fall asleep. The seven-count hold is long, and some anxious people find a hold makes them more tense, not less. If that is you, use the long exhale instead.

5. Chandra Bhedana (moon-piercing breath)

Chandra means moon, bhedana piercing. In the yoga tradition the left nostril is linked with the moon and with cooling, calming qualities, so the breath comes in on the left and leaves on the right. Many teachers make the exhale twice as long as the inhale.

1. Sit comfortably on the floor or on a chair, spine long, neck in line.
2. Take a few natural breaths with your eyes closed.
3. Bring your right hand into Vishnu Mudra: fold the index and middle fingers into the palm, keep the thumb and ring finger free.
4. Close the right nostril with the thumb and breathe in through the left for a count of four.
5. Close the left nostril with the ring finger, open the right and breathe out for a count of eight.
6. Repeat for 10-15 rounds, always in on the left and out on the right.

Follow along in the Chandra Bhedana pranayama class.

6. Sitali and Sitkari (the cooling breaths)

You breathe in over a wet, curled tongue, so the air feels cool, and out slowly through the nose. The cool air gives the mind a clear sensation to follow, and the exhale is naturally slow.

1. Sit tall and take a few natural breaths.
2. Make a soft O with your lips. Curl the sides of the tongue up into a tube and let the tip stick out a little.
3. Breathe in through the tongue, as if through a straw. Feel the cool air on the tongue and in the throat.
4. Draw the tongue in, close the mouth and breathe out slowly through the nose.
5. Repeat for three to five minutes.

Not everyone can roll the tongue, and that is down to your genes, not practice. Do Sitkari instead: teeth lightly together, lips apart as in a smile, and draw the air in through the teeth with a soft hiss. More in our guide to Sitali pranayama, the cooling breath.

7. Ujjayi (victorious breath)

A slight narrowing at the back of the throat gives the breath a soft ocean sound. The sound is something to listen to, and the narrowing slows the airflow down on its own.

1. Sit in an easy cross-legged seat (Sukhasana) or on a chair. Relax the jaw and tongue.
2. With the mouth open, breathe out with a whispered "haaa", as if fogging a mirror. Feel where the throat narrows.
3. Keep that narrowing on the inhale too.
4. Close the mouth and keep the same sound while breathing through the nose.
5. Let the breath be audible to you, not to someone across the room. Continue for five minutes.

A calming variation from our classes: breathe in with Ujjayi, then close the right nostril and breathe out slowly through the left, twice as long as the inhale. Read the full guide to Ujjayi pranayama.

Guy Powiecki takes you through Chandra Bhedana, Sitali and Ujjayi in this class:

8. Nadi Shodhana (alternate nostril breathing)

Nadi means channel, shodhana cleaning or purifying. It asks for more coordination than the others, and the attention it takes is part of why it settles the mind. Small studies have measured more parasympathetic activity, the rest-and-digest side of the nervous system, during and after the practice.

1. Sit tall and form Vishnu Mudra with the right hand.
2. Close the right nostril with the thumb. Breathe in through the left.
3. Close the left nostril with the ring finger, release the thumb and breathe out through the right.
4. Breathe in through the right.
5. Close the right nostril, release the left and breathe out through the left. That is one round.
6. Continue for 5-10 rounds. Once the rhythm is easy, make the exhale longer than the inhale.

Step-by-step details are in our Nadi Shodhana guide.

If you are hyperventilating

During a panic attack many people breathe too fast and feel short of air, even though they are taking in plenty. Over-breathing lowers the carbon dioxide in the blood, and that causes the dizziness and the tingling in the hands and lips. The old advice was to breathe into a paper bag. Health services now advise against it: it can lower your oxygen, and the same symptoms can come from asthma or a heart problem, where rebreathing does harm. Slow the breath down instead. Breathe out through pursed lips, as if through a straw, and make every exhale a little longer than the inhale. If you have chest pain, or it is the first time it has happened, get medical help.

Where sources disagree

"Take a deep breath." It is the most common advice, and half of it is misleading. What calms is a slow breath with a long exhale. A few big, fast gulps of air can make anxiety worse by starting the over-breathing described above. Deep in the sense of low, into the belly, is the useful part.

Breath holds. Box breathing and 4-7-8 both use holds, and many people like them. People with panic disorder are often sensitive to rising carbon dioxide, and for some of them a hold feels like the start of an attack. Research does not give a clear answer on who benefits. Try both and keep what calms you.

Instant calm. You will often read that breathing stops an anxiety attack within seconds. A 2023 meta-analysis of breathwork trials (Fincham and colleagues, Scientific Reports) found a small to medium effect on stress and on anxiety symptoms, with wide variation between studies. That is worth having. It is less than the claims made for it, and for an anxiety disorder, therapy and medical care are the first step, with breathing as support.

Left and right nostril. The yoga tradition gives the left nostril calming, lunar qualities and the right warming, solar ones. The studies on single-nostril breathing are small and point in mixed directions. The slow, long exhale in Chandra Bhedana is a reason it calms that everyone can agree on.

Other calming practices

Bhramari, the humming bee breath, lengthens the exhale with a hum, and many people find the vibration settling. Once the breath feels steady, a beginner's guide to meditation is a natural next step, and our roundup of pranayama research on strength and stress covers more of the studies. For a class to follow, try Breathing for Anxiety and Stress, 25 minutes with Guy Powiecki, or the short office breathing break. All our breathing classes are under pranayama.

To build the habit week by week, start with the Pranayama Level 1 program.

Frequently asked questions

Which breathing exercise is best for anxiety?

The one you will practise. For most people a slow breath with a long exhale is the best start: in for four, out for six to eight. It works anywhere and has no holds. Box breathing suits moments when you need to stay alert, and 4-7-8 many people use to fall asleep.

What is the 4-7-8 breathing technique?

Breathe in through the nose for four counts, hold for seven, and breathe out through the mouth with a whoosh for eight. Do four rounds. Andrew Weil popularised it, based on pranayama. The ratio matters more than the speed, so count faster if seven feels too long.

What is the 3-3-3 rule for anxiety?

A grounding exercise: name three things you can see, three sounds you can hear, and move three parts of your body. It pulls attention out of your thoughts and into the room. It is a popular self-help tip rather than a researched method, and it pairs well with a few slow exhales.

How long does it take for breathing exercises to work?

Most people notice a change within a few minutes of slow breathing, often as a lower heart rate and looser shoulders. The Stanford cyclic sighing study used five minutes a day for a month. Regular practice makes the technique easier to use when you need it.

Can breathing exercises make anxiety worse?

Sometimes. Breathing too deep and too fast can cause dizziness and tingling, and some people find breath holds or close attention to the breath unsettling. Keep the breath slow and quiet, skip the holds, and stop if you feel worse. Keep your eyes open if that helps.

How do you overcome anxiety?

Breathing helps in the moment, and regular movement, sleep and less caffeine help over time. For anxiety that keeps coming back or limits your daily life, talk to a doctor or psychologist. Cognitive behavioural therapy has the strongest evidence, and breathing practice works well alongside it.

Is pranayama the same as breathing exercises?

Pranayama is the yoga name for breath practice, from prana (breath, life force) and ayama (extension). It includes calming techniques like Nadi Shodhana and energising ones like Kapalabhati. The breathing exercises doctors recommend for anxiety, such as belly breathing and the long exhale, overlap with the calming half.