Lately, I’ve been looking into fear and anxiety, and I keep coming back to the idea of breathing. It’s interesting how many people, especially those dealing with anxiety, feel even more nervous when they try to focus on their breathing. But despite this strange situation, I believe it’s really important for everyone to learn how to breathe in different situations from a young age.

Today, while swimming, I learned something new about breathing that surprised me. Even though I’ve been swimming for many years, I never thought about this before. It’s a bit strange, but I want to share it with you. 

This morning, my friend mentioned their struggle with altitude sickness. They love mountain climbing and recently picked up a breathing technique for high altitudes. 

It’s about taking a big breath in, then breathing out quickly, almost like hyperventilating. 

It’s intense, but it gives your body lots of oxygen. 

As I swim, feeling the cool water, I can’t help but think about how this discovery could help in different activities.

Okay, so let’s talk about how we breathe when we do different things. I want to share what I’ve learned about breathing and some other stuff that might be interesting. 

Usually, we just breathe naturally depending on what we’re doing, but sometimes we can learn new ways to breathe. 

Breathing isn’t just about staying alive, it can help us do better in activities and change how we feel. But a lot of times, we don’t really learn much about it in school. 

If you’ve ever sung in a group or played a wind instrument, you probably learned some special ways to breathe. And even when you’re exercising, like lifting weights, do you think about when to breathe out?

Optimal Breathing Techniques for Various Activities and Everyday Life

When you do things like lifting weights, singing, or dancing, you usually breathe out when you’re putting in effort and breathe in when you’re relaxing. Coaches often encourage this because it helps you do better and feel better. 

It’s the same for everyday stuff too like matching your breathing with what you’re doing can make you feel stronger and healthier.

In your everyday life, to stay awake and focused but also relaxed, just breathe normally using your diaphragm. When you’re ready to unwind, like before going to sleep, keep breathing from your belly, but make sure to breathe out slowly for extra relaxation.

Now, let’s talk about it. You take a big breath into your belly, filling up the bottom of your lungs. Try counting to four as you do it, or just do what feels right. 

Then, when you breathe out, count to four as well, nice and slow. Don’t rush. 

This steady breathing of four in and four out helps you feel relaxed and awake. 

But if you want to relax even more, try this. Breathe in for four, and then breathe out slowly for six to eight counts. Keep it steady and slow. This type of breathing helps your body relax and calm down.

Knowing these techniques and when to use them is really helpful. Let me tell you about something that happened while I was swimming. I wrote an article about dealing with fear and anxiety after swimming. 

I realized that when my breathing didn’t match my swimming, I felt tense and nervous, especially during challenging laps. 

My muscles would tighten, and I’d run out of breath, particularly when swimming at high speeds. So, I started breathing more deeply and regularly, and it made a big difference.

So, I started breathing deeper and slower, syncing it with my swimming rhythm. Even though I’ve been swimming for years, no one has ever told me to do this, but it really helps. 

When I’m swimming, I exhale while stroking, and I inhale when finishing a stroke. It feels more relaxing, like coasting, when I inhale during those moments. So, exhale during the hard parts, inhale during the easy ones.

As I began doing that, swimming got a lot easier for me. But I’m not here to give swimming tips; I’m not a swimming teacher, and it’s okay if you don’t swim. 

If you don’t like swimming or being in water, that’s fine it’s your choice. It’s not about avoiding it, it’s just what you prefer. But I’m sharing this because adding mindful breathing to your daily swimming can help you feel less nervous or tense over time.

Understanding Activation and Relaxation

When you swim, how you breathe matters. If you’re having trouble catching your breath due to intense exercise, taking quick, deep breaths can help you stay strong and get enough oxygen underwater. 

But if you start feeling anxious or panicky, fast breathing can make it worse and disrupt your swimming. Instead, try to breathe out slowly and steadily to calm down and maintain a steady breathing rhythm. 

I’ll be writing more about this in an upcoming article, focusing on how anxiety can lead some people to over-breathe while swimming.

It’s really important to share these breathing techniques with more people. It’s like giving them a map for healthier breathing. But some people feel nervous when they try to focus on their breath because they’re afraid of doing it wrong. 

But the truth is, there’s no wrong way to breathe, our bodies know what to do. I understand, though, it can be hard. That’s why I’m writing an article for those who find it tough to focus on their breath. Don’t worry too much!

I hope you found this article interesting and useful.

Thanks for reading! Please take a moment to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below. Don’t forget to share if you found it informative ❤

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