Lindsay Bira swears by freediving — lengthy stints of underwater diving while holding your breath — as a stress reduction method. The water may even be optional.
Working to increase the amount of time you can hold your breath is a highly valuable mental and emotional trick, according to Bira, a clinical health psychologist and adjunct assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
When you're stressed at work, practicing a "breath hold" freediving exercise at your desk can help, Bira said on Wednesday at the 2023 NeuroLeadership Institute Summit in New York.
It only takes 60 seconds. Here's how to do it:
- Close your eyes and relax your body
- Take a few controlled, deep breaths
- Take a deep inhale and hold it for 60 seconds, making sure to consciously reassure yourself when you start to feel panicked
- Slowly release the breath and repeat three to five times
Holding your breath for that long may sound like a hard — impossible, even — task. That's why it works, Bira said.
"It's the same skills of tolerating the breath hold that strengthen those areas of the brain that allow us to tolerate the stress in life," said Bira, who completed psychology residencies at Harvard Medical School and the Boston University School of Medicine before joining UT Health San Antonio.
"You are, physiologically, totally capable" of holding your breath longer than 60 seconds, but your brain starts to send distress signals before you reach the milestone, she added. This happens in other nerve-wracking situations, too: If you're giving a big presentation, you might find yourself filled with worry and doubt no matter how much you've prepared.
When you take a second — or 60 seconds — to breath-hold and reframe your thinking in those moments, you're doing something called "reappraisal," Bira said.
"We're having to intentionally step into the skill in the face of distress that's trying to drag us down," said Bira. "When we see something [stressful] and we can think of multiple options or see around it," that's when you find the power to overcome it.
Breathwork exercises can help mitigate stress and burnout by triggering relaxation responses in the mind, a 2017 study from Frontiers in Psychology found. They can also have physical benefits, like lowering blood pressure and improving the health of your cardiovascular system.
The average person can safely hold their breath for up to 90 seconds, according to a study published to the National Library of Medicine last year. You may want to refrain from breathwork exercises if you have a condition like asthma and emphysema — and your lung capacity can decrease as you age, or if you're pregnant, notes a recent post on health website Healthline.
Taking a breath won't solve all your problems, especially if you're dealing with something traumatic — but it can especially help if you practice it regularly, said Bira.
"Doing it every day is a great way to build up muscle ... for reappraisal," she said.
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