Breathing Exercises Help Manage Mental Stress

In college students, the well-being strategies such as breathing exercises were found to improve mental health and manage stress and anxiety, stated new study.

In college students, the well-being strategies such as breathing exercises were found to improve mental health and manage stress and anxiety.

The research team evaluated three classroom-based wellness training programs that incorporate breathing and emotional intelligence strategies, finding that two led to improvements in aspects of wellbeing.

Diaphragmatic Breathing for Digestive Wellness
Discover how diaphragmatic breathing aids GI patients by reducing stress and alleviating symptoms like abdominal pain and constipation.

‘Breathing exercises were found to help students manage mental stress. ’

The most effective programme led to improvements in six areas, including depression and social connectedness.

The researchers, who reported findings in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry, said such resiliency training programmes could be a valuable tool for addressing the mental health crisis on university campuses.

"Student mental health has been on the decline over the last 10 years, and with the pandemic and racial tensions, things have only gotten worse," said study lead author Emma Seppala from the Yale University in the US.

Super Easy Tips for Better Health
Find out more about the best health tips that help you stay happy physically, mentally and emotionally.

For the findings, the research team conducted the study, which tested three skill-building training programs on 135 undergraduate subjects for eight weeks (30 hours total) and measured results against those of a non-intervention control group.They found that a training programme called SKY Campus Happiness, developed by the Art of Living Foundation, which relies on a breathing technique called SKY Breath Meditation, yoga postures, social connection, and service activities, was most beneficial.

Following the SKY sessions, students reported improvements in six areas of wellbeing: depression, stress, mental health, mindfulness, positive affect, and social connectedness.A second programme called Foundations of Emotional Intelligence, developed by the Yale resulted in one improvement: greater mindfulness -- the ability for students to be present and enjoy the moment.

Aerobic Training and Breathing Exercises Help Control Severity of Asthma Symptoms
Adding exercise as an adjunct therapy to pharmacological treatment could improve the main features of asthma and improve quality of life, says a new research.

A third programme called Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, which relies heavily on mindfulness techniques, resulted in no reported improvements.

"Now that I have these techniques to help me, I would say that my mentality is a lot healthier," study participant Davornne Lindo said.

Holistic Approach to Treat Breathlessness
Treating breathlessness using a holistic approach of putting the patients before the disease by teaching them breathing exercises and so on, prove to be more effective.

"I can devote time to studying and not melting down. Races have gone better. Times are dropping." Another participant in the SKY programme," Lindo added.

Anna Wilkinson, who participated in the study, said she was not familiar with the positive benefits of breathing exercises before the training, but now uses the technique regularly.

"I didn't realise how much of it was physiology, how you control the things inside you with breathing. I come out of breathing and meditation as a happier, more balanced person, which is something I did not expect at all," Wilkinson said.

Source-IANS