Breathing

What is Abdominal Breathing?

Follow these steps:

1. Breathe in deeply and slowly through your nose, taking the air right down to your abdomen.
2. Visualise the air travelling down to your abdomen and say the word "calm" to yourself as you breath in.
3. Then breathe out slowly and gently through your mouth. As you breathe out visualise the stress and tension leaving your body with your breath and think the word "relax".
4. Deliberately let your muscles go floppy as you breathe out. Take three deep breaths at a time. If you breathe deeply for too long you may feel dizzy from the extra oxygen.

You can repeat the three breaths after a short time of breathing normally.

The National University of Ireland, Galway Student Counselling Service wishes to thank Student Counselling and Development in University College Cork  for granting permission to reproduce this fact sheet.