Vocal and breathing exercises can be powerful tools for soothing oneself or others. March 30, 2025. 6 min. Summary (Video: Daron Taylor/The Washington Post) ...

Self-soothing is any relaxing practice to distract ourselves from negative thinking and help us feel better. Examples might be breathing exercises, playing uplifting music, taking up a mindfulness ...

Here are a few self-soothing breathing practices that can be used anywhere, at any time. Slow, deep breathing For this practice, Kumar says, simply breathe in and out slowly.

Expert Dr. Andrew Weil has a technique for coping with this, and says it can relieve mild to moderate anxiety immediately. It's called the 4-7-8 breathing technique, and he refers to it as a ...

Our breath, often an unconscious act, profoundly influences our emotional state, mirroring tension, anger, or relaxation. Yogic traditions emphasize breath as a bridge to manage emotions and achieve ...

Deep breathing from your abdomen sends additional oxygen to your brain and activates your parasympathetic nervous system (the rest-and-digest response) and creates a calming, soothing effect ...

Here are four steps to shed stress and anxiety, and find that oh-so soothing comfort in every breath. Travel & Experiences 10 tasks to check off your to-do list to enrich your next vacation ...

Think Reassuring Thoughts While Breathing. With each breath, think soothing thoughts (“I am inhaling calm”). With each exhalation, imagine that you are expelling your fears and worries ...

We learn many of our self-soothing patterns when we are babies. It is believed that when we are soothed by caregivers, we internalize this soothing and learn how to do it for ourselves (Wright, 2009).

“One hypothesis is that just taking control of your breathing, and particularly in ways that would trigger self-soothing parasympathetic activity, is likely to improve mood and reduce your ...