Breathing exercises every college student should know

Written by Lina Ramirez, GSW

As you are scrolling down to read about today’s blog topic, you may find yourself thinking something along the lines of “tips on how to breathe…for real? how pointless…” or “come on, you’ve got to be kidding me isn’t that just something we do effortlessly and by instinct? To answer your question, I will start by saying that yes, you are partially right.

Breathing is an activity that for the most part takes place automatically in our bodies and one which we are all programmed to do rather effortlessly. Despite it being a bodily process that takes place innately, its greatest benefits can only be accessed through its intentional use and by learning to incorporate it as a routine practice. In fact, you’d be surprised to find out most of us are rather bad at intentionally utilizing it in this manner. As a result, we are missing out on the magnificent and powerful tool it can be!

The bottom line is you may be cutting yourself short by not finding out more about these great nuggets of knowledge we are about to share with you. Practicing different breathing exercises can better help us manage everyday stress, anxiety as well as improve many other mental and physical concerns. In fact, researchers from Yale University suggest the best strategy for college students to be better equipped to tackle everyday stress may just be by practicing intentional breathing and incorporating mindfulness exercises into their schedules.

Here are a few quick, short, and easy-to-use exercises for you to practice throughout the semester. Give them a try!

When you have 1-2 minutes: