Breathe yourself relaxed and exercise your abdominal muscles at the same time. Breathing exercises not only help you regain control and loosen up, they also help strengthen your abdominal muscles and burn belly fat at the same time.

Why is proper breathing so important

Proper breathing is important for the balance of body and mind. A balanced person has more energy to face life's challenges. Stress, anxiety and nervousness make breathing shallower and faster and increase the pulse. Shallow and rapid breathing in turn triggers the other symptoms of stress and makes it difficult to maintain or regain control of emotions and body reactions. The whole body inevitably tenses up, sends these signals to the brain, and the brain produces stress hormones.

If you take a few deep, controlled and consciously calm breaths, you will immediately revise the body's stress response so that your muscles relax again and you are returned to a natural and relaxed state. When the muscles are relaxed, the brain does not receive stress signals and therefore does not produce stress hormones.

Deep and relaxed breathing through abdominal breathing

Start by breathing deeply and slowly through your mouth. Make sure you breathe into your belly, that is, your abdominal wall, not your chest, should rise as you inhale.

Hold the air for a few seconds. Exhaling slowly, pull your belly back towards your spine and hold it there for a few seconds when you have exhaled all the air. Then repeat the exercise at least ten times. 

You should do this breathing exercise several times a day, especially when you feel stress and nervousness bubbling up. At home, you can do the exercise sitting or lying down to help you relax. On the road, just do it standing up. You will notice how the acute stress immediately falls away from you.