Overworked, sleepless, stressed or under pressure? Turns out mindful breathing is the body’s strongest self-healing mechanism and one of the fastest and easiest ways to combat the demands of everyday life.

Our mindfulness expert Terrance the Teacher encourages you to make space and time to breathing deeply and reconnect with your body. His powerful and effective 7/11 exercise instantly helps to calm your mind and body wherever you are.

Here’s how you do it, and it’s easy as it sounds:

Step 1: breathe in for a count of 7
Step 2: breathe out for a count of 11

If you find that it’s difficult to lengthen your breath, reduce the count to whatever suits you as long as the exhale is longer than the inhale. Continue this for 5-10 minutes and enjoy the calming effect it will have on your mind and body. Top tip: Incorporate our De-Stress Frankincense Pure Essential Oil to your mindful breathing ritual to encourage deeper breathing and focus the mind.

The Science Behind Deep Breathing

Deep breathing techniques work by activating the parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS), a natural bodily response that can be described as 'rest and digest'. Out-breaths decrease your blood pressure, dilate your pupils and slow your heart rate – lowering emotional arousal in the process and making more room for the relaxing effects of the PSNS/’rest and digest’. Practicing a breathing technique a few times a day will lower your overall stress and anxiety levels in the long term.

Our breathing is directly connected to our emotional state and can be a powerful tool to help calm you down. Next time you’re feeling stressed or under pressure, try changing and slowing your pattern of breathing to change your emotional state and how you think and interact with the world.