Five-minute breathing hack to reduce stress effects

This is the fastest, easiest method I know to reduce the effects of stress. I call it balanced breathing, because it balances the autonomic nervous system, moving it from the usual "stress response" toward "rest and digest" mode

You might have heard it called heart coherence breathing or cardiac resonance breathing because your heart pattern changes to match your breathing. A few minutes of heart coherence temporarily lowers blood pressure and reduces cortisol, the stress hormone.

It's easy to do. Simply slow your breathing down to six breaths a minute. Adults average 12-20 breath cycles per minute.

Don't worry or overthink it. Enjoy taking (L)ong, (S)low, (D)eep breaths. Some call this LSD Breathing. Twice as long a breath as normal. Twice as slow a breath as normal. Twice as deep a breath (twice the volume) as normal.

Read on for the details...