De-stress In 5 Minutes With This Breathing Exercise

Feeling a bit stressed, overstimulated or maybe just a bit out of sorts?

Pranayama (translates into breath extension) is a great way to calm us, still the mind, and bring us back into a natural state of balance. Perfect at the end of a busy day but also first thing in the morning. Try to find a quiet place to sit, put your phone on silent and leave it in the other room. Let's begin.

Step 1: Find a comfortable seat, and sit nice and tall. You can lean on something if you like, but make sure your spine is erect.

Step 2: We start by taking our right hand, palm facing up, and then bending the index finger and the second finger into the heal of the thumb. Keep the thumb sticking out and the ring finger sticking out.

Step 3: Take a deep breath in through both nostrils. Lift your right hand up, close your right nostril with your thumb, and exhale out through the left.

Step 4: Inhale through the left nostril, close the left nostril with the ring finger, lift the thumb, and then exhale out through the right.

Step 5: Inhale through the right, close the right nostril with the thumb, lift the ring finger, and exhale out through the left.

That was one round. Continue like this for about six rounds, and then finish with an exhale out of the left nostril.

When you finish six rounds or more (you can do as many as you feel), drop your right hand, close your eyes, allow your breath to be super natural, be still, and sit there for as long as you feel. When you’re done, open your eyes, and get up slowly.