One-Minute Breathing Reset
A breathing technique with a long breath out, to use when you feel stress building.
Based on somatic approaches. They use body signals as information about stress and emotion.
What this can look like
You can feel it rising: tight chest, hot face, short answers. You know what's coming if you don't slow down.
Why it happens
When stress builds, your breathing gets faster and shallower, and your body stays on alert. Breathing out slowly, for longer than you breathe in, is one of the quickest ways to slow your heart rate down.
How to use it
1 minute, once a day
- Breathe in through your nose.
- At the top, take a second short breath in.
- Breathe out slowly through your mouth, longer than the breath in.
- Repeat two or three times.
Use it once a day when you're calm, so it's familiar when you're not. Use it again when you notice stress building.
Short on time? Note when you used it, and your stress before and after, 0 to 10.
Afterwards, ask yourself
What changed in your body within a minute?
This tool is one small place to start. You might know what you want to change and still find it hard to do, or hard to put into words what comes up. That's normal. It's a big part of the work in counselling: getting to the bottom of what's happening, so it's easier to say and easier to change.
If this keeps happening
When the same thing keeps coming back, it's usually a pattern rather than a bad week. Understanding what sets it off, and practising a different response, is something we work on often in counselling.
This page is general information. It isn't a diagnosis or a replacement for therapy.
If you're thinking about ending your life or you're in crisis, call or text 9-8-8 in Canada, or call 911.
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