How to Breathe Through Stress and Reduce Cravings

Have you ever found yourself reaching instinctively for food when you're stressed or anxious?

Have you ever wondered what's going on and how you can stop it?

We've coached many people who've had WLS in the area of emotional eating and one of the most commonly reported triggers for this behaviour is stress and anxiety. So if this is something that you struggle with then you're certainly not alone.

There's also a scientific explanation for this behaviour - when we're in a stressed state, where our sympathetic nervous system is activated, a hormone called cortisol is released. Cortisol is an activating hormone that increases our breathing rate, heart rate and blood pressure, dilates our pupils and moves blood away from our digestive system and towards our muscles. The reason that cortisol does this is because it's literally getting our bodies ready for fight or flight. 

Cortisol also stimulates our hunger, to replace any energy expended during 'fight and flight' and to store body fat, so that we have energy reserves the next time we have to fight or run away to survive.

This 'fight or flight' system worked well for our ancestors and can help us survive in dangerous situations but it doesn't work well when it's overused with our modern stresses.These days we're more likely to be chronically stressed by working long hours, visa bills, staying up late with bright lights, sitting in traffic, dealing with too many emails and notifications etc rather than facing a realtime threat where we have to move and expend energy. Chronic stress is a major factor in our current struggles with weight. Chronic stress also suppresses our immune systems and can cause a host of other health problems including high blood pressure, depression and anxiety. 

As well as the hormonal drivers for hunger, eating is also often used as an emotional coping strategy for dealing with stress and anxiety. Emotional eating provides a way to calm down and process stress. Eating actually slows down our breathing and the familiar tastes and sensations of fullness help provide comfort and security for many.

Emotional eating is an unresourceful coping strategy however and the short term benefit is far outweighed by the negative emotions that follow - for example, feelings of guilt, shame and self-loathing.

There is another very powerful way to calm down that doesn't involve eating and that's to simply tap into the power of breathwork. When we're stressed or in that 'fight or flight' state, our breathing rate increases and is generally located in the upper chest. We also tend to breathe through our mouths.

The fastest way to get back into a relaxed state, to activate what's called our parasympathetic nervous system, is therefore to simply focus on slowing down, breathing diaphragmatically and through our noses. 

When we consciously slow our breathing right down, breath diaphragmatically and through our nostrils, we can quickly return to a calm state. Not only do we release stress in an easily accessible way, but it also helps control our appetite, reduce cravings and is a powerful strategy for weight management.

Breathwork was once seen as a bit 'out there' and 'new age' but is now strongly validated by countless research studies. Breathwork is practised not only by yoga practitioners but by the special forces,  Olympic athletes, elite endurance runners and high-achieving executives. In fact, Wim Hof, a dutch Breathwork practitioner, has used his breathing techniques to help him break many world records, including climbing to 8000 metres on Mount Everest wearing only a pair of shorts and swimming 50-metres underwater under ice in the Arctic! 

There are many different ways to tap into the power of Breathwork and one popular method, used by Navy Seals, is Box Breathing.

Box breathing is very simple to learn and it’s useful in stressful situations when you want to re-centre yourself or improve concentration. 

• 1. Inhale slowly through your nose while mentally counting to four and focus on feeling an expansion in the stomach.
  2. Hold your breath and mentally count to four again.
  3. Exhale slowly while mentally counting to four.
  4. Hold your breath and mentally count to four again.

Repeat the process until you can feel yourself becoming calmer and more relaxed. If 4 seconds is too much, you can start with 2 or 3 seconds.

We've included box breathing and some other methods of breathing in this simple guided Breathwork audio which you can download here.

As with anything, it's not enough to simply know the benefits and what to do, we must take action! One of the best ways to introduce a new habit is to set a reminder, so that you have a cue for your new behaviour. You can remind yourself to practise slow deep breathing by sticking a post-it note up somewhere you'll see it or by setting a reminder on your computer or phone.

Another effective way to create a new habit is to link it to an existing habit ('habit stacking'). For example, every time your phone rings, you can take this as a cue to take a few slow, diaphragmatic nostril breaths before answering. Another cue could be red traffic lights - use these as an opportunity for some slow breathing rather than as a source of frustration. 

It could be as simple as linking it to your habit of brushing your teeth before going to bed - after you brush your teeth, sit down for 5 minutes on your bed and focus on slow breathing before turning off your lights and going to sleep.

Keep experimenting with this new habit and you will reap the benefits! Not only will you feel calmer and more centred but you'll be moving towards a healthier, happier future...