VIDEO: A Breathing Antidote for Stress Responses

Our depressed and anxious clients don’t only exhibit their symptoms through speech and vocal tone. You see them in their body language too—in slouching torsos, folded arms, and shallow breathing.

“When fight or flight goes on too long, your body is still acting like it has to fight or run,” says Jim Gordon, Director of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington DC. “Then you become tense when you don’t need to be. You feel your heart racing, can’t study, and have stomach and head pains.”

Given the connection between the psychological ailments and the state of the body, Gordon says therapeutic interventions that engage the body are not only perfect for healing depression, but giving clients a tangible experience of their progress from the very first session.

Check out the video clip below to learn more about Gordon’s mind-body approach and how it works.

“When the belly is soft and relaxed,” Gordon says, “more air comes into the lower part of the lungs and more oxygen enters the bloodstream. Oxygen feeds our brains and all our body’s cells and a soft belly helps activate the vagus nerve, which promotes relaxation and is the antidote to fight or flight.”

Using Gordon’s “soft belly” breathing technique, your clients can experience immediate relief. When they notice the psychological and physiological results—relaxation in the shoulders and a feeling of being more alive and present with you in sessions—they can gain the confidence they need to begin moving toward a state of well-being.