{"id":81167,"date":"2025-08-19T12:22:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T12:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/81167\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T12:22:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T12:22:08","slug":"dr-daniel-amen-shares-easy-breathing-trick-to-fight-stress-and-anxiety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/81167\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Daniel Amen shares easy breathing trick to fight stress and anxiety"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n

Anxiety can creep up at any time, in any place.<\/p>\n

But one small practice can help calm the body and mind<\/a>, according to experts.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Dr. Daniel Amen \u2014 psychiatrist, brain imaging specialist and founder of Amen Clinics in California \u2014 recommended a simple way to reduce anxiety<\/a> in a society that is “chronically stressed.”<\/p>\n

MAKING THESE 11 LIFESTYLE CHANGES COULD WARD OFF ALZHEIMER’S, EXPERT SAYS<\/a><\/p>\n

“These high levels of cortisol [from stress] really damage your brain and put fat on your belly,” he warned. “So having a stress management program is absolutely critical.”<\/p>\n

The easiest approach to reducing anxiety, according to Amen, is diaphragmatic breathing, a deep-breathing<\/a> technique that fills the belly with air and contracts the diaphragm. (See the video at the top of the article.)<\/p>\n

\"woman <\/p>\n

Having a program for stress management is “absolutely critical” in today’s world, Amen said. (iStock)<\/p>\n

Below is a breakdown of the breathing pattern.<\/p>\n

Inhale a big breath for four seconds.Hold it for a second and a half.Breathe out for eight seconds.Hold your breath out for another second and a half.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n

By taking twice as long to breathe out, it triggers an “automatic relaxation response,” Amen noted.<\/p>\n

“It increases something called parasympathetic tone, which is telling your body the opposite of fight or flight \u2026 \u2018Things are okay, we’re safe. Let’s calm down,\u2019” he said.<\/p>\n

\"woman <\/p>\n

Taking twice as long to breathe out than in triggers a relaxation response in the body. (iStock)<\/p>\n

In addition to calming the mind<\/a>, heart rate variability improves significantly with this breathing technique, slowing the heart rate and improving cardiovascular health, according to Amen.<\/p>\n

“All told, it’s about 15 seconds, and if you just do that four to six times, you’ll notice that your whole body begins to relax and feel calm,” he said.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR HEALTH NEWSLETTER<\/a><\/p>\n

Many people who experience anxiety episodes like panic attacks tend to leave the situation, whether it happens at the grocery store or at a party, Amen noted.<\/p>\n

But the expert said that when experiencing a panic attack, it’s best to “never leave” \u2014 otherwise, the anxiety will begin to control you.<\/p>\n

\"man <\/p>\n

When experiencing a panic attack, it’s best to “never leave” \u2014 otherwise, the anxiety will begin to control you, an expert said. (iStock)<\/p>\n

Instead, he recommends staying, breathing deeply and “killing the ANTs,” also known as the “automatic negative thoughts” that come to mind.<\/p>\n

For more Health articles, visit\u00a0foxnews.com\/health.<\/a><\/p>\n

“There\u2019s nowhere in school where people teach us not to believe every stupid thing we think,” he added.<\/p>\n

“Whenever you’re sad, mad, nervous or out of control, just write down what you’re thinking and ask yourself, \u2018Is that really true?\u2019”<\/p>\n

Angelica Stabile is a lifestyle reporter for Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Anxiety can creep up at any time, in any place.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81168,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[49,48,84,22942,890,393,394,48964,48963],"class_list":{"0":"post-81167","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-healthy-living","12":"tag-lifestyle","13":"tag-mental-health","14":"tag-mentalhealth","15":"tag-mind-and-body","16":"tag-stress-and-anxiety"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}