Breathe In, Breathe Out: 5 Breathing Activities for Teachers and Students

As you know, I’m a fan of mindfulness – I enjoy simple activities that help me stay sane, appreciate the moment and relax, especially now. Some time ago I even reviewed two books on mindfulness – Everyday Mindfulness by Melissa Steginus and 100 Ideas for Primary Teachers: Mindfulness in the Classroom by Tammie Prince. The problem with mindfulness, however, is that some of the exercises take time – and that’s ok, as you can’t learn how to become mindful in one or two lessons.

That’s why I thought about simple breathing and various breathing activities – they’re short, easy to implement in a daily schedule (or in a classroom), and they really work! It’s been proven that breathing techniques can lower stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline). They can oxygenate our blood, support brain functions, and can even reduce severity of (or stop) panic attacks!

Some people say that breathing can help you feel inner peace and find relaxation, and enlightenment.

I want to share some breathing exercises I’ve used and I can say they really work for me, so I can only hope you’ll find them as useful as I have!

Square breath (aka box breathing, 4×4 breathing, four-part breath): good for resilience

I found this activity in one of the books by Brené Brown (Dare to Lead). She uses it to calm down when shit hits the fan. The trick here lies with diaphragm, which fills your lungs with oxygenated air more fully than shallow chest breathing. The military teaches it to aid in stress-related emotional disorders.

1. think about each cycle of breath
2. inhale through your nose for a count of four
3. hold your breath for a count of four
4. exhale through your mouth for a count of four
5. pause and hold for a count of four
6. repeat

Belly breathing: soothes headaches, anger, and anxiety

This exercise works best if you practice three to four times a day for at least five minutes. You do this activity while sitting up, but it might take some time and practice to master the technique.

1. lie flat on your back with your knees bent slightly
2. put one hand on your stomach and the other hand on your chest
3. slowly inhale through your nose and
4. exhale through your mouth

Humming bee breath (bhramari): sooths headaches and stress

It’s a nice exercise, but it requires humming (that’s why it’s fun in your classroom).

1. close your eyes and relax your face muscles
2. place your first fingers on your tragus cartilage (in case you don’t know what a tragus cartilage is – I didn’t! – click!)
3. inhale and exhale, pressing your fingers into the tragus as much as is comfortable
4. as you’re breathing out, keep your mouth closed and release a loud humming sound
5. repeat

Lion’s breath: removes toxins and stress from your body

That’s a great activity to perform with younger students, as you make silly faces and make silly sounds.

1. spread fingers wide
2. inhale through the nose and widen your eyes
3. when exhaling, widen your mouth, stick out your tongue and breathe out, making a loud and long ha sound
4. repeat

Deep breathing: reduces stress

People who suffer from panic disorders and anxiety might make the most out of this exercise as often shortness of breath can panic them more.

1. draw your elbows back slightly so that your chest becomes bigger
2. inhale deeply through the nose
3. hold your breath while you slowly count to five
4. allow the breath to escape through your mouth slowly
5. repeat

As you can see, these exercises are really simple and easy to perform – they’ve helped me more than once. You can practice on your own, or you can include them in your lesson plan, I’m sure your students will appreciate them.

Enjoy!