VOA健康报道2024--Deep Breathing Can Reduce Stress, Anxiety

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report.

At Myosin Marketing¹ in Austin, Texas, the group employee meeting begins with an uncommon² activity for a workplace. The members gather on Zoom³ and the head of the company, Sean Clayton, leads them through a deep-breathing exercise.

Clayton says the activity helps his employees relax and to be willing to take creative risks.

"At first they thought it was really weird⁴," he said, adding that most people turned off their cameras. But, after a couple of weeks, there was a change. The employees said the deep breathing felt good.

Studies show that deep breathing can be an effective way to reduce tension, or stress, at work. But people may not think about their breathing while on the job.

Workers who sit at computers for long periods tend to take shallow breaths as their shoulders slowly rise. Workers who spend the day on their feet in retail⁵ or health care may be too busy to center their attention on breathing.

But there is good reason to stop what you are doing and take deep breaths, research suggests.

Long-lasting stress can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. Experts at the American Heart Association say it can be as harmful as secondhand smoke. Research suggests deep-breathing exercises can lower a person's blood pressure and reduce anxiety.

There are many benefits to deep breathing. For starters, it is free. It can be done anywhere. And unlike a 30-minute meditation⁶ practice, most deep breathing exercises do not take much time.

Also, it gives you something to focus on - your breathing. Experts say that this can help to calm racing⁷ thoughts.

Focusing on breathing for one to five minutes can help you clear your mind and let you "get back to focusing on the one thing you want to accomplish," said Glenn Levine. He is a heart and blood system doctor and professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

A good way to do deep breathing exercises is outside, Levine said. However, if that is not possible, doing them at a desk works.

"Instead of focusing on the screen or work, just focus on your breathing. If possible," Levine said, "close your eyes."

Even very busy people can find time for daily breathing exercises.

Lisa Marie Deleveaux is a marketing professional and mother of five. She lost her job several months ago and has struggled to find a new one. Deleveaux wakes early most mornings before her children, to do breathing exercises.

"If you set a priority for yourself ... you can make the time," Deleveaux said.

With one breathing exercise, she breaths in through one nostril⁸ and then out through the other. She uses a thumb or forefinger⁹ to hold one nostril closed at a time.

"It relaxes my mind. It makes my mind so full of ease. It brings you back to the present moment," she added.

To get ahead of anxiety before starting her workday, sales representative Lindsay Carlisle of Michigan does breathing exercises with her seven-year-old daughter during their drive to school. They breathe in for seven counts, hold their breath for five, and then breathe out for seven counts. They repeat this several times.

"Throughout that process, my shoulders start to drop on their own, and it really is calming," Carlisle said.

Suze Yalof Schwartz was an overworked magazine editor when her mother-in-law taught her a three-minute meditation method.

Yalof Schwartz says it changed her life. She left her career and founded Unplug Meditation, a Santa Monica, California, company with a meditation studio, an app, and programs for corporate¹⁰ customers.

"When we slow down our breath, we send a signal to our brain that everything's OK, even when it's not," she said.

Another 16-second breathing exercise is called box breathing. You breathe in for four counts, hold for four, breathe out for four counts and hold for another four. Yalof Schwartz has taught it to people in stressful jobs including firefighters, police and doctors.

"It is the best thing that you can do at work before you have a meeting, before you send out an email that you wish you didn't send, before you have a difficult conversation, because it just calms you down, gets rid of your negative energy," she said.

Employers such as Coca-Cola, Mattel and Netflix have used Unplug Meditation to teach breathing or meditation.

It is not always easy for workers to find space for deep breathing exercises. For example, salespeople¹¹ often work alongside their customers. Yalof Schwartz suggests doing breathing exercises when making a sale or organizing items.

Carlisle, the sales representative, sets a timer on her phone telling her to breathe deeply. She also keeps a note near her computer that simply says "Breathe."

"The anxiety is always going to be there," Carlisle said. "But at least I know I have one small tool. ... It sounds so simple and silly, but it works."

Words in This Story

relax -v. to make less tense or rigid¹²

weird -adj. of strange or extraordinary character

shallow -adj. having little depth

anxiety -n. fear or nervousness about what might happen

benefit -n. something that produces good or helpful results or effects or that promotes well-being¹³

meditate¹⁴ -v. to spend time in quiet thinking and breathing : meditation -n. the act of meditating¹⁵

focus -n. a center of activity, attraction, or attention

accomplish -v. to succeed in reaching (a stage in a progression)

priority -n. precedence in exercise of rights in the same subject matter

negative -adj. not positive or helpful

silly -adj. playfully lighthearted and amusing

1 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

2 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

3 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

4 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

5 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

6 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

7 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

8 nostril   

n.鼻孔

参考例句：

• The Indian princess wore a diamond in her right nostril.印弟安公主在右鼻孔中戴了一颗钻石。
• All South American monkeys have flat noses with widely spaced nostril.所有南美洲的猴子都有平鼻子和宽大的鼻孔。

9 forefinger   

n.食指

参考例句：

• He pinched the leaf between his thumb and forefinger.他将叶子捏在拇指和食指之间。
• He held it between the tips of his thumb and forefinger.他用他大拇指和食指尖拿着它。

10 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

11 salespeople   

n.售货员，店员；售货员( salesperson的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The shop usually employs additional salespeople for the Christmas toy trade. 这家商店通常雇一些临时售货员来做圣诞节玩具生意。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Under our new system, salespeople sit down with each of our dealers. 根据新的制度，销售人员应逐个地同承销商洽商。 来自辞典例句

12 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

13 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

14 meditate   

v.想，考虑，（尤指宗教上的）沉思，冥想

参考例句：

• It is important to meditate on the meaning of life.思考人生的意义很重要。
• I was meditating,and reached a higher state of consciousness.我在冥想，并进入了一个更高的意识境界。

15 meditating   

a.沉思的，冥想的

参考例句：

• They were meditating revenge. 他们在谋划进行报复。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics. 这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。