Breathing is something we do automatically. We don’t have to remember to breathe out every time we breathe in. But we can deliberately influence our breathing rhythms, choosing now to inhale, now to exhale.
When we exhale, we stimulate the parasympathetic autonomic nervous system, and one of the things that does is calm us down. The parasympathetic nervous system slows the heart, and is a very deep, very basic part of our survival behaviour. You’ll be familiar with “fight or flight”? That’s the sympathetic nervous system at work – preparing us to hit or run when under threat. We feel pretty “wired” when the sympathetic nervous system kicks in – heart racing, fast breathing, adrenaline pumping. The parasympathetic nervous system has a complementary function – it is part of what creates a “rest and digest” response.
When we exhale, we stimulate this system and induce the “rest and digest” response.
Do it now.
Fill your lungs, then slowly, slowly, breathe out, taking your time to completely empty your lungs. Now do it another couple of times. Just three exhalations like this will stimulate your “rest and digest” response.
One of the things I love to when I am beside the sea is to breathe in time with the breaking waves on the sand. It seems to me that every rush of the surf up the beach is like the ocean breathing out. It’s the sea exhaling. Sometimes that rhythm is even and calming and tuning in your breath to the ocean by timing your exhaling to match the exhaling of the sea can not only induce the “rest and digest” response, but creates a deep sense of being at One with the Earth.
Heroes Not Zombies 
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