The Only Breathing Exercise That Helps Calm Me Down, Stop Panic and Control Stress

I was gasping for air. My body was shaking. I want nothing more than to calm down right now.

I get like this for a lot of things: When my longtime companion, my bird, suddenly died from a disease. College admission results coming out. A really bad test grade. Field hockey try-outs. A big presentation in front of a crowd. Fights with my parents.

I knew I got flustered easily, so I wanted to develop tools to handle it better. A self-improvement enthusiast, pulling out my laptop I looked up breathing exercises on Google, downloaded meditation apps, and bought self-help books to become the calm and collected person I wanted to be in times of stress.

At the suggestion of online results, I would put in headphones, sit very still, and try to let calming music and sounds of nature clear my mind. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. I focused on the rhythm and tried to prevent my mind from wandering. But it wouldn’t quite work, so I would instead use a guided meditation app, and listen intently to the soothing voice giving instructions. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.

While these strategies aren’t completely ineffective, the solution would last about a whole 2 minutes before crumbling apart again. I would…