*disclaimer: I am not a medically licensed psychologist or medical practitioner. These blog posts are not meant to replace getting real help and guidance from a trained medical professional. If you are in crisis and need immediate support, contact 911 or call the suicide prevention hotline at 988.*

In the previous blog post, Understanding the Five F’s of Stress Response, I discussed the Five F’s (fight, flight, freeze, flop, and fawn) and how they relate to stress. I briefly touched on the importance of breathing in that post. Today, I will delve into more detail on breathing and its relationship to stress management, the Five F’s, and mental health practices. 

The Autonomic Nervous System 

Our bodies have many different automatic systems that our brain controls without us having to put any conscious thought into them. These systems are called our autonomic (think automatic) nervous system and include things like our heartbeat, digestion, waste removal, and sweating (Cleveland Clinic, 2025). Two systems that are part of the autonomic nervous system are the sympathetic system, which runs the Five F’s when we feel stress or danger, and the parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS), which runs when we are in times of rest or calm. 

While these systems are automatic and we can’t consciously control our heart beat, blood preasure, digestion, and whether or not we sweat, one part of the system that runs automatically most of the time, but that we can also have almost complete control over and that is shared between both the sympathetic and parasympathertic systems is our (you guessed it) breathing. 

In the previous post, I mentioned how people, when going into the Five F’s, or people who have their sympathetic system engaged, might feel their breath speeding up as it brings in more oxygen, amps up the heart rate, and gets us ready to get away from danger. One key way to combat this is the knowledge that it does happen and that we have to draw on the ability to breathe to re-engage the PSNS. 

Breathing slowly, calmly, and deliberately can calm the nervous system and help us think more clearly. It slows the heart rate and tells our bodies that we are okay and that it can calm down, so we can better manage the stress that we are responding to. The key to it working is breathing with purpose and intent and fighting to control the body’s desire to speed the breath up and cause panting or panicked breathing. 

Breathing Techniques: 

Diaphragmatic Breathing

Many different breathing techniques exist that can help trigger the PSNS, but the main concept shared across all of them is something called belly breathing or diaphragmatic breathing. This is the concept of drawing breath deeply by engaging your diaphragm and visualizing drawing breath down into your belly rather than simply into your chest. Usually, it is accompanied by breathing through the nose and out through the mouth, though some people struggle, feeling like they have enough air intake when breathing through their nose, so they will breathe in and out through their mouths. That is okay, so long as one is still engaging the diaphragm and drawing air into the belly, keeping the chest from moving.  

A lot of times, people who are just starting to practice diaphragmatic breathing or belly breathing will do so lying on their back comfortably or sitting comfortably. They will place a hand on their chest and a hand on their belly to help gauge whether or not they are doing the breath correctly. If the belly rises and the chest stays still, it is done correctly. If the chest rises and the belly does not, you’re chest breathing and need to focus on drawing the air in with the diaphragm more.

In choir, the type of breathing singers do for breath control is diaphragmatic breathing, and we would often practice it by lying on our backs and using stuffed animals or rubber duckies on our bellies and trying to get them to rise as we drew in breath deeply. It adds some fun to the practice, especially if you are doing this practice with small children. 

Box Breathing

Once you have the concept of belly breathing down, you can change the breathing pattern to get more conscious engagement with breathing. One way is a technique called box breathing. One draws in their breath for 4-6 seconds, holds it for 4-6 seconds, lets out 4-6 seconds, then holds from breathing in again for 4-6 seconds. If drawn out in picture format, the breath looks like a box and is often a square with arrows, which is used as a visual and tactile cue for children practicing this breathing technique. 

Smelling the flower, blowing out the candle

For those who like a more visual or movement-based cue on breathing techniques or for those working with children who use more visual and movement-based cues with familiar items, there is the exercise and accompanying breathing technique of “smelling a flower” for breathing in through the nose, shown by holding one’s finger to their nose to simulate a flower. This is then followed by moving the finger or cue marker to the mouth to simulate blowing out a candle with deliberate exhaling through the mouth. This is repeated several times until a calm, meditative state has been reached. 

Conclusion

Many other breathing techniques can be practiced, as well as guided meditations that help re-engage the PSNS. However, the core concept of arguably all of them is that deep belly breathing and being mindful and deliberate with the breathing one is doing. 

It is easy to get caught up into the Five F’s and forget mindful breathing which is why I strongly encourage you to practice conscious breathing techniques frequently if not daily in times of calm and during times of smaller stresses so when the big stressors happen, one is prepared to engage in their breathing techniques without as much thought or effort having to go into them. 

Regular practice can make it almost second nature, and that can be one of the things that makes a difference when it comes to the Five F’s and keeping a level head. 

I dare you to talk about how you are really feeling today. 

-Dare

Citations: 

Cleveland Clinic medical. (2025, April 1). Parasympathetic Nervous System (PSNS): What it is & function. Cleveland Clinic. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/23266-parasympathetic-nervous-system-psns