The Power of Breathing Exercises for Quitting Smoking

6th October 2023

Incorporating breathing exercises into your stop-smoking plan is going ‘back to basics’. It will help you manage both the physical and psychological aspects of quitting smoking. It helps you stay calm, focused, and committed to your end goal of becoming smoke free.

Breathing exercises can benefit you in these ways:

• Reduce stress
  Stress is a common trigger for smokers and stopping smoking can be stressful. Breathing exercises can help reduce stress and anxiety and can make it easier to manage cravings or triggers, which can delay smoking and help smokers stay smoke free.
• Improve self-awareness
  As you become more aware of your smoking triggers and habits, incorporating regular breathing exercises will help you become more aware /mindful and develop healthier strategies for yourself to replace smoking.
• Manage cravings
  Deep breathing can be a distraction as it helps take your mind off the urge, (which also diminishes in 3 minutes if there is no smoking). This is a cleaner healthier way to manage cravings which also brings on a sense of calm, satisfaction and control.
• Improve lung function
  Smoking damages the lungs (smoke, tar, carbon dioxide, toxins) but breathing exercises can improve lung function over time by expanding lung capacity and clearing out mucus making breathing easier and reducing withdrawal symptoms.
• Improves overall health
  When you first stop smoking, you will experience withdrawal symptoms and mood swings. Breathing exercises will help regulate your mood and reduce irritability and frustrations contributing to a sense of wellbeing and stability during this challenging period.

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