Breathing Exercises

The best things come in pairs. Pop-Tarts. Comfy socks. Healthy, smoke-free lungs.

Quitting smoking is not just about saying "no" to cigarettes. It is also about helping your body chill out while your brain adjusts to life without nicotine.

Cravings can spike when you are stressed, bored, or overwhelmed, and that is where breathing exercises come in. They help you relax, reset, and take back control in moments when smoking used to take over.

Here are two quick breathing exercises that can help calm cravings and keep you moving forward in your quit journey. 

Breathe in confidence. Breathe out cravings.

woman breathing with arrows showing direction

Breathing to Relax

When you want to relax, breathe very slowly in through your nose, filling your lungs from the bottom up. Then breathe very slowly out through your mouth. Repeat this three times.

man breathing in arrows showing directions

Breathing to Perk Up

When you want to perk up, breathe quickly and deeply in through your nose, then blow the air quickly out through your mouth. Repeat this three times.

Have you got those techniques down?

Try the “King Kong” of Yoga breathing techniques:

Should you try breathing exercises?

Yes! Just ask Edwin, Christina, and Carolina of South Texas how it helped them.