"Take a deep breath" is the advice everyone gives. The deep breath in is the less useful half. The slow breath out is where the calming happens.
What's happening
Your heart rate rises slightly when you breathe in and falls when you breathe out. It's a normal rhythm. Make your out-breath longer than your in-breath and you spend more of each minute in the slowing phase.
The tool: in for 4, out for 6 to 8
Breathe in through your nose for a count of four.
Breathe out through pursed lips for a count of six to eight, as if through a straw.
Keep going for ten rounds.
If counting feels stressful, just make each out-breath a little longer than the one before.
When to use it
On calls with your camera off, in the lift before a meeting, or lying in bed. Nobody can tell you're doing it.
Want 99 more tools like this?
Get 100 Ways to Stop Stress free, plus one practical, body-first guide every week.