“Most strong emotions activate our sympathetic nervous system, a.k.a. the ‘Fight or Flight’ response. You can immediately take the edge off of this uncomfortable physical reaction by taking a few deep breaths, which activates your competing parasympathetic nervous system.”

Deep breathing is also effective in terms of preventing emotional outbursts. A regular meditation/mindfulness practice that involves 15–25 minutes of diaphragmatic breathing helps to calm the nervous system, reduce stress, induce feelings of calmness, and down-regulate the processes that incline us to react violently to unpleasant or challenging situations. I suspect practicing a daily deep breathing regimen could help untold numbers of people feel less anxious overall.