Breathing from the chest is definately a habit so many of us get into, it's what automatically happens when we are anxious or busy and the fight or flight response is activated. I have experienced ongoing 'dysfunctional' breathing at various times, breathing practise really helped me.
It's definately the out breath that relaxes and calms the nervous system and I like the 7/11 technique when I am really in the habit of 'over breathing'. When we relax our rational brain has more space to operate
I like to sit on a chair with shoulders relaxed or lying on the floor with my knees bent and my hands folded gently over my tummy. I close my eyes.
If possible breathe in and out through your nose or in through your nose and out through your mouth.
Breathe in for a count of 7 and out for a count of 11 (start with 3 and 6 if it's too hard at first)
The important thing is to breathe out longer than you breathe in and as relaxed as possible.
If you are doing it correctly your shoulders will remain still and your tummy will get bigger and smaller as you breathe (called diaphragmatic breathing). When you first start, putting a book on your tummy will help you remain breathing from here and you can also get a sense of weight that can somehow help as well.
I probably do some sort of 'conscious' breathing a few times a day and it really does help. There are also phone app's that can guide you through short breathing excercises if that's of interest. 3 mins, 5 mins at a time, it all helps retrain. )
