Inhale calm, exhale the rest: 3 soothing breathing exercises

In yoga, focusing on and controlling your breathing is called pranayama. Slowing down how fast you inhale and exhale your breath can help you control and calm your body.

Next time you are feeling nervous, angry or a bit out of control, try one of these strategies.

1. Rainbow

Look up a photo of a rainbow, or use some markers or highlighters to draw your own. Put your finger at the bottom of one band of color.

Trace the color all the way across the rainbow, inhaling as your finger moves upward and exhaling as it moves downward. Move your finger to a different color and repeat until your body feels more in control.

2. Mountain

Pretend your five fingers are the peaks of a mountain range. With a finger from your other hand, touch your wrist and then travel up the side of your thumb. Breathe in.

When you reach your fingertip, follow the ridge of your thumb back down and breathe out. Repeat along all of your fingers.

3. Hot soup

Imagine you are hungry for a spoonful of soup, but the stew in your bowl is too hot to eat.

Inhale through your nose as if you are smelling the soup. Then exhale, slowly and controlled, through your mouth to cool off your imaginary soup. Continue smelling and cooling your hot soup until it — and your body — has cooled down.