answer:It certainly can. In Zen, we’re freakishly interested in how the breath works, both in its mechanics and how it correlates to mental states. Shallow, rapid, “chesty” breathing is part of the package of physiological responses to anxiety. But it works the other way, too; bringing the breath down into the abdomen and fully cycling it has the effect of mitigating the anxiety. If you were a Zen practitioner, you’d take a seat, sit up tall, let your chest and belly expand out forward, and focus your attention on the breath. It sometimes helps to consciously make the belly the engine that drives the breath, so that the belly expands in and out and the chest does little of the work. If you’re anxious, your thoughts will keep turning to the things you’re anxious about, but you let those go right on by and keep returning your attention to the breath. Typically, after a few minutes of doing this the breath gets slower and more complete (you don’t want to force this along to the point that feel you want to gasp for breath; just let it settle in naturally).