Improving our breathing pattern, is an effective way of dealing with stress.We rarely pay much attention to how we breathe and therefore when people are asked about their breathing pattern, they are frequently unable to answer. A simple way of finding out how you breathe is to sit upright with one hand on your chest and one on your tummy and be aware of which rises and the extent to which this happens.When people are anxious they often develop a range of symptoms, dizziness, a spaced out feeling, difficulty in focussing, a feeling of faintness amongst others. These can be apportioned to faulty breathing. These symptoms are caused by us exhaling too much carbon dioxide.Chest breathing involves taking shallow, irregular, and rapid breaths. When we breathe using our chests, we tend to need to breathe in more frequently as we are not filling up our lungs. This means that we have to breathe out more too and we deplete our bodies of carbon dioxide. Diaphragmatic breathing is a deeper more even way of breathing and helps our blood to get oxygenated more efficiently.To breathe better, we must focus on our diaphragms as opposed to our chest. It can also be helpful to recite a mantra such as the number one to ourselves on each outward breath. This will help us to establish a pattern.Saying something like, inhale to relax and exhale to release stress can make us feel more relaxed. To breathe using your diaphragm: Sit in a relaxed position. Sometimes it can help to close your eyes, have soothing music on in the background, or to use visualization as an aid. Place one hand on your abdomen and one on your chest. Breathe through your nose. Breathe so that your diaphragm rises and falls. This should be followed by the gentle rising movement of your chest. It may be useful to press your hand down as you breathe out and allow your abdomen to push it back up as you breathe in. Many people when faced with having to do something they are concerned about describe panic symptoms.This term itself is not a particularly useful one as it tells us little about how the person feels and suggests unmanageability. It is much more helpful to think in terms of what your particular symptoms are. Somatic symptoms, thoughts in your head , how you interpret the symptoms and what you do next as these all go together to keep the anxiety problem going. If we can see a pattern then it is easier to find a way of breaking it. When people feel panicky, they have the sensation of not being able to get enough air into their systems. They have a tendency to gulp and hold on to their breath.A useful exercise to address this type of scenario is to: Inhale through your nose. Count, one, two, three and then pause on four. Exhale counting, five, six, seven, eight. Pause for nine and ten. Repeat the process. Research has shown that the optimum number of breaths per minute is six. This exercise will help you to pause longer between breaths assisting you to reach the goal of breathing once every ten seconds. This frequency will help you to feel more relaxed. |
