Breathing.. wow

[Martin]

This breathing stuff is awesome Most of my anxiety seems to have gone by forcing myself to breathe like people are appearantly supposed to. Also I dropped my resting pulse rate about 10bpm in 3 days and I dont seem to get longwinded just by getting out of the chair or get a racing heart from doing my dishes anymore... thoroughly weird.

Unfortunately it still doesn't work in my sleep yet, or in the morning when Im stressed, but I seem to have taught my body to do it by itself more or less throughout the day.

Got a 1 hour commute to and from work, so basically just did 7/11 breathing for 1 hour continuously, twice a day in the car and it seems to carry over into non-car time quite well so far.

-Martin

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I'm not insane.. really

[seh1980]

Glad to hear that it's working Martin!! Keep it up

"Life is too important to take seriously" Corky Siegal

[Meg]

Yes Martin, its cumulative and soon will become habit ..

Great news for you.


Meg
www.anxietymanagementltd.com

Watch your thoughts, they become your words...
Watch your words, they become your actions... Watch your actions, they become your habits... Watch your habits, they become your character... Watch your character, it becomes your destiny...

[Karen]

Glad it's helping Martin. Keep going!


Karen



It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves, and it is not possible to find it elsewhere.

[Gareth]

Hi Martin

I have been thinking that this is my next step - to work on my breathing.

What resources have you used to teach you how to do it?

Thanks
Gareth

*** I think, therefore I'm anxious ***

[Martin]

Gareth, I kind of just improvised, having read that counting to 7 on the inbreath and 11 on the outbreath (so that exhalation takes a little longer), you take up more oxygen in your system, as it appearantly goes into you while you breathe out. Not really logical, which is why I think our first reaction is to try to breathe in more and hurry exhalation.

The next paragraph is a rant, please skip it..

Its not a miracle cure, I had to see my new doctor today, which was daunting enough, and when I got there she was away, sick, and I was referred to another a few blocks away, and on my way there my pulse got even higher and I couldn't concentrate on breathing... Or the other way around.. Of course by the time I got there I was a wreck and I had to have my blood pressure taken by a stranger, first time after quitting some of my bp meds, took him about 3-4 readings to get an even acceptable result, which was still in the gray area between normal and moderately high, which means Im of course now wondering if its high as I sit around alone. My first impulse is to go out and get a bp monitor *RIGHT NOW*, which probably isn't helping :(

Anyway it seems to be helping under most circumstances as long as you dont hurry yourself. I suggest putting aside some time each day, like when on the bus or in your car, or whenever you have some time to yourself where you are reasonably sure to not be disturbed too much at first, like infront of the tv. Then do the breathing, counting silently about 7 in and 11 out, or 5 in and 7 out, or whatever gives you that approximate ratio, so your exhale is longer and controlled, try to make it a fluid motion without too long pauses. If your check your pulse, you'll probably notice it gets slower on the exhale, perhaps with a pause at the beginning or end, thats appearantly normal, so dont panic

Make sure you use your diaphragm to breathe with, so it sucks your lungs down to fill them, try not to use outer stomach or chest muscles too much, maybe just stomach to empty most of the air left in your lungs if you feel the need at the end of the exhale. After about half a minute youll stop feeling that nasty air hunger that usually makes you panic and hyperventilate, just brave it..

After a few days it got a lot easier for me, still have to concentrate on it in stressful situations or doing physical stuff, but in the car or infront of the pc I seem to have it down, also to some extent while walking or even light bicycling.

Dunno if this helps you, Gareth, but give it a try.

-Martin

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I'm not insane.. really

[pips]

That's Brill news.

Glad it's working for you keep up the good work Martin!

Take care,

Love PIP'S X

[Martin]

*update* OK, one week later, think I might have been overdoing it a bit Guess its never good to jump the gun, as I seem to have a knack for.

Anyway, suddenly I was sitting there with a really slow heart rate and cold fingers and toes and ears, despite it being 25C outside. But being fairly calm through the breathing I didn't panic, just did it even slower.. [Oops!] With the result of even colder extremities and slower pulse for a few days, only broken up by a few hours when exercising and stuff like that.

So DON'T do the breathing constantly either.. I guess its never going to be easy, huh? Its like its impossible to keep the correct rate of breathing in a given situation, I'm becoming more and more convinced thats a serious problem in my anxiety and my wellbeing.

Of course one could just continue and hope the body would eventually adapt.

-Martin

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I'm not insane.. really

[Gondore]

I know this post was a long time ago but I'm wondering how your breathing is doing these days?!