wrong breathing

[silver blaze]

Does anyone feel that tense that you are holding your breath, but you don't really know that you are doing and it if you do, doo have you got any tips

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yes, this has been one of my GAD symptoms for a very long time. I have asthma and I think that is why it has been so concentrated on breathing.

You will likely find that your are clenching your stomach muscles hence the diaphragm is restricted.

For the clenching issues you can try Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR) which is an old technique from the 1920's but still referred to by CBT therapists. It instructs you to tense muscles working through your body one group at a time. The idea is you start to understand the feelings better and know when you are doing it and also to get you to experience how to relax them better.

There are breathing techniques too which may help such as Calming Technique which I think is called 7-11 Breathing as well.

Its all about being able to relax really, so anything that helps you to do that will have an impact in this issue.

[feelthelove]

I have never been able to breath properly when i was a little girl i had to have breathing exercises and i still don't breath right , perhaps that's why i feel lightheaded most of the time :(

[gregcool]

I get this from time to time..only when im in bed tho..all of a sudden i find myself taking a breath,then holding it,im unaware of it to start with,i just realize i havnt breathed out.so instead of it being automatic,i feel i have to manualy breath in and out

[meche]

I get this often and I only notice it when my upper back & chest feel achy & tight. It tends to happen when I'm a bit stressed or run-down. I then start taking huge intakes of breath which make it worse. A good technique that works for me is to lie flat and breathe in slowly through my nose and slowly out through my mouth. I do this for up to 10 minutes. It doesn't always work first time but I keep doing it until I feel my breathing is more relaxed and I'm not having to think about it. xx