yawning and deep breaths needed

[pollynewsome]

Hi, anyone who is suffering from anxiety do you feel the need to yawn and take a deep satisfying breath all the time.. i have just researched something called buteyko breathing and it seems quite good. Anyone familuar with it and if so does it work.. i didnt realise that i was breathing from my mouth an not my nose.. also i chest breath and not belly breath so i need to retrain.. Any suggestions would be appreciated. i might not even be posting in right bit so if that is the case, i apologise.. with thanks

[Fishmanpa]

Breathing/Shortness of breath

The hyperventilation as above plus your bronchial tubes dilate thus requiring more air than usual to fill the lungs so feels that it's taking more effort to breathe – it is , you're taking in more air at each breath.

What you feel:

You feel that your breathing is forced and laboured. You become conscious of how you are breathing and you have a hard time catching your breath. It seems like you have to force yourself to breathe, in fear that if you don't, you'll stop breathing and die. Or, for no apparent reason, you feel out of breath and find yourself doing an unusual amount of yawning in an attempt to catch your breath.

What causes this:

When stress biology changes the body, it quickens the breathing and respiration so that the individual is ready for immediate action. Unfortunately, this also means that the breathing becomes shallow in nature (unless we are physically exerting the body such as running, fighting, swimming, etc.) which results in the body not getting enough oxygen. That's why we feel out of breath. This is a natural occurring biological outcome resulting from stress biology.

Sometimes this symptom will be persistent from day to day, and other times it may appear for awhile, then disappear. Both are common. Once the nervous system calms down, you breathing will return to normal.

Also, because breathing is an automatic bodily function, you'll never have to worry about not breathing. Your body does it automatically. It may be shallow, but you'll always get enough oxygen.

Regular exercise helps to maintain regular breathing patterns.

As with all symptoms, when the nervous system gets sufficient rest, this symptom will diminish and eventually subside.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yes, it's a very common anxiety symptom as FMP has demonstrated above.

Having asthma, I have been shallow breathing for years as it's comes with the condition. So, I've had loads of issues with holding my breath, tensing my diagphram, feeling like I can't remember how to breath properly or that I need to consciously do it (but not to the point of Sensorimotor OCD).

Buteyko may help. It seems an interesting therapy. I've looked at it as an asthma sufferer but never tried it. There was a guy on the Top Tips board not long ago who raised a thread about breathing through your nose so he might have learned it from Buteyko.

EDIT: This thread http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=173092

Yawning is very common with anxiety and antidepressants. Bringing your anxiety down in general may help with this.

Exercise is good as FMP mentioned. Your body will just take over naturally leaving you not monitoring it so much and you will learn a focus is less needed as your body was programmed from birth to breathe despite your attempts to manually control it.

[pollynewsome]

Thank you for the reply Fishmanpa and MyNameIsTerry, much appreciated.. It all makes perfect sense what you say,, when im totally busy i dont notice it but the minute i am not,, its the first thing i think of and then i have to take a deep breath or yawn!
Fortunately im starting to exercise regular.. The head tension as a result of not breathing properly does hurt and it is uncomfortable but im sure it will get easier..
Thanks again.

[white1989]

hi polly,

I suffer on and off with very similar breathing issues by the sound of it, I go through periods of months and weeks where I have horrible breathing problems (apparently anxiety related) where it feels I can't breathe at all and every breath I take accompanies a massive yawn and huge deep inhale and I notice myself even raising my shoulders and chest with each breath. I haven't heard of the method you mentioned so I may read up on it. hope you start to feel better soon, rest assured that you're not alone x

[pollynewsome]

Awww ty white. All the best. X