Don't Focus On Your Breathing - Counter Advice

[ThroatGoat]

Hello everyone! I've been googling again (oops!) but I haven't kicked off any panics or anything. How? Because I've been googling something I've gotten the all clear on: My lungs, and my breathing.

Back-story, skip if you wish.

One of the problems that landed me in the ER a few weeks back now was trouble breathing, severe muscle weakness (I could barely move my arms to type!) and a whole bunch of other stuff.

The point

Why am I telling you that? Because one of the best pieces of advice I received from that trip to the hospital was when the doctor (thank you whoever you were!) said;

"Don't focus on your breathing"

Now if you google anything about anxiety and/or stress relief, you'll probably see a bunch of people telling you to do the exact opposite of that.

"Focus on your breathing, try to relax"

"Breathe in for 7 seconds, hold it for 5, then exhale for 5"

Etc.

I feel like this is terrible advice! If you focus on your breathing, what are you more likely get panicked/anxious about? I doubt it'll be anything other than your lungs.

So when someone tells you to "focus on your breathing" as a way to stop yourself from hyperventilating and/or going into a panicked/hyper-sensitive state, I believe that advice may be best ignored.

Just a thought that popped into my head I thought was worth sharing. Any comment on that or counter-arguments? Let me know below! :yesyes:

[IreneRumi]

I agree! Once I tried breathing exercises and of course my health anxiety shifted to my lungs for a period of time as I became TOO conscious of my breathing. For me its been much better to just not think about it and try other types of meditation ie visualizations, etc.

[ThroatGoat]

I agree! Once I tried breathing exercises and of course my health anxiety shifted to my lungs for a period of time as I became TOO conscious of my breathing. For me its been much better to just not think about it and try other types of meditation ie visualizations, etc.

Yeah!

There's another thing I just thought of; if the advice is "breathe in for 5 seconds, hold for 6, and exhale for 5" (just as an example) if someone isn't able to hold the breath for 6 seconds that will likely just kick off a panicky state.

I think ignore the breathing is probably better. But just an opinion. :blush:

[ankietyjoe]

I think it depends entirely on context. In some situations focusing on slow controlled breathing is a proven aid is calming the nervous system. Other times ignoring it is best. I have had success with both, depending on the state I was in at the time. It's one of those things that you have to experiment with.

[ThroatGoat]

I think it depends entirely on context. In some situations focusing on slow controlled breathing is a proven aid is calming the nervous system. Other times ignoring it is best. I have had success with both, depending on the state I was in at the time. It's one of those things that you have to experiment with.

Good point Joe! I guess the context is everything.

But so often I've seen "focus on your breathing" being used as almost a meme and it might not be the best advice for a lot of people. :)

[MyNameIsTerry]

I think it depends what you are doing with it. Are you doing it in a negative way? For instance, "I hate feeling my X symptom like this", "I HAVE to breathe consciously or I may not breathe", "my breathing must be a problem, I must have cancer", etc.

That's just applying negative thinking styles.

When you do it as a technique to calm or focus properly you aren't doing it for these reasons. Of course, it can take time to change your thinking so your mind is fighting you all the way and trying to bring in all those negatives.

When I started with these techniques I felt they were counterproductive because I was already very focussed on my breathing. I have had asthma since childhood (which they now believe has disappeared, for now) so it's natural a breathing symptom is going to be a focus for my anxiety as I'm already aware of what an asthma attack can feel like, which isn't pleasant (I'm very lucky to have only had mild ones and very few of them).

But it's about changing bad habits. Changing to better forms of breathing that help to reduce anxiety or calm the body, as Joe mentioned. And then there are focussing techniques like Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR), parts of mindfulness that work with this, etc. They can all feel just wrong at first but it's about relearning that what is going on is not harmful and may have been misinterpreted as something other than a normal bodily sensation.

So, I do agree with you but I think there are some useful reasons to do it the right way. To the doctor it may have been that you are focussing on something that requires no concern at all, something that is a real struggle to particularly HAers.

I think you relearn the relationship with your body but then you start to just accept how it is and don't spend as much time with such focus outside of specific exercises you may choose to do e.g. meditation.

[pulisa]

All my physical symptoms started by focussing on my breathing. In the end I just couldn't breathe at all and ended up in A&E-it was a long slow road back from there and I still have my "moments" with obsessive attention to the mechanics of breathing.

[ThroatGoat]

Thanks for your reply MyNameIsTerry! That's a very interesting perspective. :)

---------- Post added at 13:14 ---------- Previous post was at 13:14 ----------


All my physical symptoms started by focussing on my breathing. In the end I just couldn't breathe at all and ended up in A&E-it was a long slow road back from there and I still have my "moments" with obsessive attention to the mechanics of breathing.

Oh wow! I ended up in ER due to breathing problems too. :doh:

Had so many tests done that day and they all came back clear though.