breathing

[joy]

anyone got any tips on breathing exercises which are supposed to help with panic and anxiety


joy

[honeybee3939]

Hi Joy

This is from the How to Cope section of the forum, some good tips that may help hun.:)

Abdominal Breathing


One of the most important things that will help you during a Panic Attack is to control your breathing. Although it is the last thing on your mind, and very hard to control, it is very important as it will calm you down. Panic Attack sufferers will almost inevitably suffer from hyperventilation (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/NMPcms.php?nmppage=symptoms#Hyperventilation) and must learn abdominal breathing.
Slow, abdominal breathing alone has been shown to abort panic attacks and prevent them. But for a person with panic disorder, learning slow abdominal breathing can be quite difficult. People with panic disorder are almost always chest breathers. The worst thing you can tell a person during a panic attack is to breathe deeply. It takes a lot of practice to breathe with the diaphragm without a great deal of training, but if you can learn to breathe slowly with your diaphragm, you will not panic!
You must practice abdominal breathing so that when you have a Panic Attack you can put it into action.
Here are some tips on learning diaphragmatic breathing. Start while lying on your back. Place one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly (between navel and ribs). Focus on allowing the belly to rise easily when inhaling and fall when exhaling. HOLD THE CHEST STILL with your hand on your chest. The objective is to breathe all the time with the belly (diaphragm) and not the chest. You are aiming at about 6 breaths per minute. This is a slow relaxed process. There should be no sense of effort.
If the belly won't move and the chest continues to move, put a weight on the belly between the navel and ribs (where the hand was). A heavy book will do, but something that is not painful and weighs 3 - 5 pounds is best. Focus on allowing the weight to rise on inhale and sink on exhale. Again - no effort!
If still no success, kneel on all fours, i.e., assume a position of a four-legged animal. In this position, the chest tends to be locked in place, forcing the diaphragm to take over the breathing task. Slow and easy, no effort. Once you learn to breathe with your belly, you must practice, practice, practice.
The first week, you should practice for only a few breaths at a time while lying on your back. Then gradually extend the practice time to 15 minutes. When this can be done comfortably, you should start to practice while sitting. Then standing. Then walking.
After you can breathe with the belly in all positions, you should practice in different situations. Start with easy situations like sitting in a car. Then sitting in a restaurant. Progress until you can breathe with the belly in situations that previously felt un-natural and uncomfortable.
IMPORTANT: If at any time during the breathing training, you feel dizzy or light-headed, then stop the exercise, rest, and try again in a few minutes. The breathing training is not about being tough or facing your fear. It is about learning to breathe to normalize the bodily functions.
You may find it helpful to have someone doing this breathing exercise with you as they 'take control' and get you to breathe on their command.
Ok, so these techniques may not be very sophisticated but they work and may help you:

Love
:hugs:
Andrea
xxxxx

[mirry]

Hi joy , Andrea has given you some good breathing tips which should be helpfull :yesyes: . When I phoned the phobics society recently , they informed me that the charity MIND has a good tip for breathing to control panic....

They told me as soon as you feel a panic attack coming on, blow out really hard (like your blowing out a candle), for some reason they helps re address the imbalance quickly......I have tried it before and it did help me :flowers:

[Believe]

Hi Joy,
I see that you have gotten so help with the breathing exercises. I hope that you are feeling so better. I do these all the time and they really help me.


Take Care
Believe



I Believe In Time We All Will Get Better

[joy]

wow thanks guys i'll be puffing and blowing all over the place!!!!

love joy

[mirry]

lol Joy, Ive done plenty of puffing and blowing whilst standing at shop ques,
I must sound really impatient (i am).:blush:

[spacebunnyx]

i've started going to tai chi classes which really focuses on breathing- i've found it really helpful. xxx