Abdominal Breathing

This technique is the best known to use, and it really helps you to calm down. I used this technique and it certainly helped me

Abdominal Breathing Exercise

1. Note the level of tension you are feeling. Then place one hand on your abdomen right beneath
your rib cage.

2. Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose into the "bottom" of your lungs - in other words,
send the air as low down as you can. If you're breathing from your abdomen, your hand
should actually rise. Your chest should move only slightly while your abdomen expands.
( In abdominal breathing, the diaprhagm - the muscle that separates the lung cavity from
the abdominal cavity - moves downward. In so doing so it causes the muscles surrounding
the abdominal cavity to push outward.)

3. When you've taken a full breath, pause for a moment and then exhale slowly throught your
nose or mouth, depending on your preference. Be sure to exhale fully. As you exhale, allow
your whole body to just let go (you might visualise your arms and legs going loose and limp
like a rag doll).

4. Do ten slow, full abdominal breaths. Try to keep your breathing smooth and regular, without
gulping in a big breath or letting your breath out all at once. It will help to slow down your
breathing if you slowly count to four on the inhale (1-2-3-4) and then slowly count to four
on the exhale. Remember to pause briefly at the end of each inhalation. Count from ten
down to one counting backwards one number with each exhalation. The process should
go like this:
Slow inhale...pause...slow exhale (count "ten")
Slow inhale...pause...slow exhale (count "nine")
Slow inhale...pause...slow exhale (count "eight")
and so on down to one. If you start to feel light headed while practicing abdominal
breathing, stop for 15 - 20 seconds, and then start again.

5. Extend the exercise if you wish by doing two or three "sets" of abdominal breaths,
remembering to count backwards from ten to one for each set (each exhalation
counts as one number). Five full minutes of abdominal breathing will have a
pronounced effect in reducing anxiety ot early symptoms of panic. Some people
prefer to count from one to ten instead. Feel free to do this if it suits you.

Practice Exercise

Practice the Adominal breathing exercise for five minutes every day for at least two weeks.
If possible, find a regular time each day to do this so that your breathing exercise becomes
a habit. With practice your can learn in a short period of time to "damp" down the psysiological
reactions underlying anxiety and panic.
Once you feel you've gained some mastery in the use of abdominal breathing, apply it when you
feel stressed, anxious or when you experience the onset of panic symptoms. By extending your
practice of the abdominal breathing exercise to a month or longer, you will begin to retrain
yourself to breathe from your abdomen. The more you can shift the center of your breathing
from your chest to your abdomen, the more consistently you will be relaxed on an ongoing
basis

Love
Clare