A Natural Anxiety Treatment - Breathing Exercises for Anxiety and Panic

Copyright (c) 2010 Peter RubelBreathing exercises for panic attacks

, while they may not solve every problem for panic sufferers or dramatically help in every case, are nonetheless a common first choice panic attack remedy, and very commonly prove effective.I. Reasons Why Breathing Matters for Anxiety and PanicIn the immediate presence of real danger, a person's sense of anxiety is amplified. Stress hormones increase in the blood stream, heartbeat and breathing rate rise. In other words, the body quickly prepares for a fight or flight exertion.Panic attacks follow with similar emotional and bodily reactions, but they are irrational at least in that there is no real and imminent danger justifying fight or flight. The panic attack response is thus ineffective, even counter-productive.More rapid breathing, as one effect of heightened anxiety, can supply the muscles and organs with the extra oxygen needed to respond to a real danger. But in the case of panic and irrational anxiety, it alters the appropriate oxygen/carbon dioxide ratio in the brain, which then causes greater anxiety.Hyperventilation has the effect of deceasing the diameter of blood vessels and hence blood flow. Decreased blood flow causes dizziness, a numb feeling in the extremities, and a sense of unreality. These effects of over-breathing typically further contribute to the rising spiral of fear and panic.And typically, self-conscious slowing of breathing during an attack helps improve the oxygen/carbon dioxide ratio, thus reducing symptoms that increase anxiety level. And slow and controlled breathing distracts the mind from anxiety-inducing "what if" and morbid thoughts.Also worth noting is that often panic attack sufferers knowingly or unknowingly exist in a heightened state of anxiety, and thus that they breathe a bit more than is best for their physical activity level--just not as much as during a panic attack. A jump to panic mode is then relatively easy to achieve!II. Method in Breathing for Anxiety and Panic AttacksExercises useful in reducing breathing rate and feelings of fear are simple and easy, although over time they require focus and discipline both for habit-forming practice and for use during an anxiety attack.Those with heightened anxiety levels, like those suffering from a wide variety of health-related stresses, often breathe through the mouth. Mouth breathing makes hyperventilation easier and decreases the efficiency of oxygen/carbon dioxide flow in comparison to nasal breathing. Often mouth breathing is the method to which the person has become most accustomed, and so a bit of retraining become necessary with exercises self-consciously practiced regularly over a period of time.Another typical suboptimal breathing practice, especially for those with a sedentary lifestyle sitting long hours in a classroom or business office, is shallow, rib-cage centered breathing. This does not make full use of the lungs and it does not use the lungs in an optimal fashion.Under the lungs is a thin layer of muscles called the "diaphragm." When breathing from the diaphragm (rather than from the upper rib cage), the abdomen or stomach area rises and falls when one breathes. Breathing from the diaphragm uses the whole of the lungs.Breathing from down in the diaphragm and out through the nose makes hyperventilation more difficult than shallow mouth breathing. Nasal, diaphragm breathing makes slower breathing easier and dizziness and numbness more difficult to achieve.III. A Routine to Train for BreathingA breathing exercises plan geared toward reducing anxiety level follows.1) Set apart five minutes each morning and evening. More times are preferable, but fewer times consistently is better than more times inconsistently. Mark on a calendar the same times every day. This will help solidify your commitment and make the practice a habit.2) Get comfortable in a quiet place. Let the phone ring. Don't answer text messages. Unplug from your iPad, iPhone, iPod, MP3 player, DVD player, whatever. Stay off the internet. Turn off radio and TV, or at least park yourself in a place where distractions are minimal. Don't think about what you have to do or what you did that day. Relax your shoulder muscles.You may allow yourself a watch or time piece with a seconds hand or that counts seconds.3) At first, one has to make sure one is breathing from the diaphragm. Some people verify this or keep themselves breathing from below by holding hands gently over the stomach or abdomen, feeling the rise and fall with each breath. If the rise and fall stops, the hands will feel it.4) Inhale through the nose from the diaphragm slowly, counting slowly to three or four from the beginning to the end of the inhaling cycle--counting "one, one thousand, two, one thousand" and so on to approximate seconds. Or breathe in over a three of four second interval using a time piece.5) Pause briefly before exhaling. Exhale slowly over a three or four second interval parallel to the inhale cycle. Pause briefly and repeat.6) Keep going for four or five minutes.7) Repeat this procedure continuously at least twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, for five to six weeks in order to make a habit of slow, controlled breathing, or better to make it second nature. The better prepared in breathing one becomes, the easier it will be when one starts to feel anxious or panicky.Notice any difference? Remember and celebrate your victories. Reinforce success.

A Natural Anxiety Treatment - Breathing Exercises for Anxiety and Panic

By: Peter Rubel

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