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Deep breathing exercise : Abdominal Breathing
Proper Breathing to Reduce Anxiety
Breathing is a necessity of life that usually occurs without much thought. When you breathe in air, blood cells receive oxygen and release carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a waste product that is carried back through your body and exhaled. Improper breathing can upset the oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange and contribute to anxiety, panic attacks, fatigue and other physical and emotional disturbances.
Is the Way You’re Breathing Contributing to Your Anxiety and Panic?
Most people are not really conscious about the way they are breathing, but generally there are two types of breathing patterns:
1. Thoracic (chest) breathing
2. Diaphragmatic (abdominal) breathing
When people are anxious they tend to take rapid, shallow breaths that come directly from the chest. This type of breathing is called thoracic or chest breathing. When you’re feeling anxious, you may not even be aware that you’re breathing this way.
Chest breathing causes an upset in the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the body resulting in increased heart rate, dizziness, muscle tension and other physical sensations. Your blood is not being properly oxygenated and this may signal a stress response that contributes to anxiety and panic attacks.
In contrast, during abdominal or diaphragmatic breathing, you take even, deep breaths. This is the way newborn babies naturally breathe. You are also probably using this pattern of breathing when you are in a relaxed stage of sleep.
How Can I Tell the Difference Between Chest and Abdominal Breathing?
The easiest way to determine your breathing pattern is to put one hand on your upper abdomen near the waist and the other on the middle of your chest. As you breathe, notice which hand raises the most. If you are breathing properly, your abdomen should expand and contract with each breath. It is especially important to be aware of these differences during stressful and anxious times when you are more likely to breathe from your chest.
Simple Abdominal Breathing Exercise for Relaxation
The next time you’re feeling anxious try this simple relaxation technique:
1. Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose. Keep your shoulders relaxed. Your abdomen should expand, and your chest should rise very little.
2. Exhale slowly through your mouth. As you blow air out, purse your lips slightly, but keep your jaw relaxed. You may hear a soft “whooshing” sound as you exhale.
3. Repeat this breathing exercise for several minutes.
You can perform this exercise as often as needed. It can be done standing up, sitting down or lying down.
If you find this exercise difficult or believe it is making you anxious or panicky, stop for now. Sometimes people with panic disorder initially feel increased anxiety or panic while doing this exercise. This may be due to anxiety caused by focusing on your breathing, or you may be unable to do the exercise correctly without some practice. If that happens to you, stop for now. Try it again in a day or so and build up time gradually.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation Can Help You Reduce Anxiety and Prevent Panic
Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) is a stress and anxiety management technique developed by Chicago physician Edmund Jacobson in the 1920s. Jacobson theorized that anxiety and stress lead to muscle tension, which, in turn, increases feelings of anxiety. When the body is in a relaxed state, however, there is little muscle tension, leading to decreased anxious feelings. Jacobson believed that if one’s body is relaxed, one’s mind cannot be in a state of angst.
Distinguish Between Tense and Relaxed Muscles
If you have panic disorder, agoraphobia or another type of anxiety disorder, you may experience frequent muscle tension. In fact, chronic muscle tension may be so automatic that it seems normal, and you may have forgotten what it feels like when your muscles are completely relaxed. By employing the progressive muscle relaxation technique, you will be able to quickly rediscover the distinctions between relaxation and tension of various muscle groups.
Try this simple exercise: Make a tight fist while simultaneously flexing your hand upward at the wrist. Focus on the sensations you feel while these muscles are tensed. Hold this position for about 10 seconds and release. Let your hand and arm go limp. Focus on how your relaxed muscles feel. Repeat this a couple of times. Focus on the different feelings and physical sensations between tensing and relaxing your fist.
How Does PMR Ease Anxiety?
Anxiety triggers certain physical changes and sensations, including:
* Increased blood flow to the muscles
* Muscle tightening
* Rapid or shallow breathing
* Increased heart rate
* Slowed digestive functioning
By using PMR, you can counter these physical changes and sensations to achieve a “relaxation response.” A relaxation response comes from using relaxation techniques to calm your body. During PMR, your breathing slows and your heart rate and blood pressure decrease. When muscles are relaxed, they don’t require as much oxygen as when they are tense. This allows redirection of blood flow from the tense muscles to other areas of the body, which reduces many of the unpleasant physical effects of anxiety.
What Are the Benefits of PMR?
PMR has been shown to be beneficial in easing anxiety, and reducing anxiety has been shown to improve the symptoms of many psychological and medical conditions. This technique is often recommended for people with anxiety disorders, insomnia, chronic pain and other disorders. In fact, some studies of breast cancer patients have shown PMR not only reduces anxiety but depression and treatment induced nausea and vomiting as well.
How to Do Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Basically, a progressive muscle relaxation exercise involves systematically constricting and relaxing various muscle groups from your feet upward or your head downward. You focus on tensing and relaxing muscle groups in the feet, legs, buttocks, stomach, back, hands, arms, chest, shoulders, neck and face.
To be most effective, you should be sitting or lying down in a comfortable position. Your eyes may be opened or closed, but most people find closing their eyes helps maintain focus during the exercise. Loosen any restrictive clothing, make sure your surroundings are quiet and follow these basic steps:
1. Do some deep breathing before you begin. Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Repeat this several times.
2. Begin tensing and relaxing muscle groups. Bend your feet upward from the ankle toward your face, flexing as much as you can. Hold this position for about 5 to 10 seconds. Quickly release the tension and remain still for about 20 to 30 seconds.
3. Gradually work your way upward by tensing and relaxing each set of muscle groups. Hold each tensed position for about 5 to 10 seconds. Allow 20 to 30 seconds of relaxation before moving on to the next muscle group.
4. Focus on how you feel while you are tensing your muscles and while you are relaxed.
5. After you’ve completed all of the muscle groups, continue deep breathing and focus on how you feel in this relaxed state. Notice the difference between how you feel now and how you felt at the start of the exercise.
Practice Is a Must
All relaxation techniques are essentially skills, and skills get better with practice. By practicing progressive muscle relaxation regularly, you should be able to achieve a greater depth of relaxation in a shortened amount of time. Once mastered, you should be able to relax tense muscles on cue in many stressful situations.
Special Considerations
* If you experience feelings of emotional distress while using progressive muscle relaxation, stop and talk to your doctor.
* If your muscles are sore or if you have an injury to any body part that you want to target with PMR, talk to your doctor before using this technique.
* If you experience any intense muscle pain while performing this exercise, stop immediately and call your doctor.
How To Reduce Stress by Deep Breathing
Deep breathing can be an important coping skill to learn. It may sound silly, but many people do not breathe properly. Natural breathing involves your diaphragm, a large muscle in your abdomen. When you breathe in, your belly should expand. When you breathe out, your belly should fall. Overtime, people forget how to breathe this way and instead use their chest and shoulders. This causes short and shallow breaths, which can increase stress and anxiety.
Fortunately, it is not too late to "re-learn" how to breathe and help protect yourself from stress. Practice the simple exercise below to improve your breathing.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 10 minutes
Here's How:
1. Find a comfortable position either lying on your back or sitting. If you are sitting down, make sure that you keep your back straight and release the tension in your shoulders. Let them drop.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Place one hand on your stomach and the other on your chest.
4. Take a few breaths as you normally would. Does your belly rise and fall with every inbreath and outbreath? If you can answer "yes," that is good. This is the natural way of breathing. If your belly stays still but your chest rises and falls with every breath, practice breathing by only allowing your belly to rise and fall when you breathe in and out.
5. Continue to take deep breaths, concentrating on only moving your belly.
6. Continue as long as you would like!
Tips:
1. It can take some time to re-learn how to breathe. The more you practice, the easier it becomes. Take some time each day to practice this exercise. You can do it anywhere.
2. Try to practice this exercise at a time when you are already relaxed. This will make it easier to take deeper breaths.
3. If you are having trouble taking deep breaths, try breathing in through your nose and exhaling through your mouth. Also, slowly count to five in your head as you breathe in and out.
How to Breathe: Breathing and Walking
Breathing is important for walking and learning breathing techniques can enhance walking or even turn it into a more energizing, more stress-relieving, and even spiritual experience.
You've Been Breathing Wrong'
The breathing cycle should start in the belly. Drawing the belly out brings the diaphragm down, inflating the lungs. Next, the ribcage is expanded to draw in more air. Finally, the shoulders and clavicles are drawn back to bring in the final small increase in lung volume. To exhale, it is the reverse.
Many people keep their stomachs sucked in and tight continuously, thereby depriving themselves of the belly-expanding major portion of each breath. As a result, most people breathe very shallowly using only the shoulders/clavicles and the ribcage for inhalation and exhalation.
While shallow "paradoxical" breathing will keep you alive, it becomes a large detriment in situations where you need more oxygen, such as when walking at a moderate pace. Athletes of all kinds are coached to learn to breathe with their bellies to get a full inhalation and exhalation.
Practicing a Full Complete Breath
* Suck in your stomach, drawing your belly button towards your spine.
* Exhale
* Now expand your belly button outward, drawing in breath.
* Then allow your ribs to open out
* Finally, draw back your shoulders and clavicles.
* To exhale, first allow out the air at the top of your chest
* Next, draw in the rib cage
* Finally, draw the belly button back towards the spine
* Repeat for a few minutes each day to retrain yourself to normal full breathing.
Breathing and Walking
Consciously attend to your breathing for a few minutes during each walk. Concentrate on complete breaths from belly to chest to clavicles and back. This technique can be especially helpful when tackling a hill, giving your body the oxygen it needs to fuel effort.
