Breathing techniques for anxiety all have a similar purpose in mind though the execution may vary. Their aim is to calm you down and reduce or prevent anxiousness and panic from welling up inside you.
The practice is a vital factor. You must practice breathing techniques for anxiety before you need them.
This will give you the confidence you need to execute the techniques in the midst of a difficult and anxiety-inducing situation without worrying about trying to remember how to carry them out or increase your anxiety if you feel you aren't doing them right.
Remember, breathing techniques for anxiety are only as efficient as the upfront effort you put into them.
One common technique is 'Deep Breathing'
Deep breathing, otherwise known as diaphragmatic breathing, abdominal breathing, and even belly breathing, is a different way of filling your lungs with all-important oxygen to the way most of us breathe on a daily basis.
We tend to breathe using the shallow breathing method, also called thoracic breathing or chest respiration.
Deep breathing uses the diaphragm muscle located between the chest cavity and the abdomen cavity to expand the lungs and is characterized by the expansion of the belly, or abdomen, as air rushes in to fill the lungs.
By using the diaphragm to breathe, the air is drawn into the lungs as the lung cavity expands and fills the whole lungs rather than simply the top area as characterized by shallow breathing.
Deep Breathing techniques
Inhaling:
The most effective and most common inhalation method to aid anxiety relief while using Deep Breathing is through your nose.
You should inhale slowly and deliberately through your nose giving you the necessary control over your breathing and help prevent hyperventilation which would more than likely make your anxiety worse rather than better.
As you inhale, make sure you make every effort to fill up your lungs to maximum capacity. Feel the stretch all the way down to your diaphragm at the bottom of your chest.
You should keep going till you can't take any more in. This can be achieved easily when using your diaphragm correctly.
Deep Breathing techniques
Exhaling:
Simply put you want to get rid of all the air you have just taken in. However, there are different ways to do that but not all will help keep you calm.
Again, prevent hyperventilation by slowly exhaling. If you exhale too fast you were more likely to enter into a rapid cycle of breathing which will not assist your anxiety in the least.
Take your time and exhale through your mouth, not your nose. Your actions should also be deliberate and controlled as before.
There is a fantastic line between taking too long to breathe utilizing these respiratory methods for nervousness and getting it just right.
Taking too long will leave you breathless after a short time and gasping for air. Breathe too quickly and you may get light-headed and more anxious.
Conscious breathing techniques
Your aim is to breathe in such a way that you begin to feel calm and relaxed. A good rule of thumb is to count to ten as you inhale, hold for 5, and then rely on ten as you exhale. However, you may need to modify this slightly to suit yourself. This is called conscious breathing.
To tell if you are breathing correctly, put one hand on your chest and one on your stomach. As you breathe, shallow breathing will cause your chest to rise first and farthest, however, deep breathing has the opposite effect in that your stomach area will expand first and higher than your chest.
With practice, you'll learn how to control this breathing technique and put it to good use. There are many breathing techniques for anxiety though this is one of the most popular.
Maybe in your own search, you will discover other great breathing techniques for anxiety.
