Sometimes we suck at breathing.
And this is bad. Way bad. Bad because our breathing is neurologically connected to our sense of well-being. When we are stressed, anxious, or emotionally aroused our breathing shifts. This “fight or flight” response with our breathing is an evolutionary gift from our pre-historic ancestors intended to energize us to confront or evade danger. Unfortunately, in the stress-filled world we live in today we aren’t facing sabertooth tigers and this automatic response can wreak havoc with our nervous system. The good news is we can consciously learn to breathe better and, in turn, positively affect our mind and body. When we activate our pre-frontal cortex and work to control our breathing we can actually reverse the negative arousal and send a message back our brain that “everything is going to be ok.”
Breathing Shift
Try this exercise:
Bring up a good, happy, or positive memory. (Sometimes closing your eyes helps).
As you think about that memory take a couple breaths and notice how it feels. Specifically try to identify where your breath comes from as you think about that memory.
After some time bring up a memory with a low level of disturbance and notice how your breath changes. Put your hand over that location in your body.
When you notice the shift physically change your hand to the previous location and deliberately allow your breathing to change patterns accordingly.
Diaphragmatic Breathing
Used for calming and re-centering
Shift into this breathing activity by taking a couple purposefully deep breaths to feel how much room you actually have in your lungs.
It may help to place one hand over your abdomen and the other over your chest.
Begin by exhaling and then breathe in all the way with your abdomen for a count of 2 and then breathe in all the way with your chest for a count of 2
Hold that for a count of 7 and then breath out all the way with your abdomen for a count of 4 and breath in with your chest for a count of 4.
Repeat the sequence 4 times.
Many find this technique helps with anxiety, panic, and even helps some people tolerate physical pain.
One way to become more aware of your breathing is to practice mindful breathing.
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