Breathing Practice for Natural Anxiety Relief

Belly Breathing for the Treatment of Anxiety Symptoms

Dec 11, 2008

Whether suffering from acute anxiety, stress, or chronic panic attacks, learning to make your breath deeper, slower, and more relaxed will provide desired relief.

Breathing exercises are a wonderful way to learn how to control anxiety, reduce stress, and promote relaxation. Studies have shown that anxiety sufferers tend to breath shallowly and from their chest. Learning to breathe deeply and from the belly can bring great relief and control to anxious individuals.

What are the Symptoms of Anxiety?

Anxiety is a normal human feeling that everyone experiences one time or another. People feel anxious or tense before an exam, before speaking in front of a large group of people, or when faced with a potentially dangerous situation. Anxiety becomes a problem when this fear and nervousness become constant and so overpowering that it interferes with normal life.

Although symptoms vary between the different types of anxiety disorders, they tend to have the following general symptoms:

How Slower and Deeper Breathing Reduces Anxiety

Breathing is something that we have control over. Anxiety sufferers tend to breathe too shallow, which in turn upsets the proportion of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the body contributing to the symptoms experienced. Shallow breathing activates the sympathetic nervous system (the fight or flight response) and makes you feel stressed by putting you on high alert to dangers in your environment. When no real danger is present, learning to increase depth and decrease the rate of breathing signals the body to relax and calm down. Learning to breathe from the belly, rather than shallowly from the chest, can offer immediate relief from anxiety symptoms.

Breathing Techniques to Help Reduce Anxiety

2. As you inhale, fill your belly with a slow, even breath, and watch your hand rise on your belly and stay still on your chest.

Use this technique when you are under stress for relief. It is also important to practice this breathing technique when you are not under stress. Practice when you are watching TV, sitting at a stoplight, before you fall asleep, or during breaks from work. Practicing when you are not stressed will enhance you well-being and give you mastery over the exercise so that when you need it you will be confident in your skills.

Breathing Exercise Instruction

Bestselling author, Dr. Andrew Weil has an excellent audio collection that teaches breathing exercises - Breathing: Master Key to Self Healing. This 2-CD collection offers guided instruction of eight basic breathing exercises and an introduction about how breathing works to increase health, along with anecdotes from his own practice. Dr. Weil’s soothing voice, easy to follow instructions, and informative introduction make this item and invaluable resource for those getting started with meditation and breathing. Dr. Weil is an incredible resource - visit his website for information about general well-being, mind-body issues, and information specific to certain disease and conditions.

The copyright of the article Breathing Practice for Natural Anxiety Relief in Phobias/Anxiety is owned by Amiee Maxwell. Permission to republish Breathing Practice for Natural Anxiety Relief in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.