Living life with anxiety and panic attacks can often be difficult, frightening, and all consuming. As anxiety progresses, the lightheadedness, chest pains, and rapid breathing can become terrifying and make you feel as if you are having a heart attack or that something else is seriously wrong. As I have mentioned before, these symptoms led me to believe that I was having a heart attack and ended up in the hospital. I was thankful that it was not a heart attack. However, if the anxiety and panic persisted, I would lead a life feeling like I was dying on a daily basis. I did not want to live like that and I would almost put money that you don't either. This is why I am here.
As I began my research into natural remedies (I didn't want to be on pharmaceuticals the rest of my life, the side effects are horrible) I discovered that there are many treatments and therapies that help relieve anxiety. One thing I did not consider, however, is that I can control one major problem that was contributing to my anxiety: BREATHING! That's right, many times, the way we breathe can induce or exascerbate anxiety and lead to panic. According to CalmClinic "Shallow breathing affects all those with anxiety." When we breathe short, rapid breaths we are getting too much oxygen, not too little as most people think. Therefore, when we begin to feel symptoms of anxiety and take deep breaths to compensate, we are making things worse.
When we begin to feel anxious, the fight or flight mechanism in our bodies kicks in, our hearts beat faster and we begin to take fast, shallow breaths to prepare for fleeing or fighting. Anxiety disorder occurs when we aren't actually in danger but our bodies react as if we are. Continuous shallow, rapid breathing leads to hyperventilation, which causes chest pains, lightheadedness, weakness and tingling and rapid heartbeat associated with anxiety (source).
The good news is that there are relaxation techniques that can help us overcome these
symptoms. Cardiologist Dr. Herbert Benson developed the relaxation response technique at Harvard Medical School in the 1970's. This technique relaxes the individual through breath, focus, and routine. The first step is to undertand the difference between chest breathing (the way many of us breathe) and diaphragmatic or abdominal breathing (deep breathing). Deep breathing occurs when we breathe deeply through the nose so our lungs fill and bellies rise.
The second step is to "practice breath focus". First, find a quiet place to sit or lie down and take a normal breath. Then, take a slow deep (abdominal) breath and slowly release it. Finally, combine deep breathing with thinking about a calming image or word. Practice this technique twice per day for 10-20 minutes each day to elicit the relaxation response and create a habit (source).
I find this technique extremely helpful. Leave a message and let me know if it works for you!
Image sources: John Hain, annca