4 breathing techniques to help ease the pain of anxiety and panic attacks

Think about how you breathe when you get scared or are in a situation of panic. You breathe fast, or you forget to breathe, to put it simply, you don’t breathe right. This sends the brain a signal that it must now enter into panic mode as there is danger around the corner. It is important to send a signal to your brain, that there is no immediate danger and that it does not have to go into panic mode.

Being conscious of the way that you breathe while experiencing anxiety will bring you to a level of calm and rationality. Breathing right is the gateway to feeling calm.

There are several breathing exercises that you can practice during times of anxiety.

Learn to breathe right with belly Breathing

• Sit or lay down comfortably,
• Place one hand on your stomach and the second hand on the center of your chest.
• Breathe in deeply through your nostrils and let your first that is resting on the stomach move up and down with the rise and fall of your belly. The hand on your chest should remain stationary.
• Breathe out through your mouth, putting your lips close together as if about to whistle.
• Do this Slowly
• Repeat as many times as needed

Learn to ease anxiety with “4-7-8” Breathing

• Sit or lie down comfortably
• Get into the belly breathing position as stated above
• Breathe in while counting 4 seconds
• Hold your breath for 7 seconds
• Breathe out while counting 8 seconds
• Repeat as much as necessary

Learn to calm yourself with four square breathing

• Sit or lie down comfortably
• get into the belly breathing position as stated above
• Breathe in while counting 4 seconds
• hold your breath for 4 seconds
• Breathe out while counting 4 seconds
• repeat as much as necessary

Ground yourself with alternate nostril breathing

• Sit down with your legs crossed
• Hold your finger over the right nostril to block the airflow on one side of the nose and breathe in
• Hold your finger over the left nostril and breathe out

By learning to breathe right you will feel better and calmer. Breathing right will help you make better decisions and will steer you away from panic. Breathing right will also help you gain endurance when exercising as well as help you live longer.
So remember, be mindful of your breathing and breathe right.