Anxiety & Stress ~ Could your Breathing be to Blame?
Did you know that the majority of your symptoms of anxiety and stress could be due to the way you breathe?
Most people with anxiety, fear and panic tend to take “big” restricted, effortful breaths rather than “deep” satisfying, relaxing breaths. As a result they suffer from “Disordered Breathing”.
“Disordered Breathing” is a dysfunctional way of breathing that means you are breathing too fast, too shallow, and too high in the chest. This is also called “upper chest breathing” and it causes a low grade habit of hyperventilation. This habit creates and maintains symptoms of anxiety by keeping the body tense and the heart racing.
If you struggle to take a deep satisfying breath in, or find it hard to catch your breath at times, or experience “breathless attacks” even at rest then consider the importance of you breathing patterns.
Your breathing
Some of the symptoms of “Disordered Breathing” include:
*Dizziness
*Light headedness
*Poor concentration
*Erratic heartbeats
*Pounding heart
*Chest pains
*Tingling, prickling or pins and needles in the hands, feet and lips
*Regular sighs or sniffing
*Repeated throat clearing
*Tension in the neck, shoulder and upper back
*Sleep disturbances
Because the powerful impact of our breathing is completely overlooked by most health care professionals, patients are frequently sent to various specialists, like internists, neurologists, cardiologists. More often than not, they are told there’s nothing wrong with them physically because the tests don’t reveal anything abnormal and are prescribed anti depressants, anti anxiety or sleeping pills. Patients are left feeling frustrated, confused and misunderstood.
Healthy breathing resembles that of a newborn baby. When you inhale the abdominal area inflates and the shoulders barely move. In other words, if you put one hand on your belly and one hand on your upper chest, your belly would move more than your upper chest.
“Rapid upper chest breathing” is a normal response to sudden threat. It’s one of the reactions of the fight or flight response, which is instinctive response to danger. In people with anxiety and stress this upper chest breathing has become a stable, & ongoing. They are breathing as if they were in imminent danger or as if something bad was going to happen at any moment. This keeps the body in what we call a state of hyper-arousal or hyper-vigilance.
Your breathing
For some people this way of breathing started early on in life as a result of growing up in unpredictable, perhaps volatile, chaotic or in conflict environments. Others, report a distinct change in their breathing pattern after either a surgery, a car accident, trauma or a significant loss.
In addition, the daily negative thought patterns of worry, nervousness and fear all contribute to sustaining the “Disordered Breathing” habits.
It is events from the past originally that created this habit of disordered breathing and current fearful thoughts may exacerbate it, unless you change your breathing habit in the body, you won’t be able to experience relief from anxiety and a sense of calmness.
Breathing is so powerful that it can be trained to produce positive experiences in your mind and body.
One of the first skills I teach clients is how to re-establish proper breathing habits in order to calm their mind and relieve anxiety symptoms. This helps them re-activate their natural capacities to breathe in ways that are satisfying and that can restore a sense of well-being.
Suffering with Anxiety, Fear, Negative Emotions or Limiting Beliefs? Connect with me HERE to book your consultation today and get fast results – using techniques that work with our unconscious mind. Time Line Therapy(R), NLP & Hypnosis.
To your health, happiness & success, Lynn Thier
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