Breathing exercises for anxiety can become your “instant calmer” during your anxiety attack. They will immediately reduce the level of stress and tension, it can stir you away from the obsessive pattern of thinking that happens during anxiety attacks and it engages your attention to something different than the awful thoughts going around in your head. It gives you something else to do instead of being a passive victim of the attack and it can prevent palpitations and chest pain that happens while the anxiety is here.
Many times you can just stop breathing or restrict it for a while and not even be aware of it. That makes you even more anxious and helps the anxiety grow within you. Breathing exercises for anxiety will prevent that from happening.
Breathing Techniques to Stop Anxiety Attacks
1. The Sigh Breath
This is a very simple technique, easy to remember for the next time anxiety knocks on your door. It will relieve the tension in your neck and chest area also.
Breathe in through your nose – in a moderate (not very deep) way – slowly. Pause and hold the air inside for just a second – then let it out slowly through your mouth. Make your exhale as long as possible – this is the key. Pay attention to every second of it – especially to that moment that exhaling has finished – that silent moment before the next inhale.
As you repeat this for the second time – take a look around you and what’s going on around you – quietly.
You can repeat this 3-5 times until your feel your entire body is relaxed.
2. 4-7-8 Breath – Advanced
This is a more advanced breathing exercise – try to remember it from reading it now so it will be “ready” for you when you need it.
This is done sitting down on a chair with your back straight and your hands lying loose on your lap. Closing your eyes can be helpful for concentration.
Inhale through your nose slowly and deeply until you mentally count to 4. Push out your abdomen when you inhale to fill your upper lungs first. Hold your breath until you count to 7. Smoothly exhale through your mouth to the count of 8. It’s easy to remember this: 4-7-8!
Imagine all your anxiety and tension leave your body while exhaling. You can do 10 to 12 rounds of this as a beginner. It will relax your mind, relax your muscles and balance your emotions.
Next, a fair warning: While breathing exercises for anxiety can be very effective to treating the anxiety symptoms – They will not eliminate and cure your anxiety attacks. They will only relieve the symptoms. The most recommended way to treat anxiety attacks from the root is CBT techniques that helped thousands of sufferers already.
Next, you might be interested in how to use CBT anxiety techniques to stop anxiety attacks – even if you don’t want to go to therapy.
Also, please share these breathing exercises with your friends, who knows, they may need them…Facebook it below:
