Just Breathe

01 Dec Just Breathe

Many people who suffer from depression suffer from some degree of anxiety as well. Anxiety attacks can be highly frightening no matter how frequently you might get them, but hopefully this blog will help you manage you when your anxiety starts to flare up.

When a person is anxious, much like an asthmatic or when a person is in shock, they tend to take short gasping breaths. A feeling of suffocation propels the body to take these short gasps to get as much air as possible. The problem with that is, it doesn’t help relax the body. In fact, it makes it more tense and can exacerbate the anxious feeling we’re having.

So, what can you do?

If you’re standing up – place both feet on the ground roughly hip width apart and let your arms hang at your sides.

If you’re sitting – place your feet on the ground and put your arms on the armrests or hang at your sides.

If you’re laying down – lay on your back with your legs straight and your arms a little ways from your body with the palms upturned.

Start by taking a breath to fill your chest like normal.

Take another, deeper breath and fill your abdomen and then your chest.

Now take a deep breath in through your nose and fill your abdomen. Exhale slowly through your mouth. Repeat for several breaths. It’s OK if you’ve started crying and hiccup a little along the way.

As you start to feel yourself calm down, you can bring your breathing back to a more normal pace. Let your breath flow through you and try to feel your whole body as you breathe.

Breathing. It seems so simple when you think about the fact that we do it unconsciously 99% of our lives. It’s so simple yet so very effective to control stresses we might be encountering.

If this is something you’d like to learn more on how to control or even consciously practice, consider joining a tai chi group. Tai chi centers around the idea of flowing like water, and many groups use this ancient martial art as a form of meditative exercise with an emphasis on breath control.

Quest Fitness offers two tai classes – Tuesday at 6pm and Saturday at 8am! Feel free to stop in and check it or visit questfitnessgym.com for more information on our trainers and our other classes.