The Four-Seven-Eight Breathe Breathing Exercise for Anxiety:
Anxiety whether an established condition or just due to the fact that you are waiting for something very important to happen can lead to a very uncomfortable feeling. There exists different ways in which anxiety can be controlled so as to bring you back under the very necessary composure. One such technique is the use of a breathing exercise for anxiety.
The reason why breathing can be used to manage anxiety is that breathing and emotions have a reciprocal relationship. When you are anxious, your breathing is fast and erratic, when calm and relaxed the breathing is slow calm and rhythmic. This means that by controlling your breathing you can directly control your anxiousness.
A simple exercise to try is the four-seven-eight breath. This is an easy breathing exercise for anxiety that has to be done when seated. Sit down with your back straight and hands resting comfortably on your lap or thighs. Looking ahead and not gazing at anything or even closing your eyes will help boost your concentration hence better the exercise.
After you have assumed the right posture, start breathing in slowly and deeply to the mental count of four seconds. This will allow you to fill lungs. Ensure that you fill your lower lungs first by pushing out your abdomen and proceed filling the lungs upwards.
When your lungs are fully filled up, the next step of this breathing exercise for anxiety is holding your breath to the mental count of seven seconds. After this, slowly and smoothly exhale to the mental count of eight seconds. As you exhale, try to let go of all your anxiety, stress and tension. The above steps make one rep.Do at least twelve reps regularly or whenever you feel anxious. Remember to space the reps for the therapeutic effect of the pauses.
The benefits of this exercise are that it will tone your nervous system, calm the mind, regulate your breathing and balance out your emotions. All these activities will directly impact on the levels of anxiety in you and if properly done can bring everything under control.
Some important tips that will help maximize on the benefits of the breathing exercise for anxiety session are; the exercise can be done from anywhere where you can sit, if you lose your breath stop, breath freely and resume your reps, inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth and that soothing music or earplugs can help you blot out external interferences hence boosting concentration.
In curbing anxiousness, the above exercise only acts as a painkiller or symptom controller. It will be very much in order if you deal with the root cause of the anxiety so as to remain fully productive in the current very competitive world.
by Chantal Beaupre - Breathing Exercise for Anxiety
