A Breathing Technique To Help With Panic Attacks and Anxiety

On this page I want to teach you a breathing technique to help with panic attacks and anxiety. I won’t pretend that this alone will eliminate panic and leave you feeling at peace, but it will help.

An advantage of it is that you’ll always be able to do it – you’re always breathing. It’s just a matter of doing it the right way when you need it.

I highly recommend practicing this frequently when you're calm and relaxed. It good for your health in general, and as far as using it with panic attacks it’s important to be really used to it if you’re going to have a chance of using it if panic or anxiety start to set in .

Most people take the way they breathe for granted. After all, you breathe several times a minute without ever hardly thinking about it and it seems to work out alright. After all, you’re still alive.

However, most of us don’t breathe well at all.

The problem is we use mainly our chest instead of our diaphragms to move air.

The diaphragm divides the chest from the abdomen. It’s a muscle about ¼” thick.

 In a relaxed state, the diaphragm is shaped like an upside down bowl with the curved area extending into the chest.

When the diaphragm tightens contracts, it straightens out, creating a vacuum that draws in air.

Contraction of the diaphragm moves much more air than expansion of the rib cage, yet most people mainly use their chest when they breathe and hardly any of their diaphragm.

Babies naturally breathe using mainly their diaphragm, but somehow we unlearn it as we grow up.

Part of it may be because out stomachs move out as the diaphragm moves down and none of us want our stomachs to look any bigger than they have to.

I think another reason is that diaphragmatic breathing is the breathing of relaxation and the stress of life gradually takes us away from using our diaphragm unless we decide to consciously practice.

The good thing about diaphragmatic breathing is that it completely fills and expands your lungs keeping them healthy. It also encourages the flow of lymph fluid back to the chest with is good for your whole body.

For our purposes in dealing with panic attacks, the relaxed pattern of diaphragmatic breathing sends a relaxed message of calm to the brain. It also prevents the dizziness and tingling that hyperventilation can cause that worsens a panic attack.

To learn diaphragmatic breathing, sit or lay comfortably. When you first start, try lying down, but eventually then goal is to be able to do it anywhere in any position.

Place one hand on the middle of your stomach. If you breathe in using the diaphragm, this hand will rise as you inhale.

Now, breathe slowly in trying to make your hand rise as your stomach pushes out.

This may seem awkward at first, but stay with it and you’ll get the knack of it.

When you do, spend a few minutes practicing. Breathe in deeply, hold the breath for a second or two, then breathe out slowly.

Once you’ve developed a feel for using your diaphragm, practice throughout the day. Try to develop the routine of taking 10 diaphragmatic breathes every hour or two.
 
As you become more used to diaphragmatic breathing, you’ll probably notice that you tend to use it spontaneously more and more.

Now, if you feel a little bit of nervousness or anxiety starting you have a tool that might be able to help. This won’t be enough by itself, but it’s a good start.

 Here's a great program to help you free yourself from panic attacks for good: