noticed her breathing was shallow and rapid. I knew that teaching her abdominal breathing so she could learn a simple and effective way to control her anxiety with immediate results would open up Anne to a greater sense of calm and vitality. The regular practice of abdominal breathing and other relaxation techniques are excellent strategies for self-regulating.
Abdominal Breathing
I asked Anne to remember how her children had breathed as babies, their bellies expanding and contracting with each new breath. I said, “Think about the full and rhythmical way in which they breathed. Somewhere along the way, most of us stop doing this and our stress levels increase. When elevated stress levels become consistent, the ongoing state of arousal can begin to seem normal.”
Most of us are unaware of the importance of breathing properly and use only a small fraction of our full breathing capacity. Stress, poor posture, long hours in front of a desk or computer, and the wish for a flat stomach promote shallow chest breathing. When we restrict our natural breathing pattern, as we do automatically when we are stressed, the oxygen flow to the brain and body is reduced and we become more anxious. This perpetuates the experience of anxiety and pain within the mind and body.
However, when we deeply expand and contract the breath, oxygenated blood circulates throughout the body and deactivates the autonomic nervous system’s stress response. As a result, there is a boost to the immune system, muscles relax, heart rate and blood pressure lower, digestion improves, bone repair and growth occur, and the whole body moves toward a greater state of relaxation. Most important, abdominal breathing evokes a feeling of emotional control along with a sense of mental and physical well-being.
I explained to Anne that abdominal breathing, also known as “belly” or “diaphragmatic” breathing, is the fastest way to change one’s physiology, triggering a state of relaxation. I told her, “Relaxation and anxiety are incompatible responses that cannot coexist, because they are two distinct physiological responses. When you practice and internalize the feeling of relaxation, you eventually learn to override the effects of stress and anxiety. Abdominal breathing is the antidote to anxiety and panic.”
The method I described was as follows: “Sit in a comfortable position with arms and legs uncrossed. Place one or both hands on the abdomen just below the navel and watch the rise and fall of the low belly. Breathe through the nostrils slowly and deeply. Expand the low belly as you inhale and contract the low belly as you exhale. Allow the exhalation to take twice as long as the inhalation. The relaxation occurs as you breathe out. Practice this for five to ten breaths a session and notice the effects. Abdominal breathing can greatly enhance your breathing capacity. It calms the mind and body and induces a feeling of relaxed attentiveness, which is at the root of mindfulness.”
This basic breathing exercise can be practiced anytime you need to relax or to reduce anxiety, stress, or pain. The use of the hands on the chest and abdomen is only needed when you are training yourself to breathe abdominally. Once comfortable with your ability to breathe into the low belly, release the hands and keep them on the lap or to your sides. Go back to using your hands if you want the added reminder to breathe into the belly and keep the chest relatively still.
Anne seemed curious. I told her, “Abdominal breathing requires practice and thought, especially during the initial stages of learning. For now, just watch your breath without changing or manipulating it in any way. Notice the rise and fall of every breath.” After a few moments, I asked her what she had observed.
“I don’t like this exercise,” she responded. “It’s making me anxious and self-conscious.”
I replied, “Please hang in there with me. It can be frustrating to practice this at first, but I promise it will get easier and feel better if you give it a chance.”
Learning abdominal breathing proved to be challenging for Anne because of a lifetime of smoking and her discomfort with these new bodily sensations. Typically, whenever her anxiety kicked in, Anne reached for a cigarette. Now, she needed to train herself to intercept this behavior and learn alternatives for regulating her emotions.
Abdominal, Belly, or Deep-Breathing Strategy
Sit comfortably with spine supported. Breath flows more freely when the body is aligned.
Release the low back into the chair, lift up the chest bone, and relax the shoulders.
Put one hand on your low belly and the other on your chest.
Inhale through the nostrils and feel the belly expand. The chest hardly moves.
Exhale and feel the hand on the belly move in.
Breathe out completely without forcing the breath.
Take twice as long to exhale as to inhale.
Practice several times a day or whenever feeling the first signs of stress.
The Three-Part Breath
Anne’s breathing remained rapid and shallow over the next few sessions. I suggested she practice the three-part breath so that she had another technique that might be easier to learn. For the three-part breath:
1 Breathe into your low belly.
2 Let the oxygen move into your diaphragm, and then your chest.
3 When you exhale, breathe out from your low belly, diaphragm, and chest.
The three-part breath is deeper than the abdominal breath. It is a good way to begin a meditation or visualization exercise, as it quickly sends a message to the brain to relax mind and body. This breath is not intended for regular use; about five of these breaths are optimal to initiate a relaxation response. I thought it would be good for Anne to feel the immediate physiological effects from this powerful breath.
Unlike abdominal breathing, the three-part breath is not to be used all the time because it involves taking your fullest breath possible. Respiration deepens and lung capacity improves from the practice of this way of breathing.
I instructed Anne to sit comfortably in good posture and place one hand on her heart or upper chest and the other on her low belly. “Relax your shoulders and upper torso,” I instructed. “Inhale slowly through the nostrils, feel the low belly expand, then the diaphragm, and, lastly, feel the air traveling into your upper chest. As you exhale, breathe out completely from the low belly, diaphragm, and chest. The inhalation and exhalation are about the same length.”
Three-Part or Complete Breath Strategy
Sit comfortably in good posture; lie down if necessary.
Take a few belly breaths to relax.
Inhale slowly and steadily.
Fill the belly, expand the diaphragm, and breathe fully into your lungs and chest.
Exhale slowly and steadily.
Breathe out from the low belly, diaphragm, and chest. Chest and ribs come back to a neutral state.
Notice
