You can count on your breath

How anxiety affects the mind and the body

If you experience anxiety, do you notice unpleasant feelings in your body? When our minds start worrying it leads to the production of stress hormones which affect our bodies, leading to ‘fight, flight, freeze’ responses.

If I had described my anxiety when it was at its worst, I would have thought of it as the flight response, needing to get away. But I only ever actually ran away once.

Usually, I would in fact freeze, rather than try to escape. I would hold my body tight and practically stop breathing. I just did the absolute minimum; tiny, shallow breaths. 

Whether this was in a meeting or in the pub, most likely no one even noticed, they had no idea of the turmoil I was experiencing.

This is probably the experience of many people with anxiety. Often on the outside everything looks fine. 

I didn’t realise it at the time, but restricting my breathing was probably the worst thing I could do. It seems obvious now, but when you’re in it you just can’t seem to think rationally at all. Instead of keeping me safe, it made me dizzy and spaced out which just increased my anxiety.

Anyone experiencing fight or flight responses may start breathing heavily and quickly which can also lead to dizziness and feeling spaced out, leading to even more anxiety.

So, what’s the answer?  

It’s not the whole answer but a handy thing to keep in mind is to think

“How am I breathing?”

There’s a lot of talk about breathing and how we can use it to our advantage and it all sounds fascinating. I’m not an expert and there are many different techniques. Experimenting to find out what’s best for you could be really helpful. 

Techniques to try out

Breathing exercises are generally safe for most people. If you have a respiratory, cardiovascular, or other medical condition, or if you experience dizziness or discomfort while practising, stop the exercise and consult your GP or another qualified health professional.

Here are some techniques that clients have tried out and found useful. If you’d like to try these out and see what feels right for you, do let me know how you get on.

1. Breathe in for 5 and out for 7

When we inhale, our heart rate rises slightly, whereas exhaling slows our heart rate slightly. So, if we breathe out for longer than we breathe in, and do that for a minute or two, it might well help us to feel calmer. 

You can adjust the length, as long as you breathe out for longer than you breath in, so you can try a variety of different lengths, for example in for 3 and out for 5.

Everyone is different so it’s worth trying it out to see if it helps you, and adjust the speed depending on what feels right for you.

You may well find that you need longer than a minute so it might be good to set aside some time to see what duration of time works best for you.

2. Box breathing

Another popular technique is box breathing. Only do this if you feel fully comfortable holding your breath for 4. If you experience any discomfort please do not continue with it.

1. Breathe in for 4
2. Hold for 4
3. Breathe out for 4
4. Hold for 4

Repeat this cycle for as long as you feel you need. Try adjusting that time and see what benefits you notice.

3. Variation on box breathing

1. Breathe in for 3
2. Hold for 4
3. Breathe out for 5
4. Hold for 4

Repeat with the same counts for as long as you feel it is helpful to. This takes advantage of the longer exhale in the first example.

Again only do this if you feel fully comfortable holding your breath for 4.

If you experience any discomfort please do not continue with it.

4. Alternate nostril breathing

1. Close one nostril with your finger and breathe in through the other nostril.
2. Swap sides and breath out through the alternate nostril
3. Breath in through that same nostril
4. Finally swap sides again and breath out through the other side

Repeat this cycle for as long as you feel you need. Try adjusting that time and see what benefits you notice.

A variation on alternate nostril breathing is to add in a brief pause between each breath, but only if this feels comfortable for you.

When we are in the grips of ‘fight, flight, freeze’ it is very hard to think rationally, but if we give breathing some thought from time to time, we might be able to prevent or at least reduce some of the physical symptoms of anxiety.

Speaking calmly

When we are thinking about our breathing it’s worth also considering how we use our voices. Speaking calmly is an indication that we are calm and is reassuring to our minds that everything is ok. 

So, as well as being mindful of how we are breathing, and perhaps slightly adjusting it if needed, we can also use our voices to help us to feel calmer and more in control. 

Often when anxious, we can speak quite quickly. So, being mindful of the speed we are speaking at allows us to include some small pauses or just slow our sentences down a little bit, which may also help us to feel more in control.

So, as the sign above says…

”Take a big old breathe. Go on”

from time to time.

Of course being mindful that breathing too deeply, too many times might make you a bit dizzy, so whatever makes you feel good, always at your own pace!

Breathing exercises are generally safe for most people. If you have a respiratory, cardiovascular, or other medical condition, or if you experience dizziness or discomfort while practising, stop the exercise and consult your GP or another qualified health professional.