Why we bring breath into therapy

Breath for anxiety or panic

It seems that whenever a person is anxious or panicking someone can be heard saying “breathe” or “just calm down.” Yes, calming down can be as simple as taking a few deep inhales and exhales. But we can’t just make ourselves calm down or stop being anxious if someone tells us to. And for most people, bringing in a deep breath when they are having a panic attack is not easy.  Not even close to easy.   The solution: practice breathing exercises regularly so you can call upon breath when you desperately need it.

With practice you may discover you are more open to slowing down.  Being with what you are experiencing even if it is scary or uncomfortable.  Breath practices we can shift your nervous system into a physiological state of calm. They can also change your unconscious breathing pattern.

Breath practices for panic

We hypothesize that shifting breath patterns with meditation and breathing techniques is superior to medication.  Rather than targeting neurotransmitters with medication breath addresses nervous system changes that influence stress, anxiety, and depression.

For example, shallow inhales followed by minimal exhales can trigger anxiety or panic.  The imbalance breath signals to within your body that we are encountering a perceived external threat.  OR the perception the threat has occurred in the past .   Either way, the signal tells your nervous system to prepare for to fight, flee or scream really loud.

Breath is a three-way bridge.  It connects the nervous and limbic systems to our bodies AND the present moment. Words and thoughts can NOT make our body disengage from it’s survival wiring.  However breath can help to disengage from fight or flight.  Breath is one of the mechanisms that can shift our physiological state. The vagus nerve can notice full inhales and long exhales and send unconscious signals to the body indicating a state of safety.

Awareness of Breath

Being mindfully aware of anxiety, panic, or discomfort in our bodies or minds we helps us realize we need to breathe fully. Simple, right?

Not really. It is only simple if we have practiced breathing exercises before panic or anxiety shows up.  It is best to best to practice breathing when we feel comfortable, grounded, or ‘fine.’ But if we are experiencing anxiety,panic, or  overwhelm trying a breathing exercise for the first time is nearly impossible.  Parts of our critical thinking brain are disengaged when we are panicked.  Remembering a breath, if not practiced, is very difficult.