Breathing exercises for Anxiety For Fitness

Which breathing exercises to do for Anxiety?

Breathing may be a necessity of life that sometimes occurs without much thought. When you inhale air, blood cells receive oxygen and release CO2 . Carbon dioxide is a waste product that's carried back through your body and exhaled.

Improper breathing can upset the oxygen and CO2 exchange and contribute to anxiety, panic attacks, fatigue, and other physical and emotional disturbances.1 

Breathing contribution to Anxiety 

Most people aren't really aware of the way they're breathing, but generally, there are two sorts of breathing patterns:

Diaphragmatic (abdominal) breathing

Thoracic (chest) breathing

When people are anxious they have a tendency to require rapid, shallow breaths that come directly from the chest. This type of breathing is named thoracic or chest breathing. When you’re feeling anxious, you may not even be aware you’re breathing this way.

Chest breathing causes an upset in the oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the body resulting in increased heart rate, dizziness, muscle tension, and other physical sensations.2 Your blood is not being properly oxygenated and this may signal a stress response that contributes to anxiety and panic attacks.

During abdominal or diaphragmatic breathing, you're taking even, deep breaths.

This is the way newborn babies naturally breathe. You're also probably using this pattern of breathing when you're during a relaxed stage of sleep.

Chest vs. abdominal breathing 

The easiest thanks to determine your breathing pattern is to place one hand on your upper abdomen near the waist and therefore the other within the middle of your chest. As you breathe, notice which hand raises the foremost.

     Simple Breathing                       exercises

The next time you’re feeling anxious try this simple relaxation technique:

Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose. Keep your shoulders relaxed. Your abdomen should expand, and your chest should rise little or no .

Exhale slowly through your mouth. As you blow air out, purse your lips slightly, but keep your jaw relaxed. You may hear a soft “whooshing” sound as you exhale.

Repeat this breathing exercise. Do it for several minutes until you start to feel better.3 

You can perform this exercise as often as required . It are often done standing up, sitting down, or lying down. If you find this exercise difficult or believe it's making you anxious or panicky, stop for now. Try it again in a day or so and build up the time gradually. 

Sometimes people with a panic disorder initially feel increased anxiety or panic while doing this exercise. This may flow from to anxiety caused by that specialize in your breathing, otherwise you could also be unable to try to to the exercise correctly without some practice.