Exercise: Abdominal Breathing
Note the level of tension you’re feeling. Then place one hand on your abdomen right beneath your rib cage.
Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose into the bottom of your lungs; in other words, send the air as low down as you can. If you’re breathing from your abdomen, your hand should actually rise. Your chest should move only slightly while your abdomen expands.
1. When you’ve taken in a full breath, pause for a moment and then exhale slowly through your nose or mouth, depending on your preference. Be sure to exhale fully. As you exhale, allow your whole body to just let go (you might visualize your arms and legs going loose and limp like a rag doll).
2. Do ten slow, full abdominal breaths. Try to keep your breathing smooth and regular, without gulping in a big breath or letting your breath out all at once. It will help to slow down your breathing if you slowly count to four on the inhale and then slowly count to four on the exhale. Use this count to slow down your breathing for a few breaths, then let it go. Remember to pause briefly at the end of each inhalation.
3. After you’ve slowed down your breathing, count from twenty down to one, counting backwards one number with each exhalation. The process should go like this: Slow inhale … Pause … Slow exhale (count twenty) Slow inhale … Pause … Slow exhale (count nineteen) Slow inhale … Pause … Slow exhale (count eighteen) and so on down to one. If you start to feel light-headed while practicing abdominal breathing, stop for fifteen to twenty seconds and breathe in your normal way, then start again.
4. Extend the exercise if you wish by doing two or three sets of abdominal breaths, remembering to count backwards from twenty to one for each set. Five full minutes of abdominal breathing will have a pronounced effect in reducing anxiety or early symptoms of panic. Some people prefer to count from one to twenty instead. Feel free to do this if you wish.
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