Many people who have experienced an Anxiety Disorder or panic attacks have had great success through the use of meditationand breathing regimens. Relaxation techniques seek to force the mind to relax and unwind by doing the very same thing to the body. The clinical explanation for the resulting effect seems to surround the notion that a relaxed body tends to produce a relaxed mind and a relaxed mind has difficulty staying tense and anxious.
There are a number of theories regarding the best specific ways to achieve the same results but they all center around managing your breathing – specifically slowing down your breathing. The slow breathing increases the content of carbon dioxide (CO2) in bloodsream. This then changes the chemistry of your body and has a flow-on effect that generally calms the nervous system.
The challenge associated with slowing down the is that some people find it difficult to concentrate. Other people are very sensitive to increases of CO2 in their blood and get panicky. Therefore, for many people, managed breathing simply doesn’t work.
Specific Relaxation Regimen to prevent a Panic Attack
- Get into a comfortable position, preferably prone, and concentrate on breathing deeply but slowly through the mouth.
- Focus on making each breath an extended and gentle process. Concentrate on keeping it up until you begin feel a sense of relaxation and visualize on a serene country or woodland setting.
- Use positive feedback and tell yourself – as you begin to relax – that it’s working. This will produce a reinforcement of the effects and relaxation should increase.
Many people who attempt this technique are frustrated by their tendency to experience hyperventilation as a result of the altered CO2 content in their blood. It is a practiced effect and a regular process that often results in the person simply falling asleep. This is, in itself, a form of success in learning to manage your emotional via your physical state. You should try to relax before you even begin this regimen and expect the sessions to last only 10-15 minutes. The use of this technique should be daily with a single session, adding additional sessions when stress levels or anxiety begin to emerge. Over time it will be possible to lengthen the interval between breathing sessions until you are doing them weekly instead of daily. Then you should try eliminating them altogether and monitor your overall experience to determine if you can now avoid an anxiety attack.
