Diaphragmatic Breathing (Breathing)

When to use it: 1) When you are having symptoms of hyperventilation, use slow breathing. 2) When you are feeling anxious and would like to feel calm, use slow breathing. Later with practice, you will be able to use breathing at the same time as using focusing. 3) Before you enter a phobic situation, make sure you are breathing slowly and diaphragmatically and continue to do so. 4) Throughout the day, check your breathing periodically. Switch to slow, diaphragmatic breathing if you’re chest breathing or breathing rapidly.

How to use it: Schedule one 10-minute practice session a day. We begin practice period by taking a position that will automatically produce diaphragmatic breathing. Simply lie on you stomach, then spend five minutes just becoming aware of what it feels like to breathe in a calming fashion. Lie face down on the floor, placing one hand palm down atop the other where your forehead will come to rest. Rest your forehead on the back of your top hand and focus on your breathing for five minutes. Notice the expansion of your abdomen as you breathe in and how that feeling is made more obvious as your abdomen presses against the floor with each inhalation and how it contracts away from the floor as you breathe out. Be aware of the pace of your breath. Pay attention to the movement of air in through your nostrils and all the way down to your stomach on the inhale and emptying it on the exhalation. Do not try to breathe in large amounts of air. This is only another way of hyperventilating. After 5 minutes, check how you are feeling: you should be calmer than when you started. If you are not calmer, you probably allowed you mind to wander rather than concentrating on your breathing. Should you find yourself physically uncomfortable, try lying on a softer surface. In any case, go back through the process for another five minutes and get a good clear feeling of what this breathing pattern is like. As you do this, begin to slow your breathing down. How long can you mentally count as you breathe in? As you breathe out? If you can breathe in comfortably to a count of 1-3, try slowing down to 1-4. It may feel strange at first, but keep at it. Breathe out at the same rate.

In your second practice session, resume the prone position described earlier and begin by spending a few minutes getting more familiar with this breathing pattern. Then slowly turn onto your back, all the while being aware of your breath. See if you can continue to breathe using the diaphragm. Remember the image of filling and emptying a balloon in your stomach. If you lose the breathing pattern, return to the prone position for a minute or so and again move slowly, without interrupting your even breathing, into a supine position. Spend the rest of the period getting familiar with the feeling of slow, diaphragmatic breathing while on your back. Any time you lose the feeling, start on the floor again and proceed.

During your third practice session, once again start in the prone position until you feel the diaphragmatic breathing, then slowly move onto your back for a few minutes and then to the sitting position and remain there for several minutes focusing on your breath. Next, slowly rise to a standing position while being aware of your breath. Now stand and focus on your breathing pattern for the rest of your practice period.

Repeat the third practice exercise in your fourth session and remaining sessions. Continue to lengthen the amount of time required to breathe in and to breathe out. If you can count 1-4 comfortably while breathing in, slow down to 1-5. Do the same for breathing out.

As you shall see as you progress, diaphragmatic breathing can be used in conjunction with the other coping skills you’ve practiced or by itself. So be aware from time to time throughout the day of your breathing pattern. Every hour or every time you change activities is a good time to check. If you fall back to using rapid, upper chest breathing, recall the image of filling and emptying a balloon slowly and focus on that until you return to diaphragmatic breathing. Practice this both in calmer moments and whenever you feel anxious. Count to yourself as you breathe to make certain you slow your breathing down. Ultimately you will feel much calmer if you make slow, diaphragmatic breathing your normal and consistent pattern. This will take weeks of practice. Don’t get discouraged!

HYPERVENTILATION SYMPTOMS

Palpitations
Chest Pains
Dizziness
Faintness
Visual Distortion
Numbness
Pins and needles in extremities
Shortness of Breath
Extensive Sighing
Heartburn
Air Swallowing
Nightmares
Muscle Cramps
Weakness
Exhaustion
Lack of Concentration
Sleep Disturbance
Tremors
Muscle Tension
Anxiety
Unreal feelings
Depersonalization
Sweating in palms