Hi all,
Challenging and inquisitive bunch, you are!!! OK. Lesson about breathing to begin! As you probably have noticed, breathing occurs with or without our conscious awareness (thanks goodness, eh?!). You can breathe deeply or shallowly. Even when you are controlling your rate or depth of breath, the basic function of the body to inhale is the same: the diaphragm muscle contracts, causing negative pressure in your lungs, which then fill up with air. Getting someone to breathe 'into the abdomen' is just a figure of speech to encourage deep breathing. Some of you may have heard of a type of exercise called pilates. In pilates, you keep your abdomen muscles tight (to develop the strength of your core muscles), and you therefore breathe sorta 'sideways' allowing your chest and ribs to expand to the side. So you have control when you want to! Otherwise, the body takes over, and usually breathing is not that deep, nor that fast. With increased anxiety, breathing can become rapid and shallow, then causing the person to feel out of control (hyperventilating sound familiar?). So, one goal is to keep breathing slow and steady like natural, hence the focus.
Dizzy, if you are experiencing anxiety while abdominal breathing, it is likely because you are not used to it, or it feels weird, or you are concerned that you are doing it wrong. Any of those sound likely to you? Try again and try to figure it out for your self. Like I am trying to say, abdominal breathing is not natural to us; it's just a tool to help slow you down and the anxiety. CBT is about changing how you think in terms of your beliefs about yourself. "I can do this" "I am successful", etc. Does that make sense?
Other things mentioned: counting the breaths, taking time every day to watch your breathing, singing, doing other repetitive activities- those are all great! They are ways to take your mind off your anxious reaction, slow down not only your breathing but stop your mind from 'spiraling out of control', so to speak. And none of them is OCD! They are all excellent suggestions! Thanks
And don't compare yourself to babies breathing. What do they know!?
Tiana, Health Educator