Anxiety attack buster

It's a bit like the meditation one - Breathe in to the count of 4. Hold then
Breathe out to the count of four

It's good for insomniacs to get off to sleep too. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

It's having a visual aid that's so great.

I must be the most chilled person in my neighbourhood this morning - I keep coming back to do a few breaths.

Thanks grannyknot, just what I need

I think you're right Gk, having a visual aid as a focus really helps. I'm now visualising the picture as a flower slowly opening and closing ? ? ? ?

Reminds me of the psychoprofilaxis (I think that is what it was called) I learned when pregnant, focus completely on something else while having a contraction. Oops, not so relaxing thought!

Looks like a great idea, and I love MiniMouse's flower idea - but the internet image feels too fast for my natural deep breathing and I feel like I'm hyperventilating! Which sort of defeats the object of the exercise.

Made me feel a bit dizzy. Over breathing. Perhaps I was doing it wrong.

Snap Patsleywin!

parsley - the first few times I did it, it had me worried about lung capacity

It gets easier though.

Hi minimouse!

Oh wow, that is just what I need to relax me. Grannyknot thank you so much for posting that. I don't get anxiety attacks but my cancer medication causes insomnia and I get tense. Being visual that is brilliant. When I can't sleep tonight I will watch that and am sure I will be asleep very quickly!

When my sister was very young (early teens) she suffered severe panic attacks after our mother had passed away.
The attacks resulted her been in hospital.
Eventually someone at the hospital showed her how to control her breathing by blowing in to a paper bag. Which did help.
For ages we kept paper bags everywhere, under her pillow, in pockets, in our dads car.
Thankfully she grew out of it until 2 yrs ago when tragedy struck again.
This time she dealt with it through walking no matter what the weather rain, hail, snow ice and fog she just keeps on walking for miles.
I have anxiety but deal with it in a different way.
Thank you for the link grannyknot

I'm with Parsley and Jings, my natural deep breathing is a lot deeper and slower than that!

Hi Gk! ?

I love the image, but I agree about it moving too quickly! That could easily lead to hyperventilating, that's why I just carry the image in my head, but moving much more slowly!

A colleague of mine used the brown paper bag trick. It's very effective. I've often wondered if it only works if the paper bag is brown? ???

Yes I think it's a bit too quick too tbh. Quite helpful though thank you

Another 'trick' is this - when you exhale, pause for a split second and then continue to exhale. You'll be amazed at much more air you breathe out! This, in turn, means that, when you inhale, you will breathe in more air than before. This will open up your chest and relax you more. (Thank you to my Yoga teacher ?)

The bag doesn't have to be brown. Just paper. (Not plastic )

I had panic attacks back in the seventies, due to taking "mother's little helpers". I used to run round the garden. (It was terrifying)

I was rescribed 'mother's little helpers' in the 80s for panic attacks. They worked! I never took them regularly, just as and when.

That thing goes too fast for me!

The Valium as OK Ana. It was the little white pills, name escapes me, that gave me the panic attacks. Didn't realise it then of course.

was not as

I would suggest people look up Buteyko style breathing. It is all to do with carbon dioxide ratio in the lungs and bad habit of people breathing too much (too frequently and /or too big a volume). The paper bag trick is a way of trapping the carbon dioxide in the exhale and rebreathing to restore the ratio in the lungs. Another very basic tip is to develop habit of breathing thru the nose.

I always breathe through my nose! Would probably look a bit gormless otherwise!

I've phoned a physiotherapist today to book some sessions to help with my breathlessness and for some massage to help me unwind a bit. I don't know if it will work but I can't even get into bed now without panicking and the breathing getting much worse so am sleeping on the settee. It's all the stress but I do think some is learnt behaviour and I need to retrain the little men in my head to do things differently.

p.s. I've never had a massage in my life so that should be exciting.

Hope all goes well for you rubylady