Abdominal breathing is the foundation on which your body functions. By utilizing this valuable method of breathing, you are using your lungs to their capacity and enabling your body to receive more oxygen. You will feel better and look better by utilizing this technique and it is a great way to decrease anxiety and reduce panic attacks.
We are a nation of shallow breathers. Why? It is unclear. When we begin life, we are all deep breathers, inhaling from our abdomen but over time we seem to lose this ability. Look at babies and very young children, see their stomach rise and fall, their chest expand and contract.
They fill up their lungs when they inhale; getting the full benefit of the oxygen that is delivered throughout the body. Perhaps this is why they seem to have boundless energy. After the age of 2, something seems to happen and children take on the shallow, chest based breathing of adults, which only partially supplies the body with the needed oxygen.
Retraining yourself, to breathe the way you originally did, will have amazing physical and mental benefits. You will feel better, be able to do more, and if you suffer from panic attacks, soothe your anxiety. Abdominal breathing enables your lung lobes to fill completely with oxygen and transfer that oxygen through your blood to all your body parts. Your muscles feel better because they have a sufficient supply of oxygen, your chest will not be tight, your heart will beat slower and you will feel healthier.
Many other cultures understand the importance of breathing deeply and correctly. Meditative practices and yoga practitioners all focus on the power of the breath. The focus, strength and peace that you can obtain from abdominal breathing is limitless. This type of breathing can be done by anyone and only takes practice to learn and retrain yourself.
Abdominal or belly breathing is a great solution for anxiety and panic attack sufferers as well as for anyone who just wants to feel healthier and better.
To begin your breathing practice, get into comfortable clothes and find a comfortable place to sit on the floor. If the floor is uncomfortable for you, you can always sit on a chair. Now focus on your regular breathing pattern. Do you feel any action in your belly area? Do you see your stomach rising and falling? Probably not!
If you look at your chest, you will see that this is where your breathing is occurring. If only your chest is moving up and down it means that you are not using the full capacity of your lungs. What a shame to waste such useful space! Now touch your stomach with your hands and concentrate on breathing from your belly. Don´t just push you belly out but actually breathe from deep down. If you do it correctly you will see your stomach expand and contract.
You will feel it expand and contract with your hands and will you appreciate the increased amount of oxygen that you are sending throughout your body. Abdominal breathing is slower than chest breathing. This is of course because it takes longer to fill up the lung lobes to their capacity and release them. Aim for 5 or 6 breaths per minute to start and reduce that to 4 or 5 breaths per minute.
You will experience a noticeable drop in your anxiety level and reduce panic attack susceptibility by using this technique.
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