DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATHING 1. Place one hand on your stomach and the other hand on your chest. 2. Breathe in through the nose to the count of four, then breathe out though the mouth to the count of four. 3. Notice which hand rose first. Did the hand on your chest push out before the hand on your stomach did? If so, then you are breathing more with your chest (thoracic breathing) than your stomach (diaphragmatic breathing). 4. Okay. So breathe in through your nose again, to the count of four, and try to push the hand on your stomach out first. Keep breathing in until you push the hand on your chest out too. 5. Now breathing out through mouth, to the count of four, let the hand on your stomach go in first, then the hand on your chest. 6. Keep practising this until you feel you have it. Breathing in through the nose to the count of four and exhaling through the mouth to the count of four is an excellent coping technique when you feel panicky. By focusing on the breath in this way, you have not only become aware of how you are breathing – thoracically or diaphramatically – and can alter the hyperventilation habit, but controlled breathing aids relaxation and the letting go of tension.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 04:00:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015