Anxiety is something which can just creep up on you.
When you’re under heavy attack (real or perceived), illness or serious insecurity, it’s impossible not to react. In these situations, fear is the driver and we wouldn’t be human if we didn’t react. Anxiety is often our reaction to fear.
We know that anxiety is becoming more common in our modern living and that it’s experienced by 30% of women and 20% of men.
Whilst we may feel powerless, there is one thing is over which we do have control.
That one and very powerful thing is the breath. We can control the way we breathe!
When we’re anxious or afraid, we have a tendency to speed up breathing and to try and take bigger breaths. This is a normal natural reaction. It’s an unconscious response…
But if we slow down the breath, it’s amazing how quickly our emotions can settle.
Reducing our breath rate for just 90 seconds can slow a racing heart and start to calm an anxious mind.
Clinical evidence demonstrates that a rate of just 6 breaths per minute has a profound effect on our bodies. It not only improves respiratory efficiency, it also benefits the heart.
Most importantly slow breathing impacts the functioning of our nervous system and this is where we can begin to settle fear and reduce the anxiety. Read more about the science here.
Practising slow breathing for short periods at regular intervals throughout the day will have a calming effect on your anxious mind. Try attaching the practise to a routine when you’re sedentary and notice how much better you feel and how much easier it will be to move forward with your day.