Breathing?

[panicsucks]

How can you tell if you are breathing to fast? everytime i seem to do controlled breathing which i assume is...

breath in for 3 secs.... hold for 3 secs let out for 3 secs....

thats what i do and i feel like im getting abit panicy? whats the correct way to breath i really need to learn to control my breathing

[michaelcheney]

the correct way to breathe is to just let it happen :-)

When you are asleep this is the natural way to breathe and it's usually in thru the nose and out thru the nose. The breath goes down deep, pushing your abdomen / stomach (not your chest as many wrongly believe) and then out again.

To do relaxing breathing try standing up or sitting up straight, breathing in slowly thru your nose, feeling your stomach expand, then exhaling, feeling your stomach go in and the breath leave your nose again. You can follow the breath with your mind if this helps you.

[vivalavida00]

Just don't think about breathing, I know it's hard to do once you have begun thinking about but it is the only way because the biggest possibility is that there is nothing wrong with you, but since you are concerned about your breathing that is why you are having trouble.

[jma1024]

i know what your feeling i too feel the same way im constantly thinking am i breathing correctly and constantly breathing thru my mouth instead of nose, and when i finally stop worrying because im doing something take my mind off of it ill suddenly get a thought im breathing wrong back to where i started.

[RabidBadger]

Hi

The bottom line is, your breathing will look after itself whether you think about it or not. Your breathing is controlled by your brainstem which will continue to function regardless of your cognitive thoughts or state of consciousness.

If you want to try and consciously relax yourself with your breathing, you could try first of all taking it down to a 5:9 pattern (breathe in for 5 seconds and out for 9) and then a 7:11 pattern (in for 7 seconds and out for 11). Place your hand on your stomach and breath right down into your belly, not up in the chest.

Attempting this may well make you panic - but that is purely because it feels strange.

When we start to panic, the intercostal muscles in the ribcage contract and this gives a feeling of tightness in the chest. This is supposed to happen. It makes our breathing more efficient and enables us to oxygenate the blood more. Don't fear this, it is natural. Breathing down into your stomach triggers the parasympathetic nervous responses that are designed to calm you down.

Chris

[panicsucks]

Attempting this may well make you panic - but that is purely because it feels strange.

i think thats my main problem... everytime i try calm breathing i feel kinda dizzy and panicy because of it feels like im coming down from a high :roll: