I feel hella calm right now. I was getting lightheaded and felt like I was floating for the regular breath work. But then when I extended the exhale I just feel totally at peace and calmer than I’ve been in ages. I was in full fight or flight mode before this video. Even the psychological sigh wasn’t helping. Thank you so much!😊
I stayed in bed all day today because I had a hard argument with my Partner and he triggered my trauma and PTSD really hardly. After following this breath I feel normal, I feel safe again.
Thanks so much for this! I didn’t realize one could actually train oneself to breathe diaphragmatically all of the time and was under the impression that it was something you only did when feeling anxious.
Terrific - yes, it can become your default breathing method - not the overly exaggerated type, but generally just a natural breath that fills the lungs.
Hi Barbara, Diaphragmatic breathing is one of my trusted tools in my toolbox to navigate and heal from cptsd, ptsd, anxiety and depression symptoms. It is a handy and useful skill. I am curious about mastering more somatic based practices that can help me feel embodied, alert and oriented in my body.
For those who accidentally trigger panic attacks with breathing exercises: I suffer from anxiety and breathing exercises were always super difficult for me as they can be anxiety inducing. Sometimes they even caused my anxiety to worsen! But that completely changed once i started making my exhales longer than the inhales. I think there's some scientific reason for it (if someone knows feel free to elaborate and link sources). Just wanted to put it out there because I was never able to do breathing exercises without giving myself a panic attack lol but as long as my exhales are longer than my inhales I'm good! 😊
Hi Sofysgalaxy: The longer exhales stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system, lowering your blood pressure and pulse. It is great for calming down and sometimes falling asleep. Thanks for sharing!
I just finished my comment saying, I think I made my anxiety worse from breathing during meditation practice, too much focus on my upper chest moving in and out- I had it backwards!! Then I read your comment. So yah, totally. . .I am also focusing on lengthening my exhales, although I just started this today and everything is jolted and I notice my last bit of exhale is more of a squeezing out and an ugh of sorts just to emphasize it to be longer! ha Best wishes, thank you for your comment.
Thank you! RU-vid has literally become more helpful than therapy for me, due to people like you. Do you have any ideas of how to stop a racing mind at night? I end up taking sleeping pills to shut out the noise, but I'd love a more sustainable solution.
Hi: CBT-I is very effective according to research (CBT-Insomnia). I am not a specialist in this area, but it s worth looking into. Wishing you the best!
This was very helpful. My stomach was tense, and moving upward on the inbreath… anxious breathing. But by end of video, belly muscles were relaxed and expanding out on the inbreath, and I felt more clear, calm and centered. I had to increase the duration of the outbreath quite a bit, really squeezing the breath out, which I had been holding….only after could I release the belly muscles, and diaphragm breathe with an even count.
Lots of yawns, reduction in core body temperature (I get super hot when anxious), my body actually felt rather tingly. A barely noticeable but very pleasant flowing warm & tingly energy ✨️ 🎉❤
Thank you! I started this today, and I already feel better. What a wonderful way to shift that out of my upper chest- I've been shuddering from so much tension in my arms and upper chest. I think I accidentally made myself more anxious? I was focusing so much on my breathing b/c I've started meditating everyday and you know, you do a lot of counting and breathing (Zen, zazen practice) but I was focusing my breath IN my upper chest not in my abdomen, I was backwards! So a lot of movement in my breastbone and ribs. And I loved the following vid with the grounding exercises! I live in a residential facility so that means I have to watch it with the stomping and being noisy b/c I have neighbors who run to admin with any thing and it feels like the secret police around here sometimes, which ADDS to the anxiety! B/c I feel repressed to make noise. Anyway! I do have a bouncy ball from last summer and I found a place in my apartment I can bounce it off of and that was immediately so fun, I immediately laughed in fun. It's gonna be tough to come out of covid, A lot of anxiety, scarcity anxiety, performance anxiety, so much, plus I'm having a sobering mid life objective enough view of myself as a person and feeling like I am in a humoungous transition finding meaning in my (childfree unmarried and tiny mostly estranged family with lots of estrangement issues, and I have a trauma background, some CPTSD) and it seems I keep having to learn to hold all the bags. Anyway! I was liking this a lot and have bookmarked the free webinar. I would love to explore the eye desensitization but I think I can only get so far without an actual therapist- I have too much lingering trauma. But I will for sure also explore what I can at home. Irony of life is that I have Medicare and a secondary insurance but I'd probably still have to private pay for mental care. . . You Tube University is my place, and costs $11.99 a month, and best I can do for now. Hi, I'm Rhonda. : )
Thank you so much, Barbara, I have been trying to develop diaphragmatic breathing for years, but this has really helped me to 'get' it! Amazing! Also, and unexpectedly, I feel really relaxed and calm! Thank you so much, as always you have taught me something new, a new way of being, and I hope to be able to sign up for the webinars...I was so relaxed, lying down while listening, that I didn't get to my phone in time to click to reserve a place!
Hi Mary: I'm so pleased it was helpful! There are definitely spots open for the webinar - you need to click through a couple of links. Where it says "Please select event date" - if you click on that, you'll get a dropdown of dates. hope you can join!
Dear Barbara, thanks for videos. That rellay great for those who want to explore his body capacity and control autonomous ervous system voluntary. I wanted to ask a question. Some exercises advice to hold breathe with full or empty lungs. What exactyl does that do ? Increase pH of blood? Or what? Thanks in advance for supprt & advice.
I am trying to make the in breath slow and steady, but finding that I'm forcing breath in at counts 3 -4 to the point that my top of my lungs/ chest feels shaky. I feel like there is very little expansion going on, there there must be as I can breath out slowly up to count of 8. Am I expecting to big an expansion, or will that increase as my body gets used to breathing from diaphragm. I'm 48 and my breathing has for the most part always been shallow. Thanks Also is there a playlist for the mini course?
The direct effect when tried diaphragmatically breathing at first was on my head: I felt a bit of the "starting to be dizzy" (but not fully dizzy though), as if there is something going on in My Temporal Lobe and to the upper part of my brain. I came from the CBT GAD Video, Thanks you
Paused for reaction at 5:52 So, it obviously makes you feel more calm. It makes me feel more aware, like my eyes are more wide open and I'm receiving more visual and auditory signals, or at least responding to them differently. I will say that it makes me kind of light headed if I keep doing it over and over.
Sounds like you felt more "alert and relaxed", which is such a great state, right? And sometimes people do get light headed if they aren't used to it. Usually that goes away, or the outbreath can be shortened just a tiny bit. Be well!
I had the super anxious breathing type where I breath mostly from the chest and the bottom hand moves in and out. I knew I was a very shallow breather and quite anxious. The shifts I felt however after doing the diaphragmatic breathing was like instant relaxation to my mind and a sense of calm in my body.
Hello Barbara, I find that my inhale breath takes about 3 seconds and I can’t inhale further without my chest expanding for the remaining 1-2 seconds. My exhale breath I can do for 4-5 seconds. In doing these exercises, will my inhale belly breath improve and match the exhale belly breath seconds without having to use my chest for that last 1-2 second inhale? Thank you in advance.
Hi Barbara Thank you for this video. It’s very helpful. One thing I struggle with is breathing in for the 4 count becomes strenuous after 2-3 counts. Are there any tips to build up to being able to get to count 4 or does that come with more practice? The out breath I can go for much longer.
Hi: choose a rhythm that is comfortable for you! (I tend to breathe rather slowly, so my rhythym may not work for everyone!). Don't worry too much about the timing - you can count faster or to a lower number.... If you breathe in for 3, the outbreath would be 3 for "alert" functioning, or up to 6 for relaxing... Hope that is helpful!
I'm having a hard time breathing with the diaphragm I will try the books..my counselor suggested I look for u..nd it made since what u sd cuz the anxiety was turning n2 panic attacks
I started to feel some sort of hyperventilation on my arms and legs and kinda dizzy. But after all I started to feel sleepy. This is good very great for me, an anxious person. Thanks a lot.
I have chronic back pain (I think from holding in trauma) when doing the diaphragm breathing I noticed an immediate release of the tension in my back and slight euphoria
Hi: Great question. Holding on the inhale and-or exhale is definitely a breathing technique that can be useful and stimulate different reactions. Diaphragmatic breathing as described in this video (without the holding) is a way to begin to breath normally all the time. As this is method is practiced, it becomes the "go-to" method.
When I do meditation I use deep breath, I feel it on my chest. My question is which way will be more helpful on meditation? Or it doesn’t matter that much, overall meditation is focusing on breath. I do feel I have hard time to use diaphragmatic breath on meditation though. Thank you so much.
Hi Daphney: I see diaphragmatic breathing and meditation as different things. Learning diaphragmatic breathing is certainly a mindful act, yet when one integrates it, hopefully it can be the default way one breathes.
hmmm... This exercise is a conscious breathing exercise, so can't be done while sleeping - however, it can be very helpful leading up to sleep. And, if one is sleeping calmly, one will naturally be breathing diaphragmatically. It can also be used when one wakes up in the middle of the night in order to fall back to sleep.
Interesting. Yes, it is not uncommon to feel lightheaded if you are not used to breathing this way. If that continues, you can try to make the in and out breaths a little shorter, and keep them matched in timing - hope that makes sense!
I began practicing these breathing techniques for the first time last night, along with the safe place visualization, and I’m already really enjoying the process. It’s was a little difficult to get started mostly because it’s just new to me but I already feel like I have my safe place defined in tremendous detail. And I’m able to practice the diaphragmatic breathing many times throughout the day. Thank you for these videos! I trade financial markets and I’ll be building a trading anxiety hierarchy soon so I can use the breathing and safe space to facilitate exposure therapy for trading anxieties. This video with dr Steenbarger details the process I plan to use. Thank you! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bEXz7Abf-wM.html
