Blog Post 180321

In our last edition we discussed mindfulness as one of the techniques to reduce stress and anxiety and help with our overall mental wellbeing. In the difficult times that we have had to endure in the past year, it is good to have something that brings focus and stability to our lives and its excellent if it also helps with our everyday mood.

This edition we will be focusing on breathing techniques when that pang of anxiety hits and how to breathe to reduce the stress that we are experiencing. One of the most common physical symptoms of anxiety is a difference in breathing - it tends to become shallower and quicker. This can sometimes lead to hyperventilation.

This kind of breathing can make anxiety feel worse, so a simple breathing exercise can help.

Once you have got the technique right, your heart rate should become slower and you should feel overall calmer.

There is another technique which can help if the breathing technique is not for you and it is called grounding. Grounding works by shifting the focus of the brain onto something other than the anxiety that is being experienced.

This technique can help as it uses the environment and senses to help focus attention on something other than a trigger for anxiety.

When you experience anxiety you need to identify:

Five things you can see
Four things you can hear
Three things you can smell
Two things you can feel
One thing you can taste

This focuses your brain onto something other than the anxiety that is being experience and lowers your heart rate as well as your breathing almost immediately. Trying something until you get what works for you is key. It is important that if you are experiencing anxiety and it is affecting your everyday life, you speak to someone.