Everyday tips & techniques for dealing with everyday anxiety and anxious situations

FOCUS ON BREATHING

You may have heard that deep breathing exercises can relieve anxiety. Unlike some stress-relieving techniques, solid research shows that breathing techniques are not only very effective in reducing stress in our lives, but they are remarkably easy to learn and use at any time.

How to Breathe Properly

It may sound strange, but many people actually don’t breathe properly. Natural breathing involves your diaphragm, a large muscle in your abdomen. When you breathe in, your belly should expand. When you breathe out, your belly should fall. This is known as diaphragmatic breathing. Over time, people forget how to breathe this way and instead use their chest and shoulders, causing short and shallow breaths, which can increase your stress and anxiety.

Instructions

Fortunately, it’s never too late to relearn how to breathe and help protect yourself from stress & anxiety. Practice this simple exercise to improve your diaphragmatic breathing:

• Find a comfortable position either lying on your back or sitting. If you’re sitting down, make sure that you keep your back straight, have both feet on the floor, and release the tension in your shoulders by letting them drop.
• Close your eyes. Alternatively, you can keep your eyes open (and eventually you likely will) but closing your eyes helps you to focus on the mechanics of breathing rather than outside stimuli.
• Place one hand on your stomach and the other on your chest.
• Take a few breaths as you normally would. Does your belly rise and fall with every breath in (inhalation) and every breath out (exhalation)? If you can answer “yes,” that’s good. This is the natural way of breathing. If your belly stays still but your chest rises and falls with every breath, practice breathing by only allowing your belly to rise and fall when you breathe in and out.
• Continue to take deep breaths, concentrating on only moving your belly. As you take a breath in through your nose, imagine a balloon being blown up in your stomach. When you exhale, breathe out through your mouth as if you are blowing out through a straw.
• Continue as long as you would like.

Tips

Keep these tips in mind when you’re practicing diaphragmatic/deep breathing:

• It can take some time to relearn how to breathe. The more you practice, the easier it becomes. Take some time each day to practice this exercise. The nice thing is, you can do it anywhere.
• Try to practice at a time when you’re already relaxed. This will make it easier to take deeper breaths.
• If possible, practice first thing in the morning and before you go to sleep. Practicing in the morning helps set the tone for the day and start the day more calm and relaxed while practicing at night helps bookend the day and prepare your mind and body for sleep.
• If you’re having trouble taking deep breaths, try breathing in through your nose and exhaling through your mouth. Also, slowly count to five in your head as you breathe in and out.
• In time and with practice you will get an idea about how long you need to practice deep breathing exercises to reduce stress. Early on it may be helpful to set a particular time limit, for example, three minutes if you’re pressed for time. Keep in mind that it’s usually more effective to practice several shorter periods of deep breathing rather than single long episodes of deep breathing. Practicing more often also helps you incorporate deep breathing as a habit into your lifestyle.
• If you feel like you can’t focus or have outside distractions, say something like “inhale exhale.” This will force you to focus on your breath and ground you in the moment so external stimuli doesn’t get in your way.
• Don’t give up. Diaphragmatic/deep breathing takes practice and can feel very different if you are not used to breathing this way. Practice it for a week or so before deciding that this is not for you.
• If this type of breathing makes you feel more anxious, it may not be a good tool for you. It does make some people more anxious, especially if it makes you feel out of control.

GROUNDING TECHNIQUES

Grounding is a coping strategy that is designed to “ground” you in, or immediately connect you with, the present moment. Grounding techniques are often used as a way of coping with everyday anxiety.

Grounding techniques can be a distraction, to get you out of your head and away from upsetting thoughts, memories, or feelings.

Grounding techniques often use the five senses—sound, touch, smell, taste, and sight—to immediately connect you with the here and now. For example, singing a song, rubbing lotion on your hands, playing with some beads on your wrist, or sucking on a sweet are all grounding techniques that produce sensations that are difficult to ignore or distract you from what’s going on in your mind.

This helps you directly and instantaneously connect with the present moment.  At the same time, grounding reduces the likelihood that you will slip into a flashback or dissociation.

How you ground yourself is highly personal. What works for one person may trigger anxiety or flashbacks in another. You may need to do some trial and error to figure out what grounding techniques work best for you. Pay attention to the coping mechanisms you’ve already developed to help you get through flashbacks and anxiety and see if you can build on them and/or use them as grounding techniques.

To connect with the here and now, do something (or several things) that will bring all your attention to the present moment. Be sure to keep your eyes open while you’re grounding yourself so you’re aware of everything that’s going on around you.

If you notice that you’re slipping into a flashback or a dissociative state, try some of these grounding techniques.

Sight

• Complete a crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search, or other puzzle.
• Count all the pieces of furniture around you.
• Play a distracting game on your tablet, computer, or smartphone.
• Put on your favorite movie or TV show.
• Read a book or magazine.
• Take a mental inventory of everything around you, such as all the colors and patterns you see, the sounds you hear, and the scents you smell. Saying this out loud is helpful too.

Smell

• Get some scents or essential oils that remind you of good times (freshly cut grass, rain, clean laundry, or sugar cookies, for example) and smell one.
• Light a scented candle or melt scented wax.
• Sniff strong peppermint, which also has the benefit of having a soothing effect.

Sound

• Call a friend or loved one.
• Put on some nature sounds such as birds chirping or waves crashing.
• Read out loud, whether it’s a favorite children’s book, a blog post, or a novel.
• Talk out loud about what you see and hear, or what you’re thinking or doing.
• Turn up the radio or blast your favorite song.

Taste

• Bite into a lemon or lime.
• Let a piece of chocolate melt in your mouth, noticing how it tastes and feels as you roll it around with your tongue.
• Suck on a mint or chew peppermint or gum.
• Take a bite of pepper or some hot salsa.

Touch

• Cuddle and pet your dog or cat if you have one.
• Drink a hot or cold beverage.
• Grab an article of clothing, a blanket, or a towel and knead it in your hands or hold it to your cheek. Concentrate on what it feels like.
• Hold an ice cube and let it melt in your hand.
• Massage your temples.
• Pop some bubble wrap.
• Put your hands under running water.
• Rub your hand lightly over the carpet or a piece of furniture, noting the texture.
• Take a hot or cool shower.

Other

• Dance.
• Go for a walk or run.
• Send a letter or card to someone you care about.
• Sit in another room or area for a change of scenery.
• Stretch your arms, neck, and legs.
• Take 10 slow, deep breaths.
• Write in a journal about how you’re feeling or keep a list of prompts handy that you can use to decide what to write about.

For more information about breathing techniques and how they can help you manage your anxiety please contact Jola (HUB Wellbeing Coordinator) jola@armedforceshub.org or come along to one of our Mindfulness sessions to learn some new techniques.  You can also book a 1:1 session with Jola to look at some holistic methods tailored specifically for you and your unique life.