Life Lessons
How to Deal with Anxiety? Breathe, Breathe, Breathe…
How bodily awareness and breathing deeply help me cope
Our brains are wired for the wild. For roaring lions. And dangerous sharks. For life-death-encounters. Jaws wide open, teeth glistening in the sunlight. No time for rational decision making.
You feel the adrenaline pumping through your veins. In a fraction of a second, you have to choose. Fight, flight or freeze…
Now!
That’s what fear is for. Survival. The amygdala in our brain is telling us: fight, flight or freeze. And our system goes haywire. It is beautifully explained in this short video.
Many people feel fear or anxiety in the current times. We don’t know how long it’s going to take. When are we getting back to normal? What will the new normal look like?
In the past, I have mainly been a freezer. And I tell you, life looks bleak, dull, and depressing out there.
It started to change when I learned how to use my body to shift emotions. Sitting down feeling miserable, I stood up and moved. Dancing helped as well. And shaking my limbs. I finally understood what being relaxed feels like.
But the biggest eye-opener for me was my breath. I never knew breathing could heal so much. I already breathed for more than forty years, before I learned about its importance.
Breathe, breathe, breathe
Whenever I felt anxiety, three deep breaths through my mouth already makes a huge difference. The stress levels are dropping. I focus on my feet for a bit. Feel the floor. And after a minute or so, it feels much calmer.
Longer practice
During my training, I also breathed deeply for longer periods of time. Filling my lungs, my blood, my brain with huge amounts of oxygen.
In the beginning, it felt as if I hallucinated. I really had to slow down often, go back to breathing through my nose. Breathing more slowly. Later on, my thoughts and emotions quieted down. Now, after a few years of practice, my brain feels much quieter. Calmer. Very clear.
Warning: breathing deeply for longer periods of time needs good self-care. Thoughts and emotions can be experienced fiercely. So if you’re doing this without a therapist present, take care and slow down the breathing whenever you feel overwhelmed.
Two practices that helped me:
Quantum Light Breath by Jeru Kabbal. I listen to his meditations weekly, daily depending on my need for calm. Following his voice and the music.
Breath-training by the Iceman, Wim Hof. I’m still working up the courage for his cold-training, but the breathing and holding your breath are great. He offers free training and an app to get you going.
Happy living! Happy breathing!
Thank you, Mike, for adding your wise energy to my words on breathing.