- Breathing
We tend to think of anxiety as occurring in our mind, and while repeated negative thoughts and worrying about the future can certainly be the cause of bad anxiety – it is often felt most strongly as a physical sensation in the body.
General symptoms of anxiety can be a deep feeling of unease, being uncomfortable in your own skin, a raised heart beat, short breaths, brain fog and tingling sensations throughout your body.
It makes sense that while anxiety starts in the mind, it ends up in the body and you can tackle some of the symptoms right there in a very practical sense.
A fantastic way to reduce your level of panic or anxiety immediately is to use the 1-3-2 breathing technique. I learnt this from Tony Robbins and it has worked fantastically for me. The process is simple breathe in for 1 measure, hold it for 3 and then release it for 2. If your measure was 5 seconds then you would breath in while counting to 5, hold for 15 seconds and then release your breath over 10 seconds.
You can use a longer measure like breathing in for 8 holding for 24 and then releasing over 16. The deep breaths will provide oxygen to your brain and your cells that you have been starving by unconsciously breathing shallowly. Ever noticed how calming a cigarette is for a heavy smoker? I read in an article that it’s not so much the nicotine that is calming them down (although thats part of it), its actually it’s the only time they are actually breathing correctly in the entire day!