Box-Breathing: A support for anxiety symptoms.
You’re in the middle of a store and all of a sudden you feel your pulse race, your breath get shallow, and heat spreads across your body.
“Oh no… not right now. Please don’t be a paralyzing panic attack,” you think to yourself.
Everything starts narrowing around you, and it feels difficult to catch your breath. You begin to feel as if a giant hand has somehow grasped your frame and is squeezing it tighter and tighter.
No matter how much you try to just “think about something else,” the sensations increase. You start sweating and shaking, and notice the feeling of absolute terror…even though there was not anything on your mind or around you that causes you fear.
In the past, you thought maybe you were having a heart attack, but you checked with the doctor and they told you, “everything is fine.”
But you think, “no, I’m not fine.”
Three things to remember about anxiety:
It’s not all in your head. There are somatic (physical) symptoms your body is experiencing due to the chemical interaction in your body.
Symptoms can appear as a result of stress or fear, but can also occur seemingly randomly.
You are not alone, and there are ways to address the somatic (physical) symptoms of anxiety to help you cope.
First step in addressing anxiety and panic
First and foremost, you must acknowledge and address any physical causes that could be at play for your symptoms.
Ask your doctor to check the following:
heart
blood work
hormone panel
any other potential biological causes of symptoms you are experiencing
Once you have ruled out any biological causes for your anxious symptoms, you can move toward addressing the somatic symptoms by employing one of my favorite techniques.
*Note, this is only recommended under the supervision of a trained professional. I encourage you to seek out professional counseling/therapy support. If you do not already have a counselor, I would love to help!
Box breathing is a breathing exercise you can use to help reduce the somatic symptoms you may be experiencing such as
racing heart
difficulty breathing/shallow breathing
shaking
feelings of dread
sweaty palms
It consists of measured, controlled, and repetitious inhaling and exhaling at increasing intervals.
You will begin the exercise at 3-second intervals, and as you find ease and release with the duration, you increase incrementally as you continue.
Box Breathing Technique
Inhale through your nose for a count of 3 seconds.
Hold for 3 seconds.
Exhale through the mouth for a count of 3 seconds.
Hold for 3 seconds.
(Repeat 5 times)
As you notice your symptoms decrease, or your tolerance of the exercise increase, you can increase the intervals to 4 seconds, 5 seconds, and so on. In doing so, you are encouraging a parasympathetic response that tells your body there is no present danger.
This exercise, along with a supportive intervention such as counseling, can vastly improve somatic symptoms related to anxiety and give your body the care it needs.
