Breathing exercises my opp.
Hello friends, welcome back to the Anxiety talk show.
Just a few days ago, in my AP Psychology class, my teacher introduced us to positive affirmations. They’re part of the self-affirmation theory that claims that how individuals choose to react to information changes how they conceptualize themselves. Thus, saying positive things about themselves is thought to have a positive effect on people because it will change their thought process. The brain is based on patterns, and if you say “I am not a mistake. I can learn from this” enough times instead of “Oh my goodness, this was horrible. I’m so stupid and this is never going to change”, then it’ll eventually become your go-to response. It reframes your thinking.
Positive affirmations used to be a really big part of my life. Every day, I would hear “I am beautiful. I am brave. I am awesome” on my Amazon Alexa.
However, they can have detrimental or no effects at all for some people. The science behind the efficiency of affirmations is based on how it’s worded— Yes, repeating a belief over and over after critical periods will change your thought process eventually (the human mind is malleable!), but if one starts off with an extreme belief, one far away from where they are currently, it can make them feel even worse. Like, if you think to yourself “I am totally not anxious” and you’re aware of your heart trying to rip itself out of your chest and your sweaty palms and the lump in your throat and yeah… You are so anxious.
So, though the science behind affirmations is correct, it doesn’t work for everyone since people affirm themselves in unique ways. You’re not insane! Jumping off this, here are some anti-anxiety methods that do not work for some people.
- Breathing Techniques
You’ve probably heard of box breathing, that 4-4-4 thing, the breath in for four, hold for seven, breathe out for eight.
There’s so much behind these guys. Breathing engages in a unique relationship with anxiety and stress… different breathing patterns can affect stress and anxiety, and these two can affect breathing patterns. When stressed, your heart rate sometimes speeds up, and that calls for more oxygen. So, you breathe faster because your body is preparing itself to run away from threats. Different breathing techniques are able to calm anxiety attacks, though. Usually, by breathing deeper, longer breathes, parasympathetic tone (nerves in your body that tell you to relax) is supported. That counters the parts of your body related to stress and anxiety and tells them basically that it is okay to relax and go back to normal.
While breathing exercises are typically effective in reducing stress/anxiety levels, it doesn’t work for everyone. Take me. Usually, when I remember that I should probably breathe to lower my heart rate, my heart rate increases… I start to hear it pounding in my ears, and bam. I’ve wasted five minutes of time on breathing.
There’s a reason behind my and others’ failure in calming ourselves down with breathing exercises, though. For one, we may be focusing too much on our breathing. We are counting on it to calm us down and to pull us back up, and this hyperfocus can exacerbate anxiety levels instead of bringing them down. Additionally, if you only do breathing exercises in stressful situations, your body will associate them with stress. Most exercises emphasize only focusing on your breathing, and that silence in your head can be filled with intrusive, anxious thoughts. You can also feel suffocated by these exercises because your body is screaming at you that it needs air, not paced breathing.
So, how do you get breathwork to work for you?
- Use breathing techniques regularly. Breathing consciously when you’re not anxious will help your body associate it with calmness, and its effects are only intensified when you practice breathing often.
- Take a meditation class. The type of breathing I discussed earlier is known as “unguided breathing.” You don’t have a teacher for it. Doing breathing exercises by yourself can be calming for some, but the voice of someone else guiding you through the process can be good as well. It minimizes the amount of thinking you have to do!
- Ground yourself and your thoughts before you start breathing exercises.
- Do breathing exercises in a quiet place.
- Do breathing exercises with motions… when you exhale, bring your arms up and then push them now with a loud sigh.
- Focusing on something else
“Take a step back for a bit to cool your head.”
Yes, the infamous “take some time to calm down”… don’t think about your anxiety… haha. That’s a little impossible— only if you’re still focusing on your anxiety.
Anxiety takes energy and brain space. If you’re entirely focused on another task, there is little way for you to be anxious. Too busy for that! However, that quick switch to hyperfocus mode is a rare treasure, and pushing your anxiety away completely without any processing can have major consequences. You can’t just power through anxiety attacks… sometimes, they’ll stay. You can do your normal routine, but it’ll linger.
What To Do Instead:
- Do not focus on another thing just to get rid of your anxiety. Do not IGNORE your anxiety! It doesn’t work like that.
- Do something you like to do and something that involves a lot of senses + effort.
- Ground yourself and process your emotions. Analyze why you’re anxious or write down your symptoms, then move on to something else.
These are just a few anxiety methods that sometimes don’t work for people. Typically, there’s good science for these anxiety methods. However, it can be hard to implement that science! I personally get too up in my head about breathing exercises and prefer progressive relaxation techniques instead… it forces me to relax.
Until next time!
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