Grab Anxiety by the Reins By Taking a Breath

We’ve all been there: all is well until an email comes into the inbox that totally throws you off guard.

It’s an increased deadline, a high-stakes opportunity with little time to prepare, or a dreadful conversation that you know will cause conflict.

You feel your chest get tight, you fidget constantly like you cannot get comfortable in your own skin, and you then realize you can’t breathe.

You’re in the throes of anxiety.

Anxiety makes you feel ungrounded, scared, and distrustful of what is happening in your experience.

You don’t feel connected to your body except for the parts that hurt or feel agitated.

This pain is amplified by physical tension that comes from the fear of not knowing what will happen in the imagined circumstance that brought on the anxiety.

Fear tightens the body, contracting you inward in a mode of protection — think of it, if someone lunges at you, you curl up. If a bear is running into your home and there’s no way to go, you curl up. This movement is a natural defense mechanism.

Fear raises cortisol levels in the body — the flight, fight or freeze hormone that keeps you alive in dire straits. Yet, the increase in cortisol makes your blood rush from your internal organs to your limbs so you can run and fight faster.

If you happen to live in an ongoing state of anxiety because of daily stress in your life, the absence of this blood flow makes digestion more difficult and you feel, well, stuck.

How do you unravel this bind and, more importantly, is there a way to catch anxiety before it takes the better of you?

The first step to undoing the knots of tension and anxiety is to relax consciously to bring blood flow back to visceral organs. T

he most instant way to allow this release to happen is to breathe with awareness. The more you choose to a long breath in, the better able you are to catch a moment of anxiety before it takes hold.

To take an intentional breath inward during a moment of anxiety is to gain voluntary control of the breathing diaphragm.

The diaphragm tenses in moments of anxiety, which prevents its natural descent to fill the lungs with air.

This is why the body loses sensation, trembles, thoughts race, and your chest gets tight — you can’t breathe!

Taking a conscious breath is how you grab the reins of the moment and get your feet back on the ground.

You tell the moment: “I’m in control here — not fear and not anxiety. I got this.”

Take a breath in and notice the temperature of the air as it comes into your nose. Feel the air move into your torso. Breathe out more slowly than you breathed in. Repeat. Then repeat again. Keep going until you feel like your good ol’ self again. Try this practice for guided instruction.

You lower your cortisol levels when you breathe slowly and consciously. The mind no longer feels there is a threat so blood flows evenly through the body again. The larger movement of the breathing diaphragm massages the visceral organs and fluids start to move again. This balance of your physiology allows you to connect with your sensations and feel grounded in your body at the present moment. This is how you truly embody the phrase: “I got this.”

If you want to really stay in an easy awareness of the moment and tackle racing thoughts before they become anxious, I highly suggest adopting a meditation practice, even if only for five minutes a day.

To make the time to sit and breathe with awareness is to train the mind to pay attention to the moment. If not, you risk getting swept away by events and imagined circumstances and losing yourself. Isn’t it time to take your life back and not get swept away by things that come into your inbox?

To sit and breathe with awareness is to notice the breath with non-judgment. You notice the sounds around you and let them be. There is no need to control the moment because it’s impossible! Instead, be with it and feel your connection to your breath within it.

You become responsive, not reactive.

Try this: sit comfortably in a chair with your feet solidly on the ground or sit on a cushion with your legs crossed. Feel the length of your spine from your hips all the way through the top of your head. Breathe in like you are smelling something you love. Sigh it out. Do this a few times. Then breathe in for a count of one, then out for a count of two. Breathe in for a count of two, then out for a count of four. Breathe in for a count of three, out for a count of six. Breathe in for a count of four, then out for a count of eight. Breathe in for a count of five, then out for a count of ten. Then work your way back down until you breathe out on a count of two. Then return to the natural breath. Notice how you feel without judging yourself. Feel your feet on the ground and the length of your spine. Just be. And enjoy.

Want more? Give this gentle yoga practice a go. You’ll open up the muscles around the torso and sigh, “Ahhhh….”