Since most of us haven´t been abdominal breathers since infancy, we are unfamiliar with what it should look like and feel like.

When you breathe with your full body, your abdomen will push forward, it will expand to the sides and it will reach back towards the spine. You should be able to feel it in your entire torso from your pelvis to your chest.

You may even feel a pressure in your chest as you inhale. This is your lungs expanding against your rib cage. This is good and nothing to panic about. Your lungs were designed to expand and fill completely; we just don´t take advantage of it. 

When breathing with your abdomen your diaphragm is expanding and contracting which causes your abdomen to expand. This expansion will make your belly protrude. For ladies this may seem unattractive or undesirable but your belly will expand and contract with your breathing, it won´t flop over your belt continuously. 

You don´t have to engage this method of breathing all of the time, just when you need relaxation but you will find that as you practice you will want to breathe like this more often and eventually it will become second nature, something you even do in your sleep.

All it takes is practice and the health and energy benefits that you will receive far outweigh any belly protrusion. 

Another abdominal breathing exercise

1. Stand up with your feet close together.

2. Free your mind of negativity.

3. Shake your arms then rub your hands together and place them hand over hand on your abdomen. The correct placement is over your belly button.

4. Exhale while pushing your abdomen in with your hands. Count to 8.

5. Breathe in for a count of 8 feeling your abdomen expand as you inhale.

6. Hold for 2 seconds.

7. Exhale for a count of 8 and then hold for 2 seconds.

8. Repeat your inhales, holds and exhales 10 times.

9. When you have completed your breathing cycles, rub your hands together again, shake your arms out and rub your face, cleansing it of all your anxiety.

Focus on your abdomen and the movement of it going up and down. That´s why your hands are there to help you contract it and ensure you are expanding it on your inhales. Start doing this once a day for a week and then two times a day for another week.

If you feel comfortable, continue to practice this breathing cycle two times a day and feel free to engage it in more often as your anxiety or nerves dictate. Stick with it, practice is the key to success.

Download your free eBook “Stop Panic Attacks and Deal with Your Anxious Thoughts” here: http://www.PanicGoodbye.com/freereport.html.  Read more about the PanicGoodbye Program here: http://PanicGoodbye.com

So many coping strategies for anxiety, panic attacks and depression rely on the ability of the sufferer to achieve a sense of relaxation. When you are relaxed your heart rate slows, your breathing slows, your blood pressure drops and your muscle tension eases. 

These are all the direct opposite effects of what you experience during a panic attack or anxious moment. The ability to counteract your body´s panicked tendencies will help you confront, overcome and resolve your fears. But you can´t deal with your problem if you can´t get your body and mind into a relaxed state. 

Achieving relaxation isn´t easy. It takes a lot of practice to just on the spot meditate and alleviate your fear. This approach is for more experienced practitioners of various relaxation techniques. 

If relaxation is new to you or you have a lot of trouble with it, try for a generalized state of relaxation. By engaging in deep relaxation for 30 minutes a day, you will see the calming effect spread to the rest of your day and the other areas of your life over time. Deep relaxation practice will help to reduce the cumulative stress in your body and mind and prevent additional stress from compounding your condition. 

Reducing and eliminating stress is vital to increasing your energy, improving your ability to concentrate, getting better sleep and restoring your self confidence.

The most common methods for achieving deep relaxation are abdominal breathing, meditation, visualization and progressive muscle relaxation. While other methods are certainly available and successful, these methods are the most accessible for novices. 

Learning how to utilize one or more of these methods will greatly help you in your fight against anxiety, panic attacks and stress. 
Panic attacks and anxiety are a product of an overactive mind, fueled by worry, anticipation, fear and dread. These powerful emotions spark physical and chemical responses that send your body into heightened states of survival mode. 

The ability to relax the sensations coursing through your body will more quickly and easily allow you to control the physical effects on your body and prevent them. Stopping the physical effects is of course only half the battle, the mind that is creating these responses has to be shut down too.  Hence, deep relaxation…

Abdominal breathing is probably the best place to start for most people. It is relatively easy to do, serves as a basis for some other relaxation techniques and can be done anywhere.

Your breathing pattern is a guidepost to the level of anxiety the rest of your body is experiencing.  The quicker and shallower the breaths, the more anxiety there is. The deeper and slower the breathing, the more relaxed you are. 

Abdominal breathing actually forces you to release a lot of built up tension in your body. You can´t breathe from your belly when your body is tight with tensed nerves. It is a method of relaxation that actually forces your body into a calmer state when it is done correctly. 

Download your free eBook “Stop Panic Attacks and Deal with Your Anxious Thoughts” here: http://www.PanicGoodbye.com/freereport.html

Follow me on Twitter for new article updates: http://twitter.com/bertilhjert and visit my website: http://PanicGoodbye.com

• Are you breathing quickly or slowly?
• Are you breathing deeply or shallowly?
• Do you feel your breath in the center of your chest around your heart or do you feel it down low in your abdomen?

You want to breathe slowly and deeply from your abdomen, that´s your goal. Breathing incorrectly causes more harm to your body than you realize.

Not only are you not supplying your body with sufficient oxygen to produce the energy you need you are also causing tightening in your neck and shoulders. When you breathe from your chest you are tightening the muscles in your neck and shoulders which is causing increased tension throughout your body. 

If you have a pet, look at them. People, who have dogs or cats and watch them while they´re sleeping will see that their stomachs rise and fall with each breath. This is true of all animals, look at your guinea pig or gerbil, they all breathe with their whole bodies.
 
Now look down at your belly, is it moving at all? Probably not! But this wasn´t always the case.

When you were a baby, you breathed with your whole body, just as all babies do. If you have a young child, look at them when they are sleeping, their bellies rise and fall. This is because they are abdominally breathing. Something happens and as we age, we stop engaging our diaphragm and stop breathing from our abdomen. 

You can re-learn the proper way to breathe and re-engage your abdomen again and get your body feeling better than ever before. Getting the most amount of oxygen to your body in the most efficient way will greatly improve your health and mental wellbeing. 

Our bodies are engines in need of a lot of fuel. Every cell in our body needs large amounts of oxygen to function properly. Having a healthy diet and watching what you drink is only part of the battle; breathing is an essential component of a healthier body as well. 

Oxygen is needed to run the nervous system, digestive system, power the muscles, to sleep properly, for concentration and memory and to provide energy throughout the day. It´s no wonder that when we are having a panic attack and cutting off our oxygen supply with shallow, inefficient breathing that these are the very functions most directly impacted. 

Our heart starts beating rapidly, desperate to get the oxygen it needs to run, our digestive system stops working properly, our muscles tense up, we lose feeling or experience tingling in out extremities because our nervous system has gone into survival mode.

We can´t think properly and our sleep patterns are disrupted. Sufficient oxygen is crucial to restoring normal function, that´s why forcing yourself to breathe slowly and deeply can trigger the relaxation response so deeply needed by your body. 

It´s hard to breathe slowly and deeply, our minds tell us that we need to gulp in air as fast as we can. This is the worst thing to do in a panic attack or anxiety filled situation. Gulping in air quickly, using only your chest actually supplies very little oxygen to your body and helps fuel the panic attack because all the quick shallow breathing isn´t having the desired effect and thus you are more nervous. 

Breathing slowly and deeply from your abdomen is the key and a technique that you need to learn and practice so you can utilize it in an emergency. By breathing from your abdomen and engaging your core, you are helping your body to get the oxygen it needs and triggering a calming effect in your body that will help ease the unpleasant sensations.  

Download your free eBook “Stop Panic Attacks and Deal with Your Anxious Thoughts” here: http://www.PanicGoodbye.com/freereport.html

• Lie down on your back and bend your knees while leaving your feet flat on the floor. You should make a little teepee with your knees.

• Put one hand on your chest and one hand on your abdomen.

• Breathe in slowly through your nose and from your abdomen. The hand you placed on your abdomen should be rising as it expands and the hand on your chest should stay at its present level.

• It is important that you inhale from your diaphragm and allow your belly to expand. You could just stick it out but that´s not engaging your lungs, abdomen and diaphragm in the way they were intended to be used.

• Exhale through the mouth. Your exhale should be longer than your inhale. 

• Practice this breathing for 10 minutes. This type of breathing is slow, about 4 breaths every minute. 

• After you feel comfortable, work your way up to 20 minutes than 30 minutes a day. 
 
This type of breathing is very effective in triggering the calming or relaxation response. Even though you are only taking a few breaths a minute you are dramatically increasing the supply of oxygen to your body. 

Normally we take approximately 15 breaths a minute, when we hyperventilate we can take as many as 30 or even 40 breaths a minute. However, this type of breathing is from the chest and doesn´t allow the full supply of oxygen to reach your body. Even practicing abdominal breathing with 8 or 9 breaths a minute will produce visible results. 

Abdominal breathing is a method of breathing employed by many professional singers because it supplies the necessary oxygen and lung capacity to hit and sustain those high notes. 

Placing your hands on your chest and abdomen are just an aid to help you realize when you are breathing from your chest and when you are breathing properly from your abdomen. You don´t need to leave them there once you have practiced and feel comfortable with this type of breathing. 

If you need assistance timing your breathing, try counting to 5 when inhaling and counting to 10 when exhaling. This counting will help ensure that you are exhaling longer than you are inhaling.

Again, once you have mastered this breathing technique you won´t have to worry about the placement of your hands although you´ll probably still want to keep them on your chest and abdomen because it serves as a nice self checking mechanism.
 
Breathing is not only a great source of relaxation but it can be a great source of energy as well. People who suffer from GAD in particular, often describe themselves as feeling fatigued. Fatigue can affect us all at sometime so breathing our way to more energy is great solution to try. Over time, abdominal breathing can lead to increased energy and alertness. 

Download your free eBook “Stop Panic Attacks and Deal with Your Anxious Thoughts” here: http://www.PanicGoodbye.com/freereport.html

We are a nation of shallow breathers. Why? It is unclear. When we begin life, we are all deep breathers, inhaling from our abdomen but over time we seem to lose this ability. Look at babies and very young children, see their stomach rise and fall, their chest expand and contract. 

They fill up their lungs when they inhale; getting the full benefit of the oxygen that is delivered throughout the body. Perhaps this is why they seem to have boundless energy. After the age of 2, something seems to happen and children take on the shallow, chest based breathing of adults, which only partially supplies the body with the needed oxygen.

Retraining yourself, to breathe the way you originally did, will have amazing physical and mental benefits. You will feel better, be able to do more, and if you suffer from panic attacks, soothe your anxiety. Abdominal breathing enables your lung lobes to fill completely with oxygen and transfer that oxygen through your blood to all your body parts. Your muscles feel better because they have a sufficient supply of oxygen, your chest will not be tight, your heart will beat slower and you will feel healthier.
 
Many other cultures understand the importance of breathing deeply and correctly. Meditative practices and yoga practitioners all focus on the power of the breath. The focus, strength and peace that you can obtain from abdominal breathing is limitless.  This type of breathing can be done by anyone and only takes practice to learn and retrain yourself. 

Abdominal or belly breathing is a great solution for anxiety and panic attack sufferers as well as for anyone who just wants to feel healthier and better. 

To begin your breathing practice, get into comfortable clothes and find a comfortable place to sit on the floor. If the floor is uncomfortable for you, you can always sit on a chair. Now focus on your regular breathing pattern. Do you feel any action in your belly area? Do you see your stomach rising and falling? Probably not! 

If you look at your chest, you will see that this is where your breathing is occurring. If only your chest is moving up and down it means that you are not using the full capacity of your lungs. What a shame to waste such useful space!  Now touch your stomach with your hands and concentrate on breathing from your belly. Don´t just push you belly out but actually breathe from deep down.  If you do it correctly you will see your stomach expand and contract. 

You will feel it expand and contract with your hands and will you appreciate the increased amount of oxygen that you are sending throughout your body. Abdominal breathing is slower than chest breathing. This is of course because it takes longer to fill up the lung lobes to their capacity and release them. Aim for 5 or 6 breaths per minute to start and reduce that to 4 or 5 breaths per minute. 

You will experience a noticeable drop in your anxiety level and reduce panic attack susceptibility by using this technique.

Download your free eBook “Stop Panic Attacks and Deal with Your Anxious Thoughts” here: http://www.PanicGoodbye.com/freereport.html

The rapid, shallow breaths tend to create a sensation of hyperventilating and tightening of the chest which in turn tends to cause anxiety and panic. Most people that are anxious are unaware they are breathing so shallowly. Sometimes, simply focusing on the breath and engaging in abdominal or belly breathing can restore a feeling of calm and reduce your anxiousness.

Breathing is very important to both the psychological and physical comfort of our bodies. Yoga and meditation practitioners will be familiar with the importance of the breath and spend a great deal of time focusing on breathing in their practice. In fact if you are an anxiety sufferer of any kind, participating in yoga or meditation classes or programs can be a real assistance in coping. 

By learning and practicing relaxation techniques, you will be able to reduce the level of your anxiety and panic attacks. You may even be able to defuse an attack in the making. 

Our bodies automatically respond to the stress that we encounter throughout the day. In some cases the body prepares to run, in other cases it prepares to fight. When you are in extreme danger, this automatic reaction is helpful. However, if you are simply engaged in your normal daily activities and the fight or flight response is constantly being engaged, it can exact a heavy toll on your body. 

Meditation is a good way to exert the opposite effect on your body. Meditating restores the body to a clam state, helps the body repairs itself and prevents new physical and emotional damage due to the effects of stress. 

There are numerous benefits to meditation. As you meditate, both your heart rate and your breathing slow down, you blood pressure normalizes, oxygen is used more efficiently and you sweat less.

Meditating also causes your glands to produce less cortisol, your immune system will improve and you will have a greater sense of physical and emotional calm and well being. This feeling helps to combat the anxiousness, stress and worry that can invade your daily life. 

Meditating is easier than you think but it does take practice and dedication.  It begins with sitting in a relaxed position and clearing your mind of all thoughts. Silence and privacy are helpful at first but as you become experienced you will find yourself able to take a few minutes out anywhere, at your desk, in the theater, or on the ride home, to meditate. 

Meditation is a great tool in your fight against anxiety because it is free, always available and very effective in short-term stress reduction and long-term health. You will be able to feel the benefits after just one session and the effects will compound as you continue to practice.

However, to be successful at meditation you will need to practice. Don´t get distressed if you don´t get it right away, you don´t feel comfortable with it or you don´t think it´s having an immediate impact. It is important that you stick with it and find the free time to engage in a little meditative practice each day. The time and effort it takes to learn and practice is well worth it in terms of the benefits it provides.

For many people, meditating on their own sounds difficult and intimidating and confusing. There are lots of ways to learn. Yoga is a great way to get your meditation practice down and a little sweat going.

Meditation and yoga don´t have side effects except a more positive outlook and a healthier body. You don´t need special equipment, anyone can do it. All it takes is a little discipline, commitment and practice.

Download your free eBook “Stop Panic Attacks and Deal with Your Anxious Thoughts” here: http://www.PanicGoodbye.com/freereport.html