Relaxation - My Experience as an Anxious Person with Breathing Exercises

by Celia
(Boston, MA)

I just wanted to quickly share some of my experiences with breathing exercises as someone who suffers from generalized anxiety disorder. Furthermore, I taught some of them to someone I know who also suffers from anxiety who finds them helpful. I have learned these exercises from the web - probably when I have the time I should go in for training with a real person.

I have been doing the exercises since October. I have found them helpful. HOWEVER, I find them to be more difficult to they are represented. I will often read "do x breathing technique for ten minutes and you will be calm" and I would do it for a minute and feel exhausted.

However, I have found them helpful but I find their relaxing effect to be more similar to physical exercise then going on a vacation. Breathing exercises require practice. I find their pleasant effect is like going on a mountain hike - it is refreshing, invigorating and my lungs are getting a bit of a work out. It takes time to get used to them. When I was sick and stopped doing them for a couple of weeks it took me about a couple of weeks to get used to them again.

They have the added benefit of making breathing meditations more relevant. Breathing exercises make following one's breath in a meditation more interesting.

In short I have found deep breathing helpful but I have also found it to be closer to physical exercise then relaxing by lying in the sun.