An Experts Prescription to Quickly Learn How to Squash Anxiety and Reduce Stress Anywhere Without Drugs
All of us are experiencing greater stress and anxiety now than we were just a few short months ago. I will be sharing with you over the coming weeks various methods to calm the body and the mind. Today, I’d like to start with the 7-11 breathing method.
Many people feel overwhelm and some frankly feel out of control during these difficult times. But you can regain a sense of power and manage your feelings of hyperarousal more easily than you might think.
When anxiety and stress are triggered we may begin to feel as if we are about to panic. If you are like many, you try to suppress these feelings. But often times the more you try to suppress the feelings the more they rise to the surface. You than begin to ruminate that the day will be ruined by all this stress. This can cause a lack of mental clarity which further increases the stress you feel.
You may also find that you are snappier with those around you. Later, you feel remorseful because your snappiness is inconsistent with the way you want to behave. In my experience, irritability and anxiety states often go hand-in-hand.
What is the Amygdala?
In fact, anger and anxiety are both present in a tiny structure in the brain called the amygdala (Greek for almond which is its shape). This little brain structure is in charge for our awareness of emotions such as irritability, anger, and fear. Aggression and anxiety are controlled here.
Rest your Amygdala
The amygdala helps to house recollections of events and sensations so that a person may be able to be acquainted with similar events in the future. This may have good and bad consequences depending upon our current reality of the threat.
Your anxiety levels begin to rise. You feel panicky. You try to suppress these stressful feelings, but they bubble to the surface and emerge ready to ruin your day.
Wouldn’t be great if you had a simple tool at your disposal to reduce this anxiety and panic feeling? One that you could use to help you be calmer and relax every time this happens.
Think about it.
Imagine how much more confidently you could approach those stressful moments or more importantly, recover more quickly for those stressful episodes.
The 7-11 Breathing Tool
The method is simple yet powerful. When you notice your anxiety rising there is a flood of biochemical and hormonal reactions that occur in your body.
First, your breathing changes. You breathe more quickly to get more oxygen into your blood stream. This is because your blood carries oxygen and sugar to the organs responsible for helping you fight or run away or commonly referred to as fight or take flight.
But, the 7-11 breathing exercise changes this biological process. Your mind and body and quickly reverse this state expeditiously. By practicing the method when you’re not stressed or anxious you will be able to overlearn the method and quickly marshal the technique when you really need it.
Remember, repetition and practice build skills.
In short, the method will help you to become:
· Instantly become calmer
· Have better mental clarity
· Bring more calmness into your daily life
· Improve your general health and wellness.
So, here is the method:
When you become anxious, your respiration reverses itself and it pushes your body full of oxygen. You then begin to huff and puff and inhale more than you are breathing out.
This inundates the all of the 53 major muscles with oxygen.
Why?
Because we are preparing to fight or take flight from what we perceive as dangerous or threatening. This then is one of many steps that brings us into anxiety and if it continues a full-blown anxiety attack.
We must reverse this process. How?
By deliberately and systematically taking control of our breathing process. We then manage our nervous system in a way that helps us cope more effectively with the stressor.
Practice 7-11 Breathing Now
Now practice this now:
1. Breathe in for the count of 7 and out for the count of 11.
2. If you need to pause, do that at the end of the out-breath.
3. Practice for 3-5 times periodically during the day.
4. Remember, we what to over learn the method so we can use it when we are really stressed out.
In my humble opinion, this should be taught just like we teach any subject in the public schools.
Years ago, when I worked in the schools as a psychologist before I was a doctor, I taught this method to elementary school kids and their teachers (also a stressed-out bunch).
I had a course I taught to the kids called “Relaxation for Productive Classroom Learning.”
One day I was walking down the hallway and a little guy whispered to his friend, “there goes Mr. Calm.” Of course, that made my day!
Now, go practice the 7-11 technique. You will be happy you did.