Anxiety and Stress

Anxiety can be described as a feeling of unease, a worry or undefined fear but if you’re here reading this, you probably know that it is more complex than that. Other symptoms of anxiety include feeling restless, being irritable, problems sleeping, difficulty concentrating and feeling constantly ‘on edge’. Unfortunately, those who experience anxiety know that it affects not only your mind but your body as well. It can make you feel physically tired, increase your heartbeat, cause stomach aches and muscle tension.

According to Mental Health UK, in the UK, over 8 million people experience anxiety at any one time. But how can we not be anxious? We live in a fast-paced world surrounded by multiple stressors, and on top of that, we feel the pressure to succeed and to always look good. We have so much to worry about, so there is no surprise that so many of us struggle with stress buildup and anxiety. The problem starts when we cannot control it and when anxiety takes over our lives: preventing us from doing the things that we want to do, giving us panic attacks and making it difficult to fall asleep.

Solution-focused hypnotherapy will help you to break negative thinking patterns, train your brain to be more calm and ease your nervous system. Take your life into your own hands and book a free consultation now.

The Breathing Retraining Technique

In the meantime, I’d like to introduce you to the Breathing Retraining technique. When our anxiety rises, it increases our breathing rate. If our breathing rate is increased without physical exhaustion, we breathe out too much carbon dioxide. This can make us feel light-headed, headachy, and even make our muscles stiff or tingling. To bring our breathing back to its normal state, use this technique whenever you feel anxious and if you’d like to gain a more relaxing breathing habit, try to do it at least once a day.

1.       Sit or lay down comfortably

2.       Put your hand on your stomach – this will make it easier for you to focus on breathing through your stomach.

3.       Take a breath in for 4 seconds (through the nose if possible)

4.       Hold the breath for 2 seconds

5.       Release the breath for 6 seconds (through the nose if possible)

6.       Then pause slightly before breathing in again.

Repeat this for a few minutes.