Health

We all engage our own instrument of relaxation, the breath.  Everyone and especially those who have experienced trauma or anxiety can benefit from training this instrument. The best part is that training only takes mere minutes! Plus, the variety of helpful breathing techniques is vast!  Discover the ones that work for you. Diaphragmatic breathing is a breathing exercise that engages your diaphragm, an important muscle that enables you to breathe. It is also called belly or abdominal breathing. Diaphragmatic breathing is a technique that helps you focus on your diaphragm, a muscle in your belly.  Teaching your diaphragm to open your lungs can help your body breathe more efficiently. The rewards of this type of breathing exceed calming us down. Abdominal breathing has many benefits that can affect your entire body. It is the basis for many meditation and relaxation techniques, which can lower your stress levels, lower your blood pressure, and regulate other critical bodily processes. Taking deep breaths can help voluntarily regulate our nervous system, which can have many benefits, including lowering your heart rate, helping you relax, and lowering the release of the stress hormone cortisol. Research suggests it may help manage the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), make core strength exercise more efficient thus improving core muscle stability, and increase the body’s ability to tolerate exercise if you have a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Belly breathing reduces stress and anxiety, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD, and asthma. Here’s the basic procedure for diaphragmatic breathing. It may be easiest to practice while lying flat on your bed or the floor when you first start with one hand on your belly and the other on your lungs. As you breathe in feel the belly expand and contract as you exhale. Dr, Mark Hymen, the Director of Functional Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic suggests we all do this 5 times and 5 times a day. 1. Sit or lie down on a comfortable, flat surface. Do not cross any part of your body. Sit erect, yet comfortably or lay on your back with the palms of your hands up. 2. Relax your shoulders, shifting them down away from the ears. 3. Put a hand on your chest and a hand on your belly. 4. Without straining or pushing, breathe in through your nose until you cannot take in any more air. 5. Feel the air moving through your nostrils into your abdomen, expanding your stomach and sides of the waist. Your chest remains relatively still. 6. Purse your lips as if sipping through a straw. Exhale slowly through your lips for 4 seconds and feel your stomach gently contracting. 7. Repeat these steps several times for the best results. Other types of diaphragmic breathing include but are not limited to rib-stretch breathing, alternate nose breathing, numbered breathing, lower-back breathing, box breathing, and 4-7-8 breathing. I suggest you look up these breathing techniques at UTUBE University.   Everyone regardless of diagnosis can be helped by deep belly breathing. Read More From This Writer All Post Art Books & Poems Business Community Education Entertainment español Food & Culture Health Interviews Military & Veterans Peace People Politics CALL FOR ARTISTS! July 5, 2023/No CommentsRead More UNDERSTANDING TRAUMA June 5, 2023/No Comments In contemporary society, we hear the term PTSD for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder very often. This is the new buzzword or Read More INVESTING IN OURSELVES: UNDERSTANDING TRAUMA May 2, 2023/No Comments Depression & anxiety are common problems that can develop after trauma.  Depression ignites feelings of sadness and low mood. These Read More Load More End of Content.

Many who have endured trauma suffer from anxiety. The good news, however, is that anxiety treatment is effective in most cases, and some very simple practices can keep anxiety at bay in the future. Anxiety can manifest with a mild case of the jitters to a terror so great we are afraid to leave our own homes. Following are a few strategies to assist with anxiety. There is no universal tool for dealing with anxiety as we are unique beings. Try several tools to discover what works best for you. Many techniques mentioned will reduce stress and strife immediately. The first and most simple and direct way to calm anxiety is something we do every day. Breathing is our instrument to calm. Our breath is our instrument.  Problems arise t when we are anxious because we automatically breathe in a way that can make our anxiety worse. Practice belly breathing.   Breathe slowly and deeply so that our belly expands with each breath we take and contracts when we exhale.  When we are anxious, we tend to talk to ourselves in negative ways.  Negative messages fuel our anxiety, which increases catastrophic thoughts. Anxiety is very often a future-oriented condition. We worry about what might happen.  The “what if” can never be answered at the moment and thus causes anxiety. Mindfulness activities have been proven to decrease anxiety.  Practice mindfulness while walking by using your senses to focus on your surroundings. Guided meditation is helpful while you simply observe your thoughts.  Give music your undivided attention. Use your non–dominant hand to draw a picture. Close your eyes while keeping your pencil on the paper and draw your portrait.  These 54321 exercises will help you be in the moment. Discover 5 items you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 objects you can hear, 2 items you can smell, and 1 item you can taste. Name the items and intentionally observe them. These practices can reliably reduce your anxiety, but it does take practice and focus. Counseling for anxiety can also be helpful if symptoms are more severe or longstanding. Joining a meditation group, physical exercise, or taking classes in Tai Chi, Yoga, or Qi Gong can help decrease anxiety too.  Next edition we will tackle yet another symptom of trauma: depression. Read More From This Writer All Post Art Books & Poems Business Community Education Entertainment español Food & Culture Health Interviews Military & Veterans Peace People Politics CALL FOR ARTISTS! July 5, 2023/No CommentsRead More UNDERSTANDING TRAUMA June 5, 2023/No Comments In contemporary society, we hear the term PTSD for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder very often. This is the new buzzword or Read More INVESTING IN OURSELVES: UNDERSTANDING TRAUMA May 2, 2023/No Comments Depression & anxiety are common problems that can develop after trauma.  Depression ignites feelings of sadness and low mood. These Read More Load More End of Content.

No human is free from trauma.  Whether you experience it directly, observe it happening now, or on television; we’ve all greeted trauma in one form or another.  As discussed in previous editions on this topic; there remains a lot of variability in how one responds or reacts to such an event. Everyone is most capable of addressing and thus healing trauma from a calm and controlled stance.  When in a state of crisis or traumatic memory, we are highly emotional and charged and are at risk of experiencing a blank mind.  When this occurs, take your time and practice getting in touch with your breath to relieve your overwhelm. No human is free from trauma.  Whether you experience it directly, observe it happening now, or on television; we’ve all greeted trauma in one form or another. Hope resides in the reality that healing and recovery are possible! As discussed in previous editions on this topic; there remains a lot of variability in how one responds or reacts to such an event. Everyone is most capable of addressing and thus healing trauma from a calm and controlled stance.  When in a state of crisis or traumatic memory, we are highly emotional and charged and are at risk of experiencing a blank mind.  When this occurs, take your time and practice getting in touch with your breathing to relieve your overwhelm.  Focusing on heart-filled thoughts and escapades will lead you to the road of healing. Without a doubt healing from trauma can cause strong adverse emotions, painful flashbacks, and an array of uncomfortable symptoms. These moments are coaching you to take a break from this endeavor, by taking a walk, meditating, or talking to someone you trust. Perhaps one would benefit from working with a professional mental health counselor. These moments are signals that an alteration in how you should proceed is warranted. Trust that you are in the best position to mark your pace in this work.  Note that our thoughts, behavior patterns, and symptoms will be changed with time. Take a break of course but keep returning to heal your soul and life. Keep working with those exercises and strategies that help you in moving through pain and return ’you’ to yourself. There is a widespread impact of trauma on our bodies, mental health, and ‘our’ brains. Trauma changes lives. Healing begins when we ignite the endeavors to heal. Next edition we will tackle a common symptom of traumatic injury: anxiety.   Read More From This Writer All Post Art Books & Poems Business Community Education Entertainment español Food & Culture Health Interviews Military & Veterans Peace People Politics CALL FOR ARTISTS! July 5, 2023/No CommentsRead More UNDERSTANDING TRAUMA June 5, 2023/No Comments In contemporary society, we hear the term PTSD for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder very often. This is the new buzzword or Read More INVESTING IN OURSELVES: UNDERSTANDING TRAUMA May 2, 2023/No Comments Depression & anxiety are common problems that can develop after trauma.  Depression ignites feelings of sadness and low mood. These Read More Load More End of Content.