What to do when deep breathing triggers panic
One of my biggest wakeup calls that prompted me to better understand my nervous system was realizing that deep breathing triggered panic attacks for me.
I was a yoga teacher and I knew how powerful deep breathing could be -- to stimulate oxytocin and endorphin production, boost the lymphatic and immune system and so much more.
But for some reason, instead of accessing those benefits, my nervous system was sent into a tailspin. I was freaked out, because if the most basic thing - breathing - made things worse instead of better, how was I ever going to fix this?
I also noticed that my breathing was stuck in a high-shallow pattern, probably because my body had learned that anything deeper would trigger panic, and I was breathing through my mouth instead of my nose. When I learned this habit by itself also makes the nervous system more susceptible to panic, I felt stuck between a rock and a hard place.
I figured there must be some intermediate steps between constant high-shallow mouth breathing and deep belly breathing through my nose. I began seeking out other breathing techniques from fitness training and martial arts disciplines, and learning about the impact of breathing on sympathetic-parasympathetic balance.
Below are three breathing patterns, some or all of them might be familiar to you, but I encourage you to consider more carefully the directions on when to use each one. Our body will resist intentional shifts to our breathing if the shift we’re trying to make is not appropriate to the situation, so learning how to modulate is important.
I call this set of exercises “3 Speed Breathing” because, similar to the speeds on a bike, they’re each good for a different set of conditions. The lowest speed is best for high-stress conditions and the highest speed is best for deep relaxation.
Speed 1: Box Breathing
WHEN TO USE
BOX BREATHING
HOW TO DO
BOX BREATHING
Speed 2: 5-3-10 Breathing
WHEN TO USE
5-3-10 BREATHING
HOW TO DO 5-3-10 BREATHING
There are a few other options that can be helpful
Speed 3: Belly Breathing
WHEN TO USE
BELLY
BREATHING
HOW TO DO
BELLY BREATHING
Let me know what happens when you try these out, or throw a comment below if this is helpful for you!