Further information

If you require any further information after reading this leaflet, please
contact:
The Department of Clinical Health Psychology
Warwick Hospital
Lakin Road
Warwick CV34 5BW
Tel: 01926 – 495321 ext. 4417
(Monday - Friday, 9am - 5pm)
Fax: 01926 – 482603
e-mail: Psychology@swft.nhs.uk
Revision no.: 2
Date10/10/2007
DEPARTMENT OF CLINICAL HEALTH
PSYCHOLOGY
Stress Management
Abdominal Breathing Techniques
Normal Breathing and Hyperventilation
Although we tend to think that breathing comes naturally and we can all do
it, there is a right and a wrong way. Breathing too quickly will not seem
troublesome in the short term, but continued fast respiration causes
physical discomfort which can be quite frightening. This sort of rapid
breathing is a perfectly normal response to stress and is called
Hyperventilation. We all hyperventilate when we are tense, anxious or
doing exercise.
When over breathing becomes a habit, it can become a problem.
Continuous over-breathing causes the oxygen levels in the blood to rise too
much; at the same time, the relative carbon dioxide levels fall This
imbalance may cause unpleasant physical symptoms; e.g. tingling face,
hands or limbs; muscle tremors and cramps; dizziness and visual problems;
exhaustion and fatigue; chest and stomach pains.
Abdominal or Diaphragmatic Breathing
You may feel better by slowing down your breathing so that you stop taking
in too much oxygen. Relearning to breathe diaphragmatically may feel
strange at first but with practice it can become second nature.
1.
2.
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First, empty your lungs: Imagine you are trying to keep an imaginary
feather floating just above your head.
Then take in air slowly and smoothly through your nose. Use the
muscle just below your rib cage to help you achieve deep breathing
Imagine the feather slowly and gently floating downwards while you
breathe in slowly and gently.
Breathe out again just as smoothly. Imagine the feather floating gently
upwards on your breath.
Breathe in again gently.
Try to get an easy rhythm going and resist the urge to take a gulp of air.
Useful Tips: Organise a reminder for yourself to practice the habit of doing
abdominal breathing at all times during the day.
Use abdominal breathing to prevent the build up of the stress response on a
regular basis, even if you are quite relaxed. Also, if you feel stressed, the
breathing may help calm you down.
Match up abdominal breathing with your normal routines so that it becomes
easier to remember to do it, e.g. every time you make yourself a drink, or go
to a certain part of the house, stop and do one or two breaths.
You may also find it useful to do these breathing exercises:
Exercises: Abdominal Breathing – Stage 1
1. Lying comfortably place one hand on your chest and one on your
stomach.
2. As you breathe through you nose, allow you stomach to swell. This
means that you are using your lungs fully. Try and keep the movement
in your upper chest to a minimum and keep the movement gentle.
3. Slow and evenly, breathe our through your nose.
4. Repeat this whilst trying to get a rhythm going. You are aiming to take 8
to 12 breaths a minute: breathing in and breathing out again counts as
one breath.
Useful Tip: At first you may feel you are not getting enough air, but with
practice you will find this slower rate of breathing is comfortable.
Abdominal Breathing – Stage 2
1. Find a quite place and lie down on you back (or sit comfortably).
2. Close your eyes.
3. Breathe slowly, fully and deeply, with your stomach pushed out when
you breathe in, and held in to breathe out.
4. During this abdominal breathing focus your mind’s eye on your naval.
5. Set aside, totally, any thought that might come into your mind and
continue to breathe as we have just described (with your stomach
pushed out to breathe in, and held in to breathe out.
Useful Tips: Sometimes, you start feeling relaxed after only two or three
minutes of exercise. If this is not the case, there is nothing wrong with
starting again as many times as is necessary, saying to yourself, “My feeling
of relaxation comes from my breathing”. People experienced in this
technique just have to think of relaxing, as they concentrate on the mental
picture of their abdomen.