Anyone been practicing deep breathing for controlling the urges? What are some other benefits you've seen doing it? Does it help you with anxiety also?
I do a TON of breathing exercises during the day. It’s mostly to combat anxiety but I also use it to get pumped before a meeting, or to help me focus when my mind starts to wander from my task. I tell myself “if you can switch from unconscious breathing to conscious breathing, you can switch from unconscious urges to consciously controlling those urges.”
I found that very very slow deep breathing makes me feel relaxed. You can try it now for 2 minute to see the difference.
About 5 to 6 breaths per minute. But less breath per minute the merrier , it doesn’t have to be exactly 5 or 6. You can just count to 10 while breathing in and count to 10 breathe out.
Alright I'll give it a shot. In terms of the breathing inhalation, are you intentionally breathing as deep as you can or just normal?
Actually I found this method on a book called “Breath” by James Nestor. And I have been practising on and of for few months. I think it depends on you. here is the actual text for reference. “CHAPTER 5. RESONANT (COHERENT) BREATHING A calming practice that places the heart, lungs, and circulation into a state of coherence, where the systems of the body are working at peak efficiency. There is no more essential technique, and none more basic. Sit up straight, relax the shoulders and belly, and exhale. Inhale softly for 5.5 seconds, expanding the belly as air fills the bottom of the lungs. Without pausing, exhale softly for 5.5 seconds, bringing the belly in as the lungs empty. Each breath should feel like a circle. Repeat at least ten times, more if possible.” Excerpt From Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art James Nestor This material may be protected by copyright.
Thanks for the extract. I'm doing added research at the moment and trying to figure out what is the best method to breathe for what I'm looking for, so far slowing down your breath seems like a good general rule of thumb from the different sources I've read.
I've read a bit about Pranayama. I think it's a great place to start but for me I'm looking to go more into the science to know exactly the right technique that works for my needs.
I’ve done the 4-7-8 breathing technique for years, among others. https://www.drweil.com/videos-features/videos/breathing-exercises-4-7-8-breath/
I am going to write my story (or multiple significant segments linked to it) and some thoughts on this topic - breathing and methods of breathing. Firstly, I can't understand how so many people get in that point of self negligence, especially physically. Try to create a real connection with your body through sensations. Although humans have brains, complex machines that are very useful for cognitive activities, we have forgotten the existence of the emotions and their fundamental role in our lives. I am trying to present the frequent situations in that humans wake up: they are living in a reality that, in a practical sense, is not the reality. I love mathematics, but I feel its limitations in my personal life - I do not have to write or imagine long demonstrations to take action in, for example, a normal exercise, like running - there I have to listen to my body, to find my pace. One conclusion is: you need to create a bound between information and emotion(s)/feeling(s). In a way, they are complementary and there's clear that they're not opposite. Mathematics, the personal example I gave you, is an exponent for abstract thinking. This queen of sciences gets always a correct answer, it have the infinity in essence. We, humans, can dream to infinity, but never can get it our lives. So, if a mathematician can't get the REAL answer with his HEALTHY thinking and his FINITE form , how could a normal man with a ILL thinking get a REAL answer??? Anxiety is tension. But why?? Some people just try to get the big whole in their rational minds. This is impossible(the argument was given) and here comes the failure. I have been practicing Wim Hof Method for long periods of time. Again, there are limitations, if you keep considering it just a medical practice. But this is more than a method(for its author/creator) that gives you results in a targeted domain. This is a philosophy! Is the philosophy of relationship of human and nature. Our bodies are more than what they are. For example, human body can run in distance as any other animals on this planet. But... how many people run in general??? We haven't been created for environments like 8 hour in a chair staying at office. But...how many of us do that? A lot! I gave you a sort of list with major pylons. I recommend you to document these processes if you have a curiosity or an intention in this domain. Anyone can contact me to discuss about this subject.
The breath and mind definitely have a connection, and if you can channel the breath with breathing exercises it can help a lot with reducing anxiety. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4986884/ This is a really cool study on smokers and manipulating C02 levels(we breathe out c02, or carbon dioxide) to induce anxiety and sure enough it increased anxiety in the smokers. This was really to see how smoking relates to anxiety but I think it holds weight in terms of seeing how the breath can affect the mind.