Why breathing works
Breathing is an important part of our body's natural response to stress.
When you're feeling anxious, scared, or upset...
Your body goes into "fight or flight" mode.
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This means that:
👉🏻 your heart beats faster
👉🏻 your muscles tense up,
👉🏻 you breathe more quickly and shallowly.
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Doing effective breathing exercises can help you calm down because...
It sends a message to your brain that everything is okay.
[These are best explained in-person or during an online session]
AND/OR
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When you do these breathing exercises:
You activate your parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for slowing down your heart rate and relaxing your muscles.
Sometimes a feeling a calm will come quickly, but sometimes it will take longer to be effective.
[The exercise may need to be repeated 2 or 3 times to actually feel a sense of relief from the anxiety.]
