| We all feel waves of apprehension and anxiety | | | | Sit in a comfortable chair with your back straight |
| gathering around us from time to time. It can | | | | (not tensed) and your feet on the floor. |
| appear in specific situations where we have been | | | | You can also lie down to do this exercise. The |
| fearful in the past. Many of us become anxious at | | | | diaphragm is located at the center, below the rib |
| large social events or even small gatherings with | | | | cage and above the abdomen. The diaphragm is |
| strangers. Many individuals are claustrophobic, | | | | shaped like a bowl that is upside down Press the |
| feeling trapped in a confined space. When we hear | | | | fingers of your right or left hand gently against |
| the final thud of the heavy airplane door being | | | | the diaphragm. Inhale through the nose. As you |
| closed and know that we must remain in our | | | | inhale you will feel a slight resistance between |
| seats during takeoff, a shudder of fear runs | | | | your fingers and the diaphragm. The inhalation |
| down our spines, lifts the fine hairs on the nape of | | | | brings air into your lungs. When you exhale |
| our necks, and accelerates our heart rhythms. | | | | through the nose, the air is released from the |
| Anxiety can be unpredictable, its source as | | | | lungs. Each individual learns through practice how |
| mysterious as the synapses firing in our brains in | | | | many counts are optimal on the inhale and exhale |
| a single moment. | | | | cycle. Do what is comfortable for you. |
| Anxiety, like nausea brings a sense of dread and | | | | When lying down, I have found that placing the |
| helplessness. It will mask itself in mild discomfort | | | | tips of the fingers of both hands facing one |
| that interrupts a flow of thought, a remembrance | | | | another on the diaphragm can be helpful in learning |
| or reverie or it can strike like psychophysiological | | | | to recognize the action of the diaphragmatic |
| lightening that puts us in a disorienting state of | | | | breath. This kind of breathing accesses more air |
| emotional chaos and terror. What can be do to | | | | for inhaling and exhaling. Practice diaphragmatic |
| reduce our anxieties? The key is learning how to | | | | breathing consistently for short periods a few |
| breathe properly. A noted psychologist, an expert | | | | times a day. Diaphragmatic breathing calms the |
| in biofeedback, once told me that the only people | | | | nervous system. |
| who know how to breathe correctly are opera | | | | An advanced yoga teacher whom I have known |
| singers. They are trained to breathe from the | | | | for many years always says: "The breath is your |
| diaphragm. | | | | best medicine. |