If you’ve experienced anxiety, you know the importance of proper breathing. During an attack, your breathing pattern changes from the lower lungs to the upper lungs. This creates shallow, chest breathing and can cause hyperventilation. Hyperventilation causes symptoms such as: dizziness, shortness of breath, tingling/numbness in the hands and feet, nausea, tightening of the throat muscles, and confusion. By changing your breathing pattern back to the lower lung area, you will stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, and this will naturally calm your body down. The amount of time it takes to come down depends on how overwhelmed your nervous system has become. The faster you catch yourself becoming anxious, the faster you can bring yourself down.
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