How To De-Stress and Prevent Anxiety with Power Breathing

January 31, 2009

Stress can cause you to have panic attacks.  If you are the type of person that intensely worries about things, then you could be at risk.  Panic attacks are born out of fear that something bad will happen.  You start to stress out more than you normally would.

When you feel you’re having a panic attack, you start to feel dizzy and your heart will accelerate.

Other signs that you may be having a panic attack include:Nausea

  • Numb
  • Feeling of paralysis (can’t move)
  • Breathing difficulties
  • Sweaty hand and palms
  • Increased Tension

Some things you can do to deal with panic attacks and anxiety include:

  • Try to remain calm and relaxed; this can help to minimize the effects of panic attacks.
  • Face the panic attacks head on; if you avoid them, it will be more difficult to deal with them in the future.
  • Get a mindset of not letting the panic attacks get to you; meditate on words that can help you relieve your problems.
  • Find some people that can depend on for support.  You need people that have your back and will rally around you when the going gets tough.

If you have these symptoms consistently, you should consult with your physician to find out what’s going on.  More than likely, it can be due to stress levels that increase in intensity.

Now that we’ve covered the symptoms of anxiety what can be done about it – Power Breathing – When you’re feeling stressed, your breathing becomes faster and shallower.  And as a result the body reacts by less oxygen reaching the bloodstream, your blood vessels constrictand less oxygen reaching your brain.  You feel light headed shaky and more tense.  You probably think of breathing as a way of getting air into your lungs.  However, in times past breathing was elevated to a more important status.  If you remember your Bible, the book of Genesis says that when when God created Adam, he “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life’ and man became a living soul.”  Full deep breaths are important to the breath of life

To de-stress and prevent anxiety  try power breathing.

  • Take in a deep breath through your nostrils. Do this without exertion.
  • Hold it for a second
  • Slowly breathe out, through your lips
  • Repeat a few times so there is a seamless inflow and outflow of air.
  • As you breath out feel the tension melting from your body into the floor.  As the breathing becomes more automatic, concentrate on the tension passing from your body, through the soles of your feet or through the skin of our back into the floor

De-stress with Music and Dancing

January 31, 2009

What do you do to combat your stress? Taking a vacation may not be in the cards, but you can still escape from it all. Turn on the radio and shake your booty.

What one person finds pleasurable could sound like nails on the chalkboard to another. The best thing about music is that there is something for everyone. From hard rock to instrumental and everything in between, music is enjoyed by young and the young at heart.

We often attach memories to music—the first time we fall in love, our first dance, or a happy holiday. Music surrounds our life and listening to tunes that conjure up pleasant memories tends to relax us. If you don’t believe me, listen to some music that was popular when you were growing up.

Some people aren’t much for exercise as a stress reliever so you can dance instead. No need to think of it as exercise. Hopping around for ten minutes to your favorite song will get that heart rate up and keep you in shape.

Stop stress from ruining your day and your health. Use music and dancing to release yourself from the grip of stress and take back control of your life.

The Warning Signs and Effects of Stress

January 3, 2009

Stress can affect you  physically if you  don’t learn to deal with it.  It can really cause long term affect their health problems.  You can experience headaches, complaints effecting your stomach or even diabetes and cause your immune system to be ineffective.  In order for you to remain healthy, the immune system needs to be healthy and working properly.

When you allow stress to affect your wellbeing, you set yourself up for anything to happen.  One of the more common health issues you face are ulcers.
With Stress you can also experience the following:

  • Backaches
  • Pain in the neck
  • Pain in the muscles
  • High blood pressure
  • Chest pains

Warning signs of stress include changes in your appetite.  You may be experiencing stressed if you’re not eating as much and experience  lost weight.  Or you’re eating more than usual and gaining weight.

You may be feeling tired or drained even though you had enough rest.  Often you’re more concerned about problems that you can’t control or wondering how they’re going to turn out.  You’re not sleeping well, if at all.

Your muscles are aching or your have headaches that won’t stop.  You can’t concentrate on the situation at hand and allow yourself to be constantly distracted.

Here are a few practical tips on how you can help yourself eliminate your stress.
1.    Keep the lines of communication open no matter what the subject
2.    Resist the urge to overreact to negative situations
3.    Begin an exercise program
4.    Have family fun time—see a movie, go out for coffee, go shopping
5.    Talk to a counselor
6.    Be aware of physical and personality changes