Anxiety Relaxation Techniques For Panic Attacks

Anxiety relaxation techniques for when a panic attack hits. The body's immediate response is to fight the symptoms making the attack worse. Relaxation is what helps them go away.

A panic/anxiety attack occurs when your body is extremely stressed and can no longer manage the stress. Your heart races, you start hyperventilating, your vision dims, you get dizzy. At the first sign of panic/anxiety, the key is to relax. Here are the techniques that work:

1. Deep Breathing: Put one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach. Take a deep breath in and make the hand on your stomach move and the hand on your chest remain still. Takes a bit of practice, but with practice it gets easier. Take a deep breath in and hold it for a count of three. Then breathe it out through your mouth and count to five before taking the next deep breath. This prevents you from hyperventilating during an attack. You need to practice this breathing daily for at least ten minutes so that it becomes an automatic response. Eventually, it comes secondary in nature.

2. Muscle relaxation: Starting with your toes tighten the muscles for thirty seconds to one minute until they start to ache. Then completely relax the muscle group letting it go limp like spaghetti and repeat the process until you know how to relax the muscle. Repeat this with all the muscle groups- fingers, hands, arms, shoulders, neck, legs. Practice this relaxation daily. When a panic attack hits, you mentally check to see which muscles you have tensed up and then relax them.

3. Basic/Beginner Yoga- Yoga is a great form of breathing and relaxation. Through the technique you will learn to correctly breathe and get much needed exercise at the same time. Buy a beginner yoga video or enroll in a Yoga class. Practice it daily.

4. Music- Take some time out every day and listen to relaxing music. Recommended music choices are any soft piano, Windham Hill Artists, Nature Sounds, Jim Brickman, Jesse Cook, Jim Chappell, Steve Halpern, Alex Jones & Doug Cutler, Michael Jones, George Winston, Jonathan Lee.

5. Exercise- Exercise is the key to beating stress. Take 30 minutes a day and go for a walk outside, if it is raining take an umbrella. The fresh air and exercise are not only good for fighting panic, they are good for your health as well.