Chapter 11 - Belly Breathing

Question 1

People who experience panic attacks tend to breathe in a way that actually creates many of the powerful physical symptoms of a panic attack.

Question 2

Powerful results can come from retraining your breathing.

Question 3

You’re getting enough air to live, but in an uncomfortable way that leads directly to sensations of panic. THIS HAPPENS WHEN PEOPLE BREATHE FROM THEIR CHEST RATHER THAN THEIR BELLY. It also happens when people hold their breath from long periods of time - something that people who talk fast are prone to do - and when people hyperventilate (breathe at an abnormally rapid rate).

Question 4

Short, shallow chest breathing is very common among people with panic attacks, and it actually produces many other physical symptoms of a panic attack. Just about all the symptoms that trick you into thinking you’re having a heart attack are the result of this kind of breathing:

1. Chest Pain - When you breathe with your chest muscles, rather that your belly, the chest muscles can get so tight and tense that they hurt. Those are your chest muscles, not your heart muscles that hurt.
2. Feeling Lightheaded or Dizzy - Sensations that may result from the overbreathing (Described in Chapter 4)
3. • Numbness or Tingling in the Extremities - Another temporary, harmless byproduct of the overbreathing.
4. Increased Heart Rate - The increase is typically quite small and doesn’t bring your heart rate nearly as high as the recommended heart rate of such cardiovascular exercise as running, bicycling, or swimming.