Anxiety attack,
Quick fix.
Movement and breathing.
If you've had an anxiety attack before,
You know the signs.
So let's see if we can get you out of it quickly.
Let's begin on your hands and knees in cat cow pose.
If you're familiar with the yoga pose cat cow,
Go ahead and begin moving through that now.
If you're not familiar,
Begin on your hands and knees and on your exhale,
Round your back like an angry cat,
Looking underneath you.
When you're ready to take your inhale,
Drop the navel towards the floor and look up as you inhale.
Exhaling,
Rounding,
Look under.
Inhale,
Looking up,
Dropping the belly towards the floor.
Continue moving in this way with an equal length on the inhale and the exhale.
So if you're exhaling,
Squeezing out for two,
Then I want you to inhale,
Take a breath for a count of two.
Exhale,
Moving gently with each breath,
Inhaling,
Looking up.
Continue this,
Trying to make each breath a bit longer with an equal inhale and an equal exhale.
Exhaling as you look under.
Inhaling as you drop the belly and look up.
Try doing this with your eyes closed,
Really concentrating on the breath.
Move gently,
But slowly,
Even count.
Exhale as you round into that angry cat.
Inhale as you drop the belly and look up.
How are you feeling?
Are you beginning to feel some of that agitation moving out?
How are you feeling?
Are you feeling the energy?
Are you feeling the energy?
Are you feeling the energy?
And then the next thing you'll be doing is taking a breath and taking it all out.
When anxiety is building,
The body's tendency is to move,
So by using the physiological response with coordinated breath,
We can activate the parasympathetic nervous system,
Control what feels so uncomfortable.
So this is a great exercise just to move that energy,
Begin to balance it before we get more still.
Continue this for as long as you need.
When you feel that you've moved enough,
Slide back into Child's Pose.
This is where you sit back on your heels with your knees spread apart,
Bringing your torso down towards the floor.
If this is uncomfortable for your knees,
Allow yourself to stay on top of the knees and slide your arms forward on the mat or on the floor into Puppy Pose.
Breathe diaphragmatically here,
Feeling your abdomen fill on the inhale all the way and then fall on the exhale.
Do this a few times,
Connecting your awareness with the diaphragm.
Remember,
Your breath is your ticket out of this anxiety attack.
Calm the breath,
Move the body if you need to.
Then begin to sit gently up in a comfortable position.
So this can be cross legged or you can sit in a chair.
Place your left hand in your lap and place your right index finger and middle finger at the eyebrow center.
Close your right nostril with your right thumb and exhale out of the left nostril.
When the exhale is complete,
Draw in the next inhale from the left nostril and follow that sensation up to the bridge of the nose as you place the ring finger of your right hand on the outside of the left nostril and close the nostril,
Releasing the breath out of the right nostril.
When the exhale is complete,
Draw the next inhale from the right nostril and follow the sensation up to the bridge of the nose as you place the thumb on the outside of the right nostril and close the nostril releasing the breath out of the left nostril.
When the exhale is complete,
Draw in the next inhale from the left nostril and follow the sensation up over the bridge of the nose as you place the ring finger of your right hand on the outside of the left nostril and close that side releasing the breath out of the right nostril.
When that exhale is complete,
Draw in the next inhale from the right and then release it out of the left.
Then draw in from the left following that sensation up and over the bridge of the nose as you release the breath out of the right.
Breathing in from the right and out through the left,
In through the left and out of the right and in through the right and out through the left,
In through the left and out through the right,
In through the right and out through the left.
Continue this cycle for five more cycles.
One cycle is in and out through both sides.
Exhale through the left side and then lower your hand to your lap.
Breathe gently through both nostrils now.
Feel the balance of the mind and the body.
Notice how you feel.
You can certainly continue this practice longer but hopefully you're feeling a sense of stability and balance here with your breath.
Remember you have control.
Use your breath to help you and remember just practice,
Just be gentle with yourself.
Noticing your diaphragmatic breathing,
Belly rising and falling,
Bringing that parasympathetic nervous system back in charge.
Notice how you feel.
I hope this practice has calmed some of your anxiety.
You're gonna be okay.
Take good care.
