Firstly, don’t stop taking your medication. You may have been sick for a long time, and whilst the hope is that some of the techniques and exercises below will help to ease your symptoms, don’t risk messing up by trying to run before you can walk.
The aim is to improve your oxygen intake by releasing tension in the muscles which aid breathing. Over time, posture, sleeping position and the default state in which we hold our bodies during times of stress or anxiety will have had the effect of weakening or strengthening muscles inappropriately. If you can afford to visit a chiropractor (I’d imagine it would be less expensive than a psychiatrist for many), they may be able to check for any issues with posture or spine injury and advise you accordingly.
Try out these exercises. If we can reduce anxiety by improving our breathing, there’s a good chance it will have an effect over time on other symptoms and improve quality of life. One in particular, the facial tension exercise, seems to have quite a profound effect in facilitating deep breathing and reducing anxiety.
It will take time. Releasing the tension a little at a time, over a period of days, you should start to seem improvement in your breathing. Over time, we will have become desensitised to the feeling of air hunger, and it will soon become apparent that what may feel quite normal to you now will suddenly feel quite wrong once you feel the relaxation afforded by easy breathing.
Firstly, learn diaphragmatic breathing (Google it!). We’re often taught this as a method of reducing anxiety. It never really worked for me, and it was only later that I discovered that the reason it didn’t work was that it was mechanically impossible for me to breathe effectively this way whilst the muscle tension was restricting movement.
Lay on your back on a flat, hard floor; feet slightly apart and relaxed; head facing to the ceiling. Bring up your arms so that you are in a loose, crucifixion type pose, and manipulate your shoulders a little so that you feel comfortable.
Some of the muscles associated with breathing are not ones that we can consciously move and release. I came across some studies looking at the link between facial and forearm tension and improved pulmonary function in asthma patients, and guessed that the techniques may also be useful for improving breathing in those with other conditions (there are links to the studies at the end of this article).
FOREARM EXERCISE
Clench your fists, and push your arms in front of you (in a kind of anger pose, a bit like Brucey-boy here – see pictures). Tense your forearm muscles for 30 seconds (it may bring on feelings of cramp, and if so, just maintain the tension until that point). You need to be creating so much tension that your arms actually begin to shake or vibrate. After doing this for a few days, I realised that the tension was starting to move my shoulder blades outwards, and wondered whether this increase in mobility of the shoulder blades was what was helping.
FACIAL EXERCISES:
Two exercises here. The second one should have quite a profound effect on your breathing and anxiety.
To perform these exercises effectively, you need to be aware of a particular sensation. The feeling I need to you recognise is the same feeling you get briefly when you yawn. As our face stretches during a yawn, you’ll be aware of a slight feeling of tension which you can almost hear, a kind of hum or vibration in the side of the face and the ears. You can trigger the same sensation just by stretching your mouth as wide as you can.
The next exercise creates biofeedback to relax the trapezius muscle across your back, shoulders and neck.
Keeping your back straight, compress the back of your neck, almost as if you’re trying to shorten the length of your neck, but keep your chin up and jutting forwards. Imagine that you need to squash up your face to fit into a small hole, and need to squeeze your forehead, eyes, nose and mouth into the smallest area of your face possible. When you do this as hard as you can, you will hear that familiar sound of tension in your ears, the same as when you yawn. That sound is how you know you are doing it properly. Maintain the tension for 10 or 15 seconds, but stop if you feel like you’re going to get a cramp.
Now, try breathing.
Unbelievable, eh?
This “facial crunch”, once mastered, can be performed at any time, and has an instant effect on improving breathing and dissipating anxiety. It’s made me look at tardive dyskinesia in a whole new light – it’s almost as if our faces know what to do to relieve the tension, but we’re not listening!
One final thing…
Magnesium deficiency has been linked to an increase in muscle tension and cramping, so you may want to consider supplementation after consulting with your doctor or pharmacist. Consider an anti inflammatory if the muscles become tender. Pain is often nature’s way of telling us to stop doing something, so listen carefully to what your body tells you.
Relax as much as you can. Avoid stressful situations. Be aware of your breathing, and the tension held in your body. Avoid drinking too much coffee!!
Good luck!
FURTHER READING:
The effect of facial and trapezius muscle tension on respiratory impedance in asthma:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9287254
Effects of static forehead and forearm muscle tension on total respiratory resistance in healthy and asthmatic participants:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9715099
The effect of changes in facial muscle tension on respiratory resistance:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3503664
A little about the effects of anti psychotic medication on heart rate variability:
SchizoRecovery 