Hello and welcome to overcoming anxiety (dot) co. This is a blog that is inspired primarily by personal experiences. I, like plenty of people these days, have dealt with some degree of anxiety through the years. To begin with, I’m Derek, I’m a real person, and I am the originator of Overcoming Anxiety dot co. Before we get into who I am too much, I’ll just point out that I’m no expert on behavioral issues, psychology or anything of the sort. I left my job some time ago, and that simply amplified my already somewhat anxious nature. Through the last fifteen months or so, I’ve gone through my fair share of ups and downs, and through a couple of lucky stumbles, I’ve found a couple of techniques to deal with stress and anxiety. This site will be the central spot where I’ll be able to share that.
To begin with for this first post, I’ll touch on a simple technique that I just learned through a discussion forum I found while searching for information on Qigong. It was referred to as timed breathing. It may have other names to refer to it, but it is relatively easy to get started. Of course, those with underlying conditions should be careful, and also note that I was on the verge of hyperventalating when I did it the first time, but it’s been very effective at helping me to draw in my focus and calm the nerves a bit. Some have noted it energizes them, while others note that they calm quite a bit. Either way, it’s been great for me to help calm my mind when I’ve got a million and one thoughts running through it all at once.
It goes along the lines of inhaling for a set amount of time, and then exhaling for a set amount of time. I started with five seconds in, and five seconds out. I saw that some people were able to control their breath for thirty second breaths, forty second breaths, even an entire minute in length. That’s thirty seconds to inhale, and thirty seconds to exhale. Should you do that for ten minutes, it’s only ten total breaths. I’m a long way from being able to do that, but the feeling was that with time, it gets very easy to control your emotions. Apparently the breath and emotions are believed to be linked to one another. Controlling one should result in the ability to control the other more effectively.
With my results thus far, I’ve noticed that it has been easier to sleep, I’ve felt more focused and centered, and that my “breathing quality”, for lack of a better term, is improved. I am fairly fit and have no health issues, but I feel somehow more prepared from a breathing standpoint. It’s difficult to understand and can only be described well once you’ve tried it.
Remember that while it has helped me a good amount in the last couple of weeks, it may not be for you. It seemed to get a number of different results for different people. And again, please don’t try anything that could cause a problem with any other underlying issues. For now, that’s a good place to stop things for today. The site will hopefully continue to grow. I will only write on subjects and remedies for overcoming anxiety that I have personally tried. Should you have any questions or comments, by all means, please leave a comment. They’re open below.
For more reading on anxiety, WebMD is always a good start.