Breathing problems caused by stress

• Get a massage - When your muscles are tense, so is your breathing. To help train your muscles to be relaxed, try getting regular massages. This will help you keep from building up tension, allowing you to breathe more easily. Try getting a weekly or every other week massage.
  
  
• Give yourself a massage - When you're feeling stressed, try rubbing your own shoulders as well as your feet and hands. Self massage may not be as extensive as going to a professional, but it can still help you rub out the kinks in your body. Try a massage chair or perhaps a personal massager as well to see if these help you calm down.
  
  
• Try biofeedback - With the influx of the computer age, it's no wonder that you can teach yourself to be more relaxed with a computer program. There are a number of biofeedback programs now available that can teach you to lower your blood pressure and regulate your breathing. Set up as games, you need to navigate your way through these programs in order to ‘win' at the game. In the process, you are slowing your body's responses down and training yourself to be calmer.
  
  
• Talk about it - Instead of holding everything inside, try talking to someone that you trust about your problems. Even if they can't help, just being able to share your troubles with someone else can help you breathe easier. Call a friend or a family member and vent your frustrations.
  
  
• Remind yourself to breathe - When you are sitting at your desk or running out for another errand, be sure to stop every now and then to see if you are breathing properly. If not, stop and breathe in and out to help regulate your breathing and get your body back to normal.

Rapid breathing and irregular breathing is quite common in stressful situations. But by learning how to breathe, you can learn how to move past the anxiety. And you'll be oxygenating your body, giving it energy, and increasing your concentration.

If you aren't yet ready to contact Relaxation Training specialists, The 4th R, please read our publications , familiarize yourself with our services , and get to know more about us .