In the last blog we read about why anxiety isn’t always bad, and what happens inside our bodies when we’re anxious. In this blog, we’re going to learn a bottom up approach to managing anxiety, i.e. by self-regulating through diaphragmatic breathing. This is most effective for athlete’s or individuals who experience strong physiological or physical reactions when they feel anxious. This could include an increased heart rate, muscle tightness or tension, trembling, excessive sweating, buzzing, and feeling jittery, among others.
Imagine the following scenario – It’s moments before you take your run up to shoot a game deciding penalty during the last few minutes of the championship finals.
You try to focus on the ball and the net behind the goalkeeper, yet, your attention is drawn towards your increased heart rate, trembling hands and unsteady breath. You take a few deep breaths and slowly notice your heart rate slow down, your hands becoming more steady, and your breathing becoming more even. You close your eyes and with one last breath you take your run up and send the ball flying into the top right corner of the net.
For athletes to be able to do this, i.e., to successfully manage their physiological and bodily sensations, they need to be comfortable with the breathing process as well as familiar with it.
We often may think we’re helping our selves with our deep breaths, but what we may actually be doing is increasing our physiological anxiety, simply by breathing incorrectly.
If you want to know how that is possible, read on!
When you take a deep breath in, you activate a system called the sympathetic nervous system. This system works as the accelerator for our body. It moves blood to the muscles for quick action and also results in a burst of adrenaline. Some athletes are known to take short deep breaths before playing to speed up the heart. When you exhale, you activate the parasympathetic system, which works as the brake for our body. It slows down the heart. As we breathe, we continuously speed up and slow down our heart rate.
If you only take quick, shallow breaths, when trying to calm down, you are activating the sympathetic nervous system, responsible for increasing your heart rate. As a result, you won't be able to regulate your anxiety and it may be too much for you to focus on at the task at hand.
When you take purposeful, deep breaths, focusing on exhaling longer than inhaling, you will eventually notice the parasympathetic nervous system (the body’s brake) kick in.
When our breathing is balanced, rather than erratic, like it is when we experience unhealthy anxiety, we are better able to calmly think through situations rather than being overwhelmed by them.
Follow the instructions below to practice a diaphragmatic breathing exercise to help regulate your anxiety.
Lie down in a comfortable space with one hand on your stomach and the other one on your chest
Take a slow, deep breath, in through your nose and let the air travel all the way into your lungs. You will feel your stomach push outward into your hand, while your chest remains still
Hold this for a second or two (depending on your comfort level)
As you breath out, purse your lips and let the air flow out through your mouth as your stomach drops, emptying all the air inside
As you repeat this exercise, pay attention to the air moving in and out of your lungs with each breath. Repeat this exercise for 5 minutes, two times a day, to begin with.
You may not always feel the effects of this exercise immediately, and that is normal. The more you stay focused on your breathing and the more consistent you are with this practice, the more you will benefit from this exercise over time. So remember to keep practicing!
You can work with a sport psychologist to incorporate breathing into your training sessions and competitions or identify other self-regulation techniques like grounding, body scans, relaxation or tapping exercises that work best for you. If anxiety causes more harm than help to you and/or your performance, get in touch with a sport psychologist to see how they can help.
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