Arousal reduction
Arousal reduction is a process to assist sympathetic nervous system arousal. It can help with stress, pain, anger, emotion regulation, and anxiety (McKay, 2018). The skills below can help with arousal reduction.
Breathing
Breathing well can help us to remain calmer and process strong and subtle emotions. Here you will find a guide to diaphragmatic belly breathing, and a 5 minute practice.
Breathing is essential, but we rarely get taught how to breathe. Breathing can help us to:
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Remain calm(er)
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Process emotions
Breathing well helps us to spend less time in a stressed state. It also helps us to process subtle and strong emotions. It won’t make all stress disappear, or all difficult emotions go away, but it will help us deal with them more effectively.
If you would like to get better at breathing, please take the time to read, listen, and (most importantly) practice.
10 STEPS TO BETTER BREATHING
To train yourself in good breathing, otherwise known as abdominal, belly or diaphragmatic breathing, follow these 10 steps:
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Place one hand on your chest, and one hand on your belly. (You won’t always have to do this, but it can help in the beginning).
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Breathe out your mouth, breathing all the air from your lungs.
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Take a deep breath in your nose.
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Notice where your body moves the most. Is it your chest and shoulders, or your belly? (If it is your chest and shoulders, you might be in the habit of chest breathing).
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Relax your chest and and shoulders. Relax your belly.
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Breathe into your lower lungs, letting your belly expand. It's normal for this to feel a bit strange or difficult to start with.
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Remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect. As long as you are breathing, that’s good. With practice, over time it will start to feel more normal.
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Breathe following this pattern: Breathe in for a count of 4, hold for 2, out for 4, hold for 2, and repeat.
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When your mind wanders, notice where it went, and bring it back to your breathing. Remember, you aren’t trying to create a certain state; you are just trying to breathe well, pay attention to your breathing, and notice what your mind is doing. That’s all.
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Practice for 2–5 minutes, three times a day, for at least a week. Like any new skill, breathing takes practice, so please do put in the time.
For a recording of these ten steps, just click on the track below.
5 MINUTE PRACTICE
If you would like to do a five minute breathing practice, just click the album cover here...
Changing old breathing habits takes time and effort, but it is definitely worth it. Good luck!
Grounding: Riding out the storm
Grounding is an incredibly useful skill when you feel strong emotions that seem overwhelming.
Of course things like talking to someone, watching TV, going for a run, taking a long shower, doing chores, or doing something you really enjoy can help too. But this is a great skill to help calm your body and mind when you need to.
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Sit down, stand in one place, or concentrate on walking slowly
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Take some nice long breaths into your belly (if this is a new skill for you, go to 'Small Steps' here, or above here, for some guidance on good breathing)
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Notice your feet on the floor. Concentrate on the feeling of your feet on the ground.
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Notice your body in the chair, or the feeling of your clothes or air on your body
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Keep breathing
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Notice your surroundings. Name 5 things you can see. Pay attention to how things look (the shapes, colours, textures, the light and shadow falling on them)
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Keep breathing
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Notice the sounds around you. Pay attention to one sound for a while, then switch to another.
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Try to be patient, and keep doing these things until you start to feel the intensity of the emotion reduce.
Remember, it can take strong emotions a while to pass sometimes. The goal with this practice isn't to make the feeling disappear, but to breathe, and make room for the feeling, and other things as well (things you can touch, see, and hear around you).
Trying to get rid of feelings doesn’t often work, but making room for feelings, and other sensations, can help.
This is a great skill to use when you get caught up in thought and feelings, and when things might normally 'spiral' and get worse. It's a great way to stay grounded and let the storm come and go.
Grounding helps at other times in life too, and it's good to practice when you feel calmer - so you can do it when you need it. I'd suggest giving it a go soon!
Body scan
The body scan is part of mindfulness practice. It involves breathing and paying attention to our body.
The body scan is an excellent practice for getting in touch with our body, and for training our attention. Here is a 10 minute body scan practice. You can also try this as part of the Introduction to Mindfulness course here.
