Ok, so I've been noticing for a while now that I hold my breath without knowing a lot, when I hold my breath though I don't take in air before either, I exhale then end up holding my breath.. I'll just be sitting there doing anything and I'll be holding my breath? I really don't even know I'm doing it. And when I'm not holding in my breath I take in really small and short breaths, I'm barely breathing at all. And maybe like 6-12 times a day I take in massive breaths and it's starting to bother me a lot. I mean, I'm not breathing... and I'm completely unaware of it for a long time. Then I'm doing it again less then 5 minutes later.
[ Answer this question ] Want to answer more questions in the Health & Fitness category? Maybe give some free advice about: Health? asknava answered Sunday January 6 2008, 11:32 am: I did the same thing for years, since I was a small child. This is why I did it and maybe this will help you to figure out why you do it. My mom and family are really germ-aphobic. So it was like everything was going to make you sick or something. I realize too that, that is the cause of a lot of my parinoid thoughts that I have had to work on clearing. So what happened is, when people would sneeze of cough, I would hold my breath. Then, when I got tired of holding my breath, I would take in small breaths so I wouldnt take in too much of the dirty air. In doing this, I was hoping to let in as little dirty air as possible, while letting out as much dirty air as possible by breathing out longer than I breathing in. I would also do this when I was in dirty or smelly environmetns, when trucks passed and let out dark smoke, when garbage trucks were near. Anytime something was around me that might make me sick. Eventually it became second nature and I didn't even think about it anymore. Then of course Anxiety increased because when you are breathing shallow, you create unncessary anxity. So what you are going to have to do, hahaha like me, is just what you are doing. When you realize you are not breathing, start to breathe really deeply and slowly. Keep aware of this as long as you can. Eventually the awarness will become second nature and within a few short breaths you will notice that you are not breathing deep enough. There will be a dramatic decrease in your not breathing at all. You should also notice your stress level going down a lot. Hope that helps. [ asknava's advice column | Ask asknava A Question ]
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