In a Moment - Issue 7

For me, anxiety can present itself in a variety of ways, but most commonly through obsessive thoughts related to my health. As I wrote the other evening, I began to see those little floaters that creep into your vision at times. I wondered if there were too many and if I should be concerned about their onset. Before I knew it I was three articles deep in the possible causes of eye floaters. I scheduled an eye exam, which would later reveal through pupil dilation that I have perfectly healthy eye balls.

However, the night before my exam, my mind was spinning, certain I had retinal damage. To put a pause on the racing thoughts, I turned to my breath. I know I have mentioned breathing practices several times in these reflections. And a big part of that is how potent and powerful the breath can be. There is a breathing technique - 1:2 breath, in which your exhale is twice as long as your inhale. I’ve found when practicing this technique of 1:2 breath, my attention becomes so focused on the breath that the worrying thoughts slip out of my awareness for a moment. It is the way I have found to step out of the spin of anxiety. Rather than trying to think myself out of anxiety’s hold (which never really works), the focus on the breath begins to loosen its grip.

Below is a brief recording in which I’ll guide you through the 1:2 breathing technique. Before getting started, see if you can find a comfortable place that you won’t be disturbed for about 6 minutes and give it a listen.