Saturday, June 25, 2011

Overcoming Fear

What can you do when confronted by fear?

Hold your breath!
Yes, hold your breath.
Holding your breath and count to ten will help.  Holding your breath tells the mind that something is wrong. Holding your breath will stop you stressing about what you were just thinking of and cause the mind to start thinking about why you are holding your breath. Sounds strange, but try it. You only have to count to ten. Start... One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten. What did you think about... counting right. You stopped thing about whatever it was you were thinking about and concentrated on counting to ten while holding your breathe.

You can not do this forever when you are anxious, so what do you do.  Breathe! Yes breathe!  When you breathe, consciously count the exhale... One, Two, Three, then inhale count... Four, Five, Six. Again, exhale... One, Two, Three, and inhale... Four, Five, Six. Do this six times, then hold your breath for a count of ten. What were you thinking about... counting right.

It is simple distraction. It will take your mind off the immediate thought process and replace it with breathing and counting. Taking control of your breathing requires the mind to concentrate on something other than public speaking wows. Your body needs to breathe so disrupting your train of thought with a serious problem like controlled breathing and counting will relieve the anxious fear with simple breathing and counting.

You can hold your breath and control breathing while sitting, standing, anywhere and no one will notice what you are doing. This is not something you do after exercise. Try it when something is on your mind and you want to break the thought pattern.

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