short breathing exercises for AFib.

[10gingercats]

My permanent AF is generally 'quiet'.But I have a condition called hyperacusis(anxiety related) and it would be useful to use breathing exercises in an attempt to calm myself down when hyp. kicks in.Any ideas appreciated.

[CDreamer]

7/11 breathing - slow your breathing and focus on counting on the in breath to 7 - hold for 1 - breath out for count of 11 - hold for 1 before breathing in again. Focus on moving your breath into your belly on the in breath and using your diaphragm to move the breath out on the out breath.

Once you have the hang of that then visualize any image that represents the word balance for you - could be a see-saw or a beautiful place you have visited and felt happy and safe. Continue breathing slowly in this manner. If you cannot get to count of 7 in or 11 out - don't worry - the important thing is that the out breath is longer than the in breath.

Once you have mastered that technique you can focus your attention on the heart area and imagine your breath flowing through your heart and keep repeating in your mind -calm and balance.

This is the basis of meditation and mindfulness but it requires practice so it best to become very familiar with the idea and technique by daily practice for 5 mins - then it will become perfectly easy and natural during an episode.

Best wishes CD

[10gingercats]

Thanks a lot CDreamer.

[Trish5]

Sorry,I couldn't post the link so you can click on it so you'll have to copy and paste it, but these three exercises help me and also the one below that CDreamer talks about is good. I think they really help to lower heart rate, too.

afib.newlifeoutlook.com/bre...

[10gingercats in reply to Trish5]

Thank you.

[SRMGrandma Volunteer]

I like what CDreamer suggested! Here is a link to a nice visual on which you can focus and breathe. beamindful.com/2014/12/01/v...

Breathing deeply changes our physiology in a good way. Any time I've had a few palpitations I can almost always make them disappear by using breathing techniques. And in stressful situations with anxiety, just a few deep breaths can make all the difference. Good luck to you!

[10gingercats in reply to SRMGrandma]

Thank you grandma.This is such a wonderful site.People so willing to share.

[Mrspat]

I can recommend two free courses at Futurelearn, one on Mindfulness and the other on understanding Anxiety, Depression and CBT.

[10gingercats in reply to Mrspat]

I do some courses on Futurelearn from time to time but have missed about 3/4 months of real life recently and probably missed thise courses you mentiuoned Mrspat.I will look them up now I am more or less back in the land of the livingThank you

[RoyM]

I have persistent AF so I thought I would try one of the breathing techniques mentioned. My HR on starting was 68 and after five minutes it was 75 lol. Not sure what I am doing wrong. Anyway, great site and good advice always abounds on here.

[GranJan]

Have you tried Headspace? It's a great way in to meditation, just Take Ten (minutes) every day , free on line, to be talked through 10 minutes of breathing and relaxing. I am doing it and find it most helpful so now I have subscribed for the next year! Andy, the leader is a really nice chap who explains so well. Just google Headspace! Wishing you well, Granjan

[10gingercats in reply to GranJan]

Thank you Granjan.I will look up Headspace.