Pause and Take a Deep Breath: Breathwork for Anxiety
By Jordan Kurtz, MA, LPCC, Anxiety Therapist in Denver, CO.
The Significance of Breathwork in Anxiety Therapy
Reflect on the last moment in which you felt deeply overwhelmed, panicked, frustrated or anxious. How many of us can recall this moment and also recall the presence of someone (most often a well-intentioned someone) telling us to Just take a deep breath! The nature of being human entails expectations not aligning with reality, disappointments, or unforeseen stressors that produce anxiety. In all of these contexts, our nervous systems are flooded and putting one foot in front of the other- let alone taking a breath- is difficult. We all have unique needs when our body’s alarm system goes off, be it physical contact, physical space, words of affirmation, help making decisions, etc. However, bodies of research from many disciplines- neuroscience, psychology, even yoga- are indicating a universal regulating force is our breath. Let’s explore together on a deeper level the function of orienting to and self-soothing with our breath, and how Denver anxiety therapists like those at CZTG interweave breathwork with healing.
Somatic Therapy for Anxiety in Denver, CO.
If you were to peruse the bios of all therapists at our site, you would see a common thread expressed in varying language: at this practice we work relationally, experientially, and somatically. What does that mean? Relationally means we believe the relationship between therapist and client itself is healing and can model active listening, empathy, validation, and attunement to body language that ideally should be present in relationships in the outside world. Experientially means we focus on emotions, thoughts, and physical sensations that are showing up in the room in live time. While the past and future are also held and considered important, we want to be with new experiences as they happen to cement transformation. Somatically means your body is a necessary part of understanding our emotions. The Denver anxiety therapists at CZTG endorse a “bottom up” approach, meaning we look to body cues- internal sensations, gestures, facial expressions- to connect to emotions and underlying needs versus beginning with thoughts (i.e. “top down” approach).
Breath- its duration, its frequency, and sensations associated with it (like tightness or heaviness)- is a primary bodily cue that anxiety therapists at CZTG use to help clients understand and move through emotional experiences.
Example of Breathwork in Anxiety Therapy:
A client is describing a fight they had with a partner and begins to rub their palms against their thighs quickly. As they describe a criticism their partner shared with them their voice becomes seemingly tighter. The client shifts the subject to what they ate for dinner afterwards.
Anxiety Therapist: Can we slow down here for just a moment? All you’re sharing is important but I don’t want to miss what just came up: I noticed your voice changed when you described that really hurtful thing that was said.
The client begins to lean forward again and says in the same tight voice, It was whatever.
CZTG Therapist: I sense something is here and I want us to be in it together. Can we just bring awareness to our breath for a moment?
The client becomes quiet and brings a hand to their throat.
CZTG Therapist: What are you noticing?
The client shares, It feels heavy, like something is stuck there.
CZTG Therapist: Good awareness. I’m right here with you and I know it may be hard, but let’s stick with this heaviness for a moment. (Pause for a few moments). Let’s check in with the heaviness again and see what it needs. Perhaps there are words inside it, perhaps it wants to release. Permission to allow whatever to come forward.
The client begins to cry, It did really hurt my feelings.
As we can see in this brief example, our natural inclination with challenging emotions is to move them aside in some way, like this client did by changing the conversation to what was for dinner. With relational support from the therapist and staying with the heaviness in the client’s breath, sadness was able to come forward and the client’s body began to experience release. If core emotions such as sadness, anger, fear, and joy are the bottom of an iceberg submerged in water, our breath is the tip of the iceberg that can lend insight to what lies below.
Research: Breathwork for Anxiety
When our bodies enter fight or flight, the parasympathetic nervous system is activated and in this fear state, our breath often responds with overcompensation, aka, hyperventilation. Hyperventilation means breathing excessively fast or too much air for the situation at hand. When we breathe too quickly or too deeply, carbon dioxide is rapidly released and the arteries carrying blood to our cells become more narrow, therefore blocking oxygen from reaching our cells sufficiently. The sense that we cannot breathe properly deepens our fear state and feeds a vicious cycle in which our breath impacts our danger state and our perceived danger state impacts our breath.
If we are chronically exposed to fight or flight situations, our bodies adopt breathing patterns to help us survive these situations. However, the consequence later in life is that these breath patterns themselves are linked to the traumatic events, and dysregulated breath itself can trigger experiential reliving of trauma. What is the antidote to this complicated relationship? We must reclaim our breath as a force of regulation versus a threat, and this begins by noticing the breath pattern we have adopted when stress enters the picture and therefore, disrupting it.
In a state of dysregulation, it can be deeply challenging to notice and moreover, stay with, our breath even if we become aware of it. At CZTG, you are never alone in this process and your Denver anxiety therapist will consistently offer safe cues to connect with all parts of your internal experience. Contact CZTG today to engage with your body, mind, and experiences in a more connected way.
Anxiety Therapy in Denver, CO.
Reach out to a Denver anxiety therapist at our practice to explore whether our approach is a good fit for you! Follow these steps to get started:
Schedule a free 20-minute consult call to see if anxiety therapy at CZTG is right for you.
Connect with the anxiety therapist of your choice via a phone consult.
Begin your path towards healing!
Meet The Writer: Jordan Kurtz, Anxiety Therapist in Denver, CO.
Jordan Kurtz (she/her) is a Denver anxiety therapist, couples counselor, and staff writer at CZTG. Jordan focuses on therapy for anxiety, trauma, adolescence, and relationships. Her approach is authentic, warm, and affirming, which she interweaves throughout her use of advanced evidence-based modalities, including EMDR, Emotion Focused Therapy for Couples (EFT), and somatic therapy. She provides EMDR and general anxiety therapy in Denver and virtually throughout the state of Colorado. If you’d like to work with Jordan, feel free to reach out to schedule a consultation call.