RESET TO COMBAT ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION BY JOEL JELEN, BREATHING EXPERT
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WELLBEING
RESET TO COMBAT ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION BY JOEL JELEN, BREATHING EXPERT
I ' ve worked with many people at Reset who ' ve been searching for mental wellbeing and peace of mind. Some were suffering from depression, others acute anxiety.
People experiencing either condition all elicited an inability to relax long before their symptoms began. They didn ' t enjoy sitting still, complaining of their ' boredom ' with such a phenomenon.
As we progressed through the breathing re-training sessions, what emerged to everybody bar none who experienced them was this. Yes, when you feel anxious, your breathing speeds up and you may find yourself e. g. gasping for breath. But when you let your breath and your breathing dominate how you feel, you become a different person.
Being able to control their breathing through practice daily after sessions and following completion of the course was the defining factor in everybody ' s success story. Breathing in a silent, non-visible pattern becomes a joyful, peaceful, mood-enhancing experience that has inspired many people I ' ve helped to enjoy the art of being still.
Some of the breathing techniques are an immediate intervention for those suffering from panic and work instantly within seconds. Others are a longer term intervention enabling the individual to enjoy a clear mind, a calm conscience and a positively reflective way ahead.
So what happens in the sessions?
I don ' t talk much about the power of the breath and its impact on emotional well-being in breathing re-training sessions but rather I just get on with demonstrating it interactively because that ' s when the magic begins.
Of course the magic I refer to is nature ' s greatest gift to human beings. Equally and in terms of treating a condition like depression, breathing techniques are the foundation. If you ask experts who treat depression such as Steve Ilardi who wrote the acclaimed The Depression Cure, he argues that the brain mistakenly interprets the pain of depression as an infection.
Thinking that isolation is needed, it sends messages to the sufferer to ' crawl into a hole and wait for it all to go away.' This can be disastrous because what depressed people need is the opposite: more human contact. Social connectedness is everything.
What breathing techniques do is alter the gases in the brain, providing more oxygen, C02 and nitric oxide, energy drivers that give us zest for life. This is the stuff of pure science. They also aid sleep as breathing expert Patrick McKeown eulogises in his book on the subject- ' Sleep with Buteyko.' Other more lifestyle-based help I discuss for those with both conditions is linked to dietary changes encouraging the intake of Omega 3, a multivitamin and Vitamin C.
Exercising for 90 minutes a week is advised with tips on how to breathe optimally whilst participating plus, crucially too, assistance helping people to prevent them ruminating and dwelling on negative thoughts.
Finally, I used to ask myself around 20 years ago when I first became aware of this previously silent epidemic through a family member,“ where did this all come from?” I would suggest the answer lies in our lifestyle.
Generally, standards of living have improved but the technological processes come with a dark underbelly. We weren ' t designed for this poorly nourished, sedentary, indoor, sleep-deprived, socially isolated, frenzied pace of life. Anxiety and depression have therefore continued their relentless march. In conclusion, some will no doubt argue that much of the lifestyle advice given here is common sense.
My reply to that argument is always the same. You know common sense is not that common. And, without someone spelling out this help for anxiety and depression that goes beyond the mainstream( adding breathing techniques into the mix), most people in my experience would never do it.
Regardless, how good does mental well-being sound and feel, especially if you ' ve been suffering in silence or haven ' t found the help you really need?
Joel Jelen is a breathing education expert and founder of www. resetbreathing. com and a Fellow of the Buteyko Professionals International Institute www. buteyko. com wirrallife. com 73