Working with our breath can be one of the best ways to calm anxiety.. I wish I had begun to apply the alternate nostril breathing technique before, as I knew of it from my past yoga practice but I had never researched the benefits. It was only recently coming across it in a book in healing our drained brain by physician Mike Dow that I thought to try it again and the calming benefits are considerable.
To breathe through one nostril while closing the other will activate different kinds of energy and variously affect either the sympathetic (right) or parasympatheic (left) nervous system.
Left nostril breathing (with the right closed using your thumb) will help to calm, cool, engage the parasympathetic response and may aid with digestion and better sleep. This relates to the moon or feminine side of our being and brain and connect us to our feeling side.
Right nostril breathing will activate and energize you and engage the thinking brain so is useful if you need more clarity or focus. It may best be used in the morning or when you feel dips of energy or a touch of depression, it engages the fight or flight system so should not be used if you are already stressed. This relates to the sun or solar side of our brain and self.
As we know just putting a focus on our breath and away from upsetting thoughts can help us. For some breathing practices do not work for PTSD but for others they may be a godsend. I was also taught a four square breathing technique by an older therapist which I also found is recommended in a book for those with anxious attachment.. This technique involves breathing in for 4 beats, holding the breath for 4 beats, breathing out for 4 beats, holding the breath for 4 beats. When our anxiety is triggered in relationships the authors of the book Anxious in Love recommend us shifting the focus from racing thoughts and activated fears, possibly even asking for a time out to calm and re-center since we are not capable of truly responding effectively one abandonment anxiety is triggered and our brains go into overdrive.. Even just pausing and stopping for a while may help us to come into a more centered place from which it becomes easier to respond effectively.
Emerging From The Dark Night 