No matter what you do to focus on your own personal physical or mental development you will, at some point I hope, be trained in the right way to breathe.  Yoga, Pilates, Tai-Chi, Cardio-Vascular activity – all of them encourage or demand a focus on the breathing which enhances relaxation and/or performance.  For many years it was assumed that Oxygen was a wonderful thing and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) a bad thing, but we now know that we need a balance between the two, as CO2 is needed to aid absorption of oxygen.

 Time after time clients come to see me anxious, stressed, worried, suffering from poor sleep, waking exhausted, angry, or even depressed and nobody has ever taught them to breathe.  I watch people breathing at 24 times a minute or more, and I point out that they are hyperventilating.

The 7/11 breathing technique, which I teach to many of my patients, can be used as a simple but powerful method of general stress release, or it may be used effectively as a ‘first-aid’ treatment for the immediate relief of anxiety, panic or anger.  It is without doubt the single most powerful and effective tool in my armoury for helping just about anybody who has concerns over their mental or emotional health.  From panic attacks, to stress, from addiction to obsessive compulsive disorder, from flight phobia to post traumatic stress disorder, 7/11 breathing is designed to send a simple signal back to the autonomic nervous system – I’ve had a thorough scan of my environment and I’m satisfied that all is well, so you can relax and drop your level of vigilance and arousal.  I have used 7/11 breathing to talk people out of suicide in quite pressured situations, and I’ve taught it in a prison so as to lower the levels of casual violence and give prisoners hope for the future, and it worked.  I’ve used it myself to lower my own level of arousal before going to speak to a very large audience of doctors, or simply to prepare myself before I walk into an exam. Recently, one elderly and long-term sufferer of panic attacks who came to see me had his life radically improved, just through learning this simple way of consciously breathing.

It will help you to be taught by somebody who is trained in the method who will need to check that you are breathing correctly, as doing it the wrong way round will merely stimulate your fight or flight response, but the very basics are reproduced here for your enjoyment and relaxation.  Try it now to see how good it makes you feel. 

Give your stress a colour - any colour you like.  Sit down and close your eyes for a few moments, and just become aware of your breathing.  Now, breathe in through your nose slowly and gently to a count of seven, and breath out through your nose slowly and gently to a count of eleven.  Try to make your breathing diaphragmatic, which means filling your lungs from the bottom.  That means your stomach, just below your rib bones, will expand with each breath in. When you exhale let the air just come out very slowly, and you can feel it and be very aware of it. As you breath out, close your eyes, and visualize clouds of whatever colour you chose, slowly flowing out of your nose.  And relax.  You do not need to have your eyes closed, but it will make this a slightly more powerful tool if you can.  Use it when you are in a business meeting, an interview or in any situation where you may have been stressed or tense.

Those of you who are familiar with the concept of mindfulness and meditation will realise that this is the simplest form of mindfulness meditation available.  Your mind will drift off away from your breathing.  When that happens just gently and effortlessly bring it back to focus on your breathing.

This will quickly and effectively lower your stress datum, allowing you to gradually free yourself from the chains of stress and anxiety.

Simon Bostock is a psychotherapist based on the London–Essex border. He applies neuroscience-backed, solution-focused Human Givens therapy in his work with flight phobia, anxiety, insomnia, and life coaching. Learn more at www.cleartalking.co.uk.