I was watching Dr. Phil last week and he was speaking to an OCD person on his show that could NOT relax and asked her to remember when the last time she could remember that she felt relaxed so she couldn't. He advised her to do BREATING EXERCISES and to use counts of 4. THE POINT OF ALL OF THIS IS TO -- breathe. Use any count that works for you. It may take you longer if you don't use the 4-7-8 count.

I use counts of 4 at the beginning of an anxiety attack.

Cool enough. I'm good at breathing ;-) , even deep and slowly. I'll make a point of doing it for a few minutes daily. THanks

Deep breathing is very important for many reasons for our body to function well. I have Ann Boroch's book "Healing Multiple Sclerosis; Diet, Detox & Nutritional Makeover for Total Recovery." I bought it specifically because she has details about how to get rid of candida which is a yeast growth that I've got in my intestines. She also has very good spiritual practices and challenging outdated beliefs that in my case clearly contributed to my illness.

I found it interesting in Ann Boroch's book that she said that 75% of the toxins in our bodies we get rid of by BREATHING! I've been working a lot to drink plenty of water and eat fiber so I'm peeing and pooping out plenty of toxins but that only gets rid of 25%. I need to be focusing too on more frequent deep breathing during the day ~ not just when I'm doing mindfulness meditations but all throughout the day.

So just passing this along as further encouragement to do deep breathing! I don't know that it's essential to have to count in any exact pattern ~ though if having that guidance helps of course keep doing it. I'll be interested to hear if folks are noticing improvement ~ of course just feeling more relaxed is very helpful with our condition.

I would like to point out, the reason for counting while HOLDING your breath is to concentrate on holding in the OXYGEN so it can get to your brain and other parts of the body to feel the immediate benefit.

I use this daily. Helps me with many things, fatigue, anxiety, confusion, pain. At least takes the edges off. xx

Just posing an FYI. Here is more info on Deep Breathing and the benefits.
The bigger your waist, the higher your stress. That can spell big trouble when it comes to belly management. Take 5-minute breaks several times a day to meditate, do yoga (try this yoga starter), or practice deep breathing. All help prevent your body from releasing cortisol, the stress hormone that directs fat to your waist. Releasing tension will also ease stress eating. Ahhhh.

Thanks energy, I didn't know all that. Great tips!