WHY INTENSE BREATHING WITHOUT MOVEMENT CAN TRIGGER TRAUMA + PANIC
In a somatic framework, each individual has agency to choose rhythms and movement that feel right for them.
One of the most effective ways to alleviate a breathing panic response is to practice movement, in conjunction with breath work.
If you have a history of trauma and anxiety, or are feeling a high level of anxiety or panic, dedicated breathing practices alone can be a trigger to feeling an increased panic response.
During traumatic experiences, such as injuries, accidents, or medical events, it's common to experience a sharp contraction of breath, to hyperventilate, and to "gasp" for breath.
For some individuals, practicing a seated, eyes-closed, breathwork or meditation practice can act as a post-traumatic stress trigger, and can actually magnify, rather than alleviate feelings of panic.
When trauma is rooted in pervasive and persistent racism or discrimination, when the body doesn’t feel like a safe space to inhabit, we can completely dissociate from our physical body sensations, or can become “locked” and paralyzed in a rigid body shell.
Attempting concentrated solitary and stationary breathing practices can feel like pushing breath through a suffocating shield. When we live in a rigid body, a protected body, we can become very familiar with taking shallow breaths. We match our breath to the perceived space that we have in our lungs - which can feel like a small or shallow ballon tucked into a paralyzed body.
On a physical level, traumatized bodies can hold tightness in the diaphragm (our major muscle of breath) and intercostal muscles, located between the ribs. Traumatized bodies can feel constriction through the hips and psoas muscle, from the femur and up to the lower lumbar region. The medial ligaments of the diaphragm connect to the psoas, and the psoas muscle can influence our capacity to take a full breath.
Beginning a pranayama breathing practice or a yoga practice where you’re unknowingly guided to “take a deep breath” can act as a sharp reminder, both cognitively and somatically of a traumatic event - of an event or a series of events that initiated a feeling of needing to protect.
In the practice of somatics, we gently guide our bodies through rhythmic movement sequences to build new neural pathways and build a new relationship between our bodies and our breath.
One of the most effective ways to alleviate a breathing panic response is to practice movement, in conjunction with breath work. In a somatic framework, each individual has agency to choose rhythms and movement that feel right for them. This may look like arm-circles, squeezing fists, tapping fingers, stomping feet, rotating hips or any sequence of movements that feels to “unlock” one’s body.
My pranayama breathwork videos incorporate meditation and breathwork to recover from symptoms of anxiety and panic that occur in post-traumatic-stress-disorder (PTSD), after injury and trauma.