Coping with flashbacks, anxiety, panic attacks, new memories,
conflicting emotions, dissociation, lowered self-esteem,
depression, and other consequences of child abuse, domestic
violence and sexual assault is very stressful! Worse, many
survivors have learned no skills to help them cope. Our Coping Kit is designed
to help survivors build the skills they need to help them cope with
some of the common challenges facing survivors. The first skill in
this series is breathing.
sluggishness
irritability
negative thoughts
depression
hearing loss
vision loss
stroke
heat disease
heart attack
cancer
lowered immune system
function
A few nice deep breaths can be so relaxing. It can be a
quick and easy stress reliever. You can do this anytime. You can
do this anywhere. It is not visible to others," says Dr.
Marianne Ross in her article Breathing.
"And the good news can be that because you are less
stressed, you will handle things more easily."
Breathing may seem very
simple, but most people naturally breath in fast, shallow breaths rather than
the slow, deep breaths that are so helpful to stress reduction. Try this one:
Put a hand on your
stomach just below your belly button
Breathe in through your
nose.
While taking breath in,
imagine that you are trying to fill up your belly and push your hand out
as far as you can.
Keep breathing in
slowly as you can comfortably breathe and as deeply as you can.
After you have taken in
as much air as you can, pause for a second.
Breathe out through
your mouth as slowly as you can. Purse your lips slightly to slow the
outward speed of your breathing. Feel your hand fall inward as the air
leaves your belly.
