Difficult, stressful or traumatic situations often cause shallow breathing, holding of the breath, tight anxious breathing or over-breathing and panic attacks. Negative beliefs and unresolved and non-discharged emotions held in the body from all kinds of difficult situations or trauma create a build up of toxins and breathing properly can help to release them.

It's helpful to remember:

• each time you breathe in you stimulate the sympathetic nervous system SNS to prepare for action
• when you breathe out you stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system PNS which slows down the heart
• If you slow down the out-breath to about double the length of the in-breath you will start to feel more in-control and much calmer