1. Give yourself plenty of time to relax. Wear loose clothes, switch off the TV or radio, warn others you need at least 20min. free from any interruption.
   
   
2. Lie on your back with a pillow under your head. A pillow behind your knees relaxes your abdominal muscles.
   
   
3. Place your hand on the lower ribs to coax your breathing down there.
   
   
4. Close your eyes and picture your ribs like the wings of a bird in flight, rising & falling smoothly. It is important to remember that this is supposed to make you feel good: don't let it feel like hard work, or you may increase your breathing rate.
   
   
5. It may take many sessions before you can breathe with the lower chest. Take your time, and once you have mastered the knack, aim for a smooth rhythm. Don't focus on breathing in. As you breathe out, feel your muscles releasing and let go of tension with each breath out. Enjoy the rhythm of your breathing - it can feel like an internal massage.
   
   
6. You will have already noticed that your breath slows when you breathe with the lower chest. After a few weeks of practice, seek to slow it further. Pause after breathing out, before taking in the next breath. Use images in your mind to help steady the breathing rhythm: imagine ocean waves, lying in a hammock, or picture a child on a swing that is slowing down. Let your breathing slow to the same rate as the swing. Aim to slow your rhythm to around 12 breaths a minute.
   
   
7. After a few weeks, you will have mastered diaphragmatic breathing lying down. Now try to learn while sitting in a chair, then walking and talking. Pause between sentences to allow time for a breath into the lower chest.
   
   
8. Notice how your feelings and actions affect your breathing: do you hold your breath when transplanting seedlings? Do you over breathe when you talk too quickly? What is your breathing pattern before difficult situations? Pause for breath.

Take a deep breath and review how you use your time. Do you exercise enough?

This helps muscles to relax. Do you express what you feel? Learn to talk openly, to hug, to cry and shout if necessary. Laughter is a great medicine. Don't stifle yawns; they can relax your jaw. Can you immerse yourself in a hobby? Is there time just for you? Are you listening to your needs? Do you have supportive relationships?

In an acute episode of over breathing, breathe into a paper bag or cupped hands. This will help retain carbon dioxide.

It may take 6 months to a year to permanently change a habit of a lifetime but it will be worth it. Your energy levels, your health and well-being will be far better.
My experience shows me that if people are motivated, everyone is able to change. After 2 months, there will be less need to practice.

Twice a day for 20 minutes, while doing something else, keep an eye on steadying your breathing. You can watch TV, read a book and still practice breathing once the method is learnt. It takes courage to tackle a long held habit. It takes guts to face the feelings irregular breathing may have smothered. As a group, over breathers aim high. This is one more challenge they need to accept.
Equipped with the knowledge and skills to change, hyper ventilators can always kick the habit. The pause for breath is the route to success.

Descriptions of Victorian women fainting into their suitors arms, with "an attack of the vapours" might suggest that this is a female problem, but just as many men over breathe as women.
The problem presents itself earlier to women, who are likely to suffer during their 20s and 30s. At this time, the stresses of dating, marriage and childbearing take their toll. Men tend to over breathe more in their middle years when mortgages and career problems provoke most anxiety. Often these men function satisfactorily at work, driving themselves through their schedules, apparently in control; but when a weekend of leisure looms ahead, they feel restless and lost.

Over breathers may have difficulty expressing how they feel. They appear quiet and coping. Others confide in them, attracted by their calm exterior: these people suffer inwardly.
The person inside is often in turmoil, shouldering other people's burdens adds to their own. Such people need to talk, yell, laugh and cry. Instead, they tighten the chest and breathe shallowly.
This puts the lid on the feelings, but produces unpleasant symptoms. First, ask yourself if your physical symptoms are the result of anxiety. Anxiety affects breathing and causes many other changes in the body and thinking. If the primary problem is anxiety, seek help for your worry, not for your over breathing, though help with relaxation and breathing may benefit you. Most of us feel more comfortable describing a physical complaint than an anxiety.
Always looking for a physical cause to our pain will not provide an answer but noticing how different emotions affect our bodies may.

How I feel affects how I breathe. How I breathe affects how I feel. Eastern cultures have recognized this link for centuries. It is for us to accept more fully the connection between our emotions and our physical health.