Anxiety

It’s extremely common.

Stressed out?

Difficult situation?

Anxiety.

It’s completely normal – even healthy – to experience some degree of anxiety.

From time to time.

However, when it’s triggered too frequently or for situations that shouldn’t really be stressful –

Then, you have a problem.

Quality of life decreases.

Risk of chronic disease increases.

Heart disease, gastrointestinal issues, respiratory disorders – even sexual dysfunction.

It’s not just all in your head.

Conventional medical circles tend to view chronic anxiety primarily as a psychological issue.

You see your doctor.

He diagnoses anxiety.

He writes a prescription and sends you off to a counselor.

Helpful?

Maybe, but…

Does this type of treatment take into account the whole you?

The entire spectrum of factors that could be contributing to your issues?

Posture plays a big role.

Did you know?

Poor posture. Soft tissue quality. Patterns of muscle tone.

All of these can play a huge role in your susceptibility to chronic anxiety.

Forward head posture. Chest breathing.

Excessive tension in the muscles of the neck, diaphragm, ribs, and upper back.

All are factors.

These conditions tend to leave the ribcage stuck in a flared open position.

Your lungs can’t fully collapse, so it’s hard to exhale.

This makes you susceptible to hyperventilation.

Then your brain activates the sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system and next thing you know…

You’re having a panic attack in the bathroom at work.

How you breathe is the key.

Being able to properly engage the muscles of your core allows your ribcage to collapse fully when you exhale. This then allows you to take a full breath in.

Being able to exhale completely also allows your body to activate the parasympathetic (rest and digest) portion of your nervous system, which, in turn, dampens your sensitivity to stressful stimuli.

Now, you can relax!

Reprogram the software – repair the hardware.

Certainly, it’s common for trauma and psychological issues to be at the core of chronic anxiety.

But it’s also common for counseling and pharmaceutical intervention to be relatively ineffective –

unless you address the structural issues, as well.

Think about it this way – you’ve wrecked your car’s manual transmission because you don’t know how to drive stick.

So, you learn how to drive stick.

But you still need a new transmission.

You need to address the mechanical issues, as well.

So what’s the plan?

We assess and treat all the muscles of respiration.

By relaxing your overworked muscles and teaching you healthy breathing patterns, we can improve the mechanics of your breathing and allow you to properly access your parasympathetic nervous system.