If you find that you are in ananxious or panicky state, use the following technique to bring yourself back to a calm state.

Abdominal Breathing

· Place one hand on your abdomen beneath your rib cage.
Inhale slowly and deeply – your hand should rise.

- Now exhale slowly and your hand should fall.
(if you find that the rise and fall is in the chest area, try again until you can feel it much lower down in your belly. Your tummy should be filling up like a baloon and then deflating again)

· As you take each breath in count to five, pause and breathe out to the count of five.

· Each breath in and out counts as one complete breath.

· Do ten of these breaths.

This exercise can be used to increase levels of relaxation, as a preliminary to other exercises, or an emergency measure if you identify stress or panic.

Once you have learned the technique and are confident that you are doing it correctly you do not need to keep your hand in place on your abdomen.

Practice these exercises while you are in an already calm state, and then when you get into a panicky or anxious state you will automatically then be able to access this technique in your memory.

You can also print off this post and look at the instructions when you are doing the technique to calm down.

Have them in a handy drawer ready for when you need them.

Its probably not be your fault that you are in the anxious state, but you can do something to sort it out.