Anxiety can be an awful problem, and it is perhaps compounded by the fact that many other people who do not suffer from this often debilitating condition do not seem to understand it or how bad it can be. As with many psychological conditions there is an attitude that you should just pull yourself together and get over it. Of course it is not that simple at all, but nonetheless there are things which you can do that will at least help you to cope better with your condition and reduce your levels of anxiety if not get rid of it altogether.

Chief among these are breathing exercises, which are known to be very effective. Controlling the breathing can have a substantial impact on mood, but it is especially effective when it comes to anxiety. The best known technique is breathing into a bag, which can be effective as an emergency measure, but is not ideal.

It helps if you know how these exercises work. Basically you want to reduce your intake of oxygen and reduce the carbon dioxide that you are eliminating from your body. When your body is taking in lots of oxygen and rapidly expelling carbon dioxide it is effectively preparing itself for action, and if there is no physical action, if you are not engaged in intensive physical activity, you are left with excess energy which you experience as anxiety.

Basically what you need to do is to breath as slowly and shallowly as possible, and with a brief pause between the inhale and the exhale and the next inhale. This is a good exercise to practice if you think you may experience heightened anxiety soon, but of course if you are already anxious that is easier said than done.

One good technique is to take a single deep breath, and then let it out in a big long, slow sigh, whilst consciously relaxing all of the muscles around your chest, neck and shoulders as you do so, and then try to move into a slow and shallow patter. If doing so once doesn't work, wait 30 seconds and try again.