Reading a trauma survivors book , I came across a section that stated that relaxation exerices might help some sleep. So I found a relaxation exercise in the book called, I Can't Get Over It, by Aphrodite Matsakis, PH.D .
Calming Breath Exercise
1. Breathing from your abdomen, inhale slowly to a count of five (count slowly "one...two...three...four...five.." as you inhale)
2.Pause and hold your breath to a count of five.
3.Exhale slowly, through your nose or mouth, to a count of five(or more if it takes you longer). Be sure to exhale fully.
4.When you've exhaled completely, take two breaths in your normal rhythm, then repeat steps 1 through 3 in the cycle above.
5. Keep up the exercise for at least five minutes. This should involve going through at least ten cycles of in-five, hold-five, out-five. Remember to take two normal breaths between each cycle. If you start to feel light-headed while practicing this exercise, stop for 30 seconds and then start again.
6. Throughout the exercise, keep your breathing smooth and regular, without gulping in breaths or breathing out suddenly.
7. Optional: Each time you exhale, you may wish to say "relax", "calm", "let go", or any other relaxing word or phrase silently to yourself.
Allow your whole body to let go as you do this.
..:thumbs-up
..Shane (SP)

I have to ask.. what do you do if breathing exercises cause you to hyperventilate? I have this phoebic reaction to breathing exercises and/or anything covering my mouth and nose (yes it's a trigger.) Everytime I try this I end up in really bad shape. Is there a trick to doing this?

Bec

Bec,
I have come to realize that these relaxation exercises like everything else I have tried take some patience and practise. But this by no means this works for everyone, with my future research I hope to find some even better remedies.
Shane

Bec, my GP actually advised against me doing this. But in time with a back ground CD it took a lot of pratice to learn and not "lose it". My starting point that helped was not worry about counts and all. I just worked on not "chest breathing". Worked on my "belly breathing". Lay back and make sure my tummy rises, not how fast or slow. But make sure my belly rose and not my chest. The rest fell in place after a few weeks or so and did after I stopped stressing over it. Just don't worry how fast or slow, just see if the belly rises. Do that part first and then work on the holding. But it really becomes almost unnaturally slow when you get used to making your belly rise instead of chest and can at times do wonders. Rememeber no counting, just is the belly breathing... Not the chest. And try not to panic when it slows as you relax, the point is to slow, and well, it can freak us out. It takes practice like the rest. But you learn to accept it and not feel like you cannot breathe (which can happen like me), again a back ground CD helps a LOT to distract to allow you to breathe this way.

SP, I know you are working on this so I hope this bit of hands on experience helps you.