Stop Smoking Weed - Relaxation Technique #1

Posted by admin on December 4, 2007

The Art of Deep Breathing

Yogi Breathing In. This is my first post on this weeks topic of relaxation. Stress management is an important part of the marijuana addiction recovery process.

Many people, myself included, do not breathe properly, and hold tension in their body while breathing. Nerves and anxiety are often the cause of this. We want to be breathing full, deep breaths from our lower abdomen. An icon of the buddha with a fat belly, is a symbol of his breathing techniques among other things.

If you feel nervous, anxious, or catch yourself breathing high in the chest, you can follow this simple 4 step technique to “vacuum your lungs” and reset your diaphragm back to a deep breathing pattern.

Resetting your Diaphragm

1. Exhale completely, blow out every single bit of air from your lungs as best you can.

2. Bend over. I like to fold my arms in front of my stomach when I bend to get that extra little bit of air out. Bending over expels the last bits of air from your lungs. When you’re totally out of air make sure you hold you breath, so you don’t accidentally let any air in.

3. Stand up while holding your breath. This increases lung volume, so air will want to flow into your lungs, but don’t breathe. Wait about 10 seconds until your body really needs a breath.

4. Then, when you can’t take much more, Breathe! Your body will have moved over from your normal, everyday breathing to unregulated, autonomic “response breathing.” You should feel your breathing has switched to deep and rhythmic breathing.

That’s all there is to it. Once you let your body take that unregulated breath in step 4, your nervous system reboots your lungs, and your previous tense and anxious breath becomes a thing of the past.

I recommend performing this technique, then breathing deeply for a couple of minutes to ingrain the positive feeling of breathing deeply and fully. Hope this helps.

Filed Under: Helpful Techniques, Marijuana Addiction, Quitting Marijuana, Research

Tani said,

I practice deep breathing in order to relax and sleep. I find that doing the Yoga breathing I have learned work best for me, but deep breathing is deep breathing.
Great that you put up a post about it.
PS. We are on day three of sobriety, and I reckon we should be OK this week as we are working opposite hours so cannot influence each other in a negative way.
admin said,

Great work on day three. I have a feeling I am going to make 2 days in a row here too! Go us!

Not all deep breathing is the same, taoists have many different breath techniques, this exercise is a quit way to reboot the lungs, and nothing more.

Would you like any changes to the article you posted?
Tani said,

Nah, when I re-read it again, I thought it was OK. A bit negative, but that is how I feel sometimes.
Jim said,

This is such bullshit, I don’t know where to begin.
Jellie said,

It does help breathing , im 15 and i’ve been constantly smokin weed everyday at least a half ounce to a ounce a day no joke for 3 years .. im on my day one & i have many doubts im gunna make it lol
lily said,

Oh my lord sweet heart how did you afford that. I smoke about half ounce a week and I work fulltime and still hardly afford that.
Ok Im on my first day,anxiety is going to kick in tonight, so Im trying some herbal stuff to keep me calm.
GreenAlchemist31 said,

I have not stopped smoking but I was looking online for tips on quitting but I get major anxiety, Panic attacks and depressed when I try to stop, I am only trying to seek a job then starting to smoke again. I only need the name of a good cleaner for the body to pass a urine test if anyone has any good names of products please email me. thanks!
GreenAlchemist31 said,

oh i guess you cant pull my email address, Greenalchemist31@aol.com
stan said,

Whas up? I’m 33 and been smoking basically everyday since I was 18 today is my first day stopping. So far so good I guess I can only take it one day at a time. Thanks for all the tips. I will try them all
Luci said,

I just want to thank you for the tips. I have smoked since I was 16 everyday of my life. Only last year at 31 I started to realise all the damage it has been doing to me. I have stopped 3 days ago and it is the most difficult thing I have ever done, so I need all the help I can get. For all of you in my position, stay positive and think about how good life is. We don’t need this weed. I guess we need to concentrate on the positive things in our lives and to remain positive.
Good luck to you all!
taro said,

Wow, this will really help me a lot, yesterday i quit smoking pot and im serious. it was a life changing experience, ive been smoking pot since i was 17 so its its been stony 7 years. But all of the sudden i woke up yesterday and felt the same feeling that u had. I wanna stop smoking ganja. and there it was.. i stopped. cold turkey just like that..it has been a very good day so far, i dont have anxeity attacks and i dont get paranoid at people anymore.. thanks for making this blog. ur an inspiration to humankind. keep up the good work! =)
JR said,

Here I go…..Finishing last bag of weed today. I start feeling withdrawl symtoms after 2 days….this is going to be tough, but I want it and need it to work. I’m spending close to $600.00 a month on weed. Single mom..this money could be well spent on many other things.
Wish me luck!
joe said,

good luck JR