I recently started using breathing exercises for the first time in a few years when I'm feeling anxious, and they've been helping a lot. I hadn't quite realized how big of a difference actually going by time could make as opposed to just generally trying to slow my breathing - if you've never tried it I'd highly recommend it.
I'm having trouble finding the pattern(s) that work best, though. It seems to vary so much; one day one will feel claustrophobically slow and another day it's anxiety-inducingly fast, kinda defeating the purpose. But I don't want to abandon timing it altogether when my gut is apparently pretty bad at figuring out what is the right pace.
Maybe I'm just overthinking this, but I'd love to hear your opinions and experiences. Also, do you use any other physical strategies, like belly breathing?
Titles like this annoy me. If you have something interesting to say - which is the case here - say what it is. No need to obfuscate the topic. It wastes time for everyone.
Anyway, it's kinda hilarious that the only way to make a proper circle in PDFs is with line caps. What a bizarre format. I hope it's succeeded by something better sooner rather than later, I can't think of any time they haven't been a pain to work with.