@bonniethompson1234 place a hand on your belly and think of a balloon you are inflating inside you. Just like a balloon, as you inhale the lower half (i.e., your stomach) ”inflates” first, then your lungs as you breathe in slowly and steadily. Hold for a count of four. Then, as you exhale slowly you deflate your lungs first, then your belly. Hold to a count of four again, then repeat. You will know you are doing it right whe you see your hand rise with the belly as you breathe in, and lower as you breathe out.

Alternatively, watch how a baby breathes - baby’s stomach rises first, then the chest when it breathes in, and the chest deflates before the stomach when it breathes out - just like a balloon.

At first it will feel like a lot of work, but eventually you will learn to breathe this way and you will find you can control your panic and anxiety (because as you breathe in and out slowly you will be repeating to yourself that you will be okay).