Thanks for all that you do 🙏 I have PPPD heavily associated with agoraphobia and panic syndrome. This means that my dizzyness, although typical PPPD mostly happens in situations with anxiety. But it also happens when laying in bed or on other soft surfaces after my recent BPPV attack. Now to the question. The breathing exercise serves to sooth brain chemistry and take the brain out of flight or flight mode (as I interpret it). On the other hand, my CBT regim (and CBT in general) states that no soothing or comforting should take place as it is counted as avoidance. Rather you should let the brain crash and burn so to speak and see that nothing (truly) bad happened, learning through that instead. To me, these two ideologies clash. Quite badly. Should I sooth my brain in one situation and just let it go into total panic the other? This doesn't seem to make sense. What's your input on this?
Oh Kristian, what a great question. I do use some CBT-type techniques but I find a pure CBT approach conflicts with what seems to help people with chronic dizziness (in my clinical experience). Treating dizziness like a terrible thing that needs to be marginalized and ignored instead of an opportunity to learn and better oneself via understanding why it's there just doesn't sit well with me. I'm 100% sure there are CBT therapists out there who use more nuance than that, but I have had years of feedback from clients who'd tried CBT before and felt a lot better using the emotional approaches I advocate for here on my channel. Of course, my sample is biased toward the people who didn't do well with CBT! Truly a great question. There is no one-size-fits-all approach.
This is exactly my case. Please connect with me on majd.hanna369@gmail.com or add me on Instagram: majd.qumsieh89 So we can talk about it. I wish you could help me with your experience and I might help as well.
Just beginning to explore techniques to manage (as of now unofficially undiagnosed) MdDS. For 8 years of episodes lasting from 3-5 months, my dizziness was diagnosed as due to sinus congestion, even though when the congestion stopped, the symptoms didn't. Thanks very much for your encouraging and helpful videos - I've only viewed a few, but plan to work my way through the course soon.
Thanks a lot of making these videos. I’m coming up to a year with this. Did all the testing… even started an SSRI to help out. Just recently stopped my SSRI, so the sensation is there, but it’s a bit different feeling. This breathing really dose help. At some points, it lowers the feeling to be completely gone. I really need to take up more time to meditate/take some yoga lessons.
You can do this! The fact that the breathing makes it go away the way it does is confirmation that you will be able to get better long-term with those kinds of techniques. I know it's really hard to get started with meditation. I hated it when I started. I felt like I was doing it wrong because I hated being still so much. I cannot more highly recommend the free MBSR meditation course at www.palousemindfulness.com . It totally changed my life. It takes a pretty big commitment of time, but if you're willing to do it, I know it'll help you.
Watching you describe this was really helpful. I’ve been using the video you did for Parasympathetic breathing and wasn’t understanding the 2 count in. Thank you!
Paula, I'm glad it's helping! I've refined the way I explain it over time based on how it seems to work for people. What I found was that many people were taking GIANT, long inhales, which actually has the opposite effect from what we are going for here!
So, we breathe out through our nose right not our mouth? I noticed your mouth is not open in this video. Also, we count in 1 or 2 for the inhale right? That's really not much air. I'm so used to taking a big breath in when I've done other breathing exercises at least to a count of 4 or 5. Maybe that's why the breathing hasn't been working for me. Do we pause in between the inhale and exhale?
When you say Inhale downwards do you mean your breathing down because I’m doing that and not filing up my stomach or are you suppose to be filling your stomach with air and then breathing it slowly out ?
Hi Dr Y 🦄 just found ur channel after watching ur new video interview with Dan the tms guy! Super helpful ! 👌 my official diagnosis is cfs/me but I am liking to just think of it all as TMS symptoms now to drop the labels. Anyway one of my very first symptoms was dizzyness or just feeling not quite right (altho now I am recovering from severe fatigue and symptoms and am house bound )and screens, reading, lights,patterns etc can really effect me as well as any physical activity and I get kinda headachy /head pressure and a vague to moderate feeling of head spinning or light headed Ness as well as strong fatigue..Anyway I was just wondering do you have any specific exercises on your channel that you would recommend for someone with cfs/me dizzyness and fatigue? Thank you sooo much for your time 🍄🦄🙌
Hi Megan, so glad you found me! You're in the right place and you have exactly the right attitude- it is all TMS. I think the number one priority is not being afraid of the symptoms, but you are more than welcome to take the free course- it goes through everything step by step (breathing and mindfulness exercises, self compassion, etc.). It is 100% free to everyone. members.thesteadycoach.com
You can do them in any position, but I like doing them seated at first so you can feel your bottom on the surface you're sitting on. What I mean by relax your bottom is try to not clench your butt, and if you can, try to relax the muscles that you use when you are trying not to urinate on the inhale. So it's inhale and relax those muscles at the same time if you can.
As I had such a well put answer to my other question, I figured I'd go ahead and ask the other one too. I've always (correction: a very long time) found relaxation anxiety-provoking. I associate relaxation with letting go, opening up the door and allowing whatever nasty symptoms stress may cause. Tensing up and "white-knuckling" through the bad situations in some sort of "you shall not pass" stance has been (subjectively experienced as) more effective in limiting the monsters (symptoms) of stress. The effect worsens with the amount of stress present, so when I need it the most, relaxation is pushed the fartest away. Any suggestions on where to start with that?
I feel like I could write a book to answer this question! The way I would conceptualize this is as your anxiety being a protector. It is trying to protect you from emotional pain. When you try to force it to go away via relaxation exercises, it intensifies its efforts because it is afraid to let you near the emotional pain. There are books out there that go into how to dialogue with the anxiety instead- Self Therapy by Jay Earley is my favorite. It sounds kooky but it is powerful, powerful stuff.
@@TheSteadyCoach thanks for another insightful reply. The usual answer I've heard usually goes long the path "you have to push though" but pushing has always worked like a rubber band that stretches until it slaps you back, hard. I'll look into the book. Thanks!
Hi Dr. Yonit, I’m in recovery from PPPD using all your great videos but currently dealing with BPPV which came out of the blue after laying down on a massage bed for too long. It’s annoying because the vertigo amplified my feelings of fear. I’m just trying to not panic and do the exercises like Epley and Lampert which I’m sure you know about. Do you have any advice for BPPV? I want to get better fast so I can keep working on the PPPD or focus all my efforts on it and not both.
Oh, so tough Arnold, people with PPPD are more prone to BPPV so this can really freak people out. My advice is: remember that BPPV (although it stinks) is temporary and easily cured. If you're able to not completely freak out, and remind yourself that you're safe and that it's easily treatable, it will not set you back on the PPPD. It would be normal for a few days of extra "ick" to happen, but I expect you to go back to baseline afterward.
Should one feel discouraged if this does not work during an episode or an off day? If it doesn't work, I feel thoughts start going other places believing it could indeed be something more serious, even if medical work up is clear. Also, do you feel benzodiazepine assist the recovery such as clonazepam since this is a vestibular suppressant? Or perhaps SSRI's since this may assist in calming the nervous system? Thank you.
Hi M, absolutely not, the researchers suggested using it for 5 days because it doesn't work right away! Benzos tend to interfere with brain adaptation so i do not specifically recommend them but they are often essential and life saving for people who are in a lot of distress. SSRIs are similar- I have a video about them: th-cam.com/video/NLnSNCpewh4/w-d-xo.html
Thanks My diziness comes from nowhere and I fell jerks in my head that it comes forward and goes backward like tremor. I have done all the tests ( Tests are normal ) . I am doing Vestibular exercises but it is not getting my diziness totally over. I am so depressed, will antidepressants will help me ?
Hi Vikas, I'm so sorry, you are not alone in this. Exercises help, but it is important to train the nervous system as well and reduce the fear response. Have you listened to Somatic Tracking (in my Brain Exercises playlist)? That can help a lot. Re: antidepressants, they help a lot of people. Research shows that they work best when someone is also receiving some therapy as well, though. For some people, medicine helps break the anxiety/depression-dizziness cycle. Some of my patients take medicine and some do not.
If you have neural circuit dizziness, your body is extra sensitive to perceived motion so you are going to notice your body moving in ways that people without NCD wont
Question ... for parasympathetic breathing: I looked up Ujjayi and one of the teachers gave the instruction in a video I found online that one could imagine that when breathing out one was trying to fog up a mirror. Does it have to be with your mouth closed , through your nose ... or can you still recommend it if I want to breathe through their nose and then breathe out through the mouth? it helped a little bit when I tried the "trying-to fog-the-mirror" technique. but even though I tried to practice with my nose closed, I didn't really feel like it was working, so I'm confused. Hence this question. Thank you.🤍🩵💛✨
Absolutely great. Thanks.
Thanks for all that you do 🙏 I have PPPD heavily associated with agoraphobia and panic syndrome. This means that my dizzyness, although typical PPPD mostly happens in situations with anxiety. But it also happens when laying in bed or on other soft surfaces after my recent BPPV attack.
Now to the question. The breathing exercise serves to sooth brain chemistry and take the brain out of flight or flight mode (as I interpret it). On the other hand, my CBT regim (and CBT in general) states that no soothing or comforting should take place as it is counted as avoidance. Rather you should let the brain crash and burn so to speak and see that nothing (truly) bad happened, learning through that instead.
To me, these two ideologies clash. Quite badly. Should I sooth my brain in one situation and just let it go into total panic the other? This doesn't seem to make sense. What's your input on this?
Oh Kristian, what a great question. I do use some CBT-type techniques but I find a pure CBT approach conflicts with what seems to help people with chronic dizziness (in my clinical experience). Treating dizziness like a terrible thing that needs to be marginalized and ignored instead of an opportunity to learn and better oneself via understanding why it's there just doesn't sit well with me. I'm 100% sure there are CBT therapists out there who use more nuance than that, but I have had years of feedback from clients who'd tried CBT before and felt a lot better using the emotional approaches I advocate for here on my channel. Of course, my sample is biased toward the people who didn't do well with CBT! Truly a great question. There is no one-size-fits-all approach.
@@TheSteadyCoach Thanks for a very good answer.
This is exactly my case. Please connect with me on majd.hanna369@gmail.com or add me on Instagram: majd.qumsieh89
So we can talk about it. I wish you could help me with your experience and I might help as well.
Just beginning to explore techniques to manage (as of now unofficially undiagnosed) MdDS. For 8 years of episodes lasting from 3-5 months, my dizziness was diagnosed as due to sinus congestion, even though when the congestion stopped, the symptoms didn't. Thanks very much for your encouraging and helpful videos - I've only viewed a few, but plan to work my way through the course soon.
Did you symptoms get any better? If yes, can you give some suggestions?
Thanks a lot of making these videos. I’m coming up to a year with this. Did all the testing… even started an SSRI to help out.
Just recently stopped my SSRI, so the sensation is there, but it’s a bit different feeling.
This breathing really dose help. At some points, it lowers the feeling to be completely gone.
I really need to take up more time to meditate/take some yoga lessons.
You can do this! The fact that the breathing makes it go away the way it does is confirmation that you will be able to get better long-term with those kinds of techniques. I know it's really hard to get started with meditation. I hated it when I started. I felt like I was doing it wrong because I hated being still so much. I cannot more highly recommend the free MBSR meditation course at www.palousemindfulness.com . It totally changed my life. It takes a pretty big commitment of time, but if you're willing to do it, I know it'll help you.
Watching you describe this was really helpful. I’ve been using the video you did for Parasympathetic breathing and wasn’t understanding the 2 count in. Thank you!
Paula, I'm glad it's helping! I've refined the way I explain it over time based on how it seems to work for people. What I found was that many people were taking GIANT, long inhales, which actually has the opposite effect from what we are going for here!
@@TheSteadyCoach I had made that same mistake. :)
@@TheSteadyCoach that was my issue! i was taking these big deep breaths and long exhales and my anxiety got worse
so i came back to this video to double check what i was doing wrong because i was remembering other people saying to take long deep breaths
Another great video and technique - Thank you x
Thanks Louise! It’s one I use with clients and patients daily!
So, we breathe out through our nose right not our mouth? I noticed your mouth is not open in this video. Also, we count in 1 or 2 for the inhale right? That's really not much air. I'm so used to taking a big breath in when I've done other breathing exercises at least to a count of 4 or 5. Maybe that's why the breathing hasn't been working for me. Do we pause in between the inhale and exhale?
When you say Inhale downwards do you mean your breathing down because I’m doing that and not filing up my stomach or are you suppose to be filling your stomach with air and then breathing it slowly out ?
Yes, inhaling by filling your belly, pelvic floor and sides with air.
Thank you.
You're very welcome!
Hi Dr Y 🦄 just found ur channel after watching ur new video interview with Dan the tms guy! Super helpful ! 👌 my official diagnosis is cfs/me but I am liking to just think of it all as TMS symptoms now to drop the labels.
Anyway one of my very first symptoms was dizzyness or just feeling not quite right (altho now I am recovering from severe fatigue and symptoms and am house bound )and screens, reading, lights,patterns etc can really effect me as well as any physical activity and I get kinda headachy /head pressure and a vague to moderate feeling of head spinning or light headed Ness as well as strong fatigue..Anyway I was just wondering do you have any specific exercises on your channel that you would recommend for someone with cfs/me dizzyness and fatigue?
Thank you sooo much for your time 🍄🦄🙌
Hi Megan, so glad you found me! You're in the right place and you have exactly the right attitude- it is all TMS. I think the number one priority is not being afraid of the symptoms, but you are more than welcome to take the free course- it goes through everything step by step (breathing and mindfulness exercises, self compassion, etc.). It is 100% free to everyone. members.thesteadycoach.com
Super presentation. Question..Do you do this standing or kneeling? Also, when you say "relax your bottom", what is that referencing? Thanks!
You can do them in any position, but I like doing them seated at first so you can feel your bottom on the surface you're sitting on. What I mean by relax your bottom is try to not clench your butt, and if you can, try to relax the muscles that you use when you are trying not to urinate on the inhale. So it's inhale and relax those muscles at the same time if you can.
As I had such a well put answer to my other question, I figured I'd go ahead and ask the other one too.
I've always (correction: a very long time) found relaxation anxiety-provoking. I associate relaxation with letting go, opening up the door and allowing whatever nasty symptoms stress may cause. Tensing up and "white-knuckling" through the bad situations in some sort of "you shall not pass" stance has been (subjectively experienced as) more effective in limiting the monsters (symptoms) of stress. The effect worsens with the amount of stress present, so when I need it the most, relaxation is pushed the fartest away. Any suggestions on where to start with that?
I feel like I could write a book to answer this question! The way I would conceptualize this is as your anxiety being a protector. It is trying to protect you from emotional pain. When you try to force it to go away via relaxation exercises, it intensifies its efforts because it is afraid to let you near the emotional pain. There are books out there that go into how to dialogue with the anxiety instead- Self Therapy by Jay Earley is my favorite. It sounds kooky but it is powerful, powerful stuff.
@@TheSteadyCoach thanks for another insightful reply. The usual answer I've heard usually goes long the path "you have to push though" but pushing has always worked like a rubber band that stretches until it slaps you back, hard. I'll look into the book. Thanks!
When we inhale, does the stomach retract or inflate?
Inflates!
Hi Dr. Yonit, I’m in recovery from PPPD using all your great videos but currently dealing with BPPV which came out of the blue after laying down on a massage bed for too long. It’s annoying because the vertigo amplified my feelings of fear. I’m just trying to not panic and do the exercises like Epley and Lampert which I’m sure you know about. Do you have any advice for BPPV? I want to get better fast so I can keep working on the PPPD or focus all my efforts on it and not both.
Oh, so tough Arnold, people with PPPD are more prone to BPPV so this can really freak people out. My advice is: remember that BPPV (although it stinks) is temporary and easily cured. If you're able to not completely freak out, and remind yourself that you're safe and that it's easily treatable, it will not set you back on the PPPD. It would be normal for a few days of extra "ick" to happen, but I expect you to go back to baseline afterward.
Thank you for this exercise. Does the Darth Vader sound come out of the mouth or stay internal?
Hi Molly, I like the exhale through my nose but you can play with mouth and see how they compare for you.
I'm not understanding what to do on the exhale. Could you please explain that more? thx
You can pretend you’re blowing out a candle.
Should one feel discouraged if this does not work during an episode or an off day? If it doesn't work, I feel thoughts start going other places believing it could indeed be something more serious, even if medical work up is clear. Also, do you feel benzodiazepine assist the recovery such as clonazepam since this is a vestibular suppressant? Or perhaps SSRI's since this may assist in calming the nervous system? Thank you.
Hi M, absolutely not, the researchers suggested using it for 5 days because it doesn't work right away! Benzos tend to interfere with brain adaptation so i do not specifically recommend them but they are often essential and life saving for people who are in a lot of distress. SSRIs are similar- I have a video about them: th-cam.com/video/NLnSNCpewh4/w-d-xo.html
Thanks
My diziness comes from nowhere and I fell jerks in my head that it comes forward and goes backward like tremor. I have done all the tests ( Tests are normal ) . I am doing Vestibular exercises but it is not getting my diziness totally over.
I am so depressed, will antidepressants will help me ?
Hi Vikas, I'm so sorry, you are not alone in this. Exercises help, but it is important to train the nervous system as well and reduce the fear response. Have you listened to Somatic Tracking (in my Brain Exercises playlist)? That can help a lot. Re: antidepressants, they help a lot of people. Research shows that they work best when someone is also receiving some therapy as well, though. For some people, medicine helps break the anxiety/depression-dizziness cycle. Some of my patients take medicine and some do not.
I get dizzieness mostly when i sit down working at the computer, if i sit back in the couch it's not that common. Would this help?
Yes and I would recommend checking out my free course for further techniques thesteadycoach.com/free-course
Is it normal for the body to shake and sway when breathing from the abdomen?
If you have neural circuit dizziness, your body is extra sensitive to perceived motion so you are going to notice your body moving in ways that people without NCD wont
2sec or 4? In other videos CPU recommend 4 to breathe
You can use either one. I find 2 seconds to be easier for people. This video is the most up to date.
Question ... for parasympathetic breathing: I looked up Ujjayi and one of the teachers gave the instruction in a video I found online that one could imagine that when breathing out one was trying to fog up a mirror.
Does it have to be with your mouth closed , through your nose ... or can you still recommend it if I want to breathe through their nose and then breathe out through the mouth?
it helped a little bit when I tried the "trying-to fog-the-mirror" technique.
but even though I tried to practice with my nose closed, I didn't really feel like it was working, so I'm confused. Hence this question. Thank you.🤍🩵💛✨
You can totally do it with your mouth open if that helps you prolong the out breath!