Holding breath while playing intense video games

[integral]

Games that require alot of concentration and focus like ones where you have to react quickly cause a habit of holding breath and adrenaline response. Its very difficult to relax and not be worried about results.

Any tips for this to retrain this habit? 

Edited August 1, 2023 by integral

[manuel bon]

I can relate to this problem because I practice classical guitar every day, and I need to stay focused to be precise in all my movements, so I can have the best outcome; but often I don't even realize that I am holding my breath, and that makes me physically tense (which is bad for a musician). So I tried to apply my mindfulness meditation practice also while playing, and it works.

It is mainly about body awareness: while playing games you can be concentrated, but still keep the focus and be conscious of your body and breath, be as relaxed as possible, and don't let the adrenaline make you tense. If you're tense you hold your breath, and also the other way around of course.

In the beginning, it is going to be difficult to do so, but it's a matter of practice, and slowly with time you will notice that it becomes more and more easy to stay concentrated, relaxed and you won't hold your breath as much.

Let me know if you try this technique and if it helps

[ValiantSalvatore]

What video games are you playing & enjoying? I do the same and it helps me to boost concentration briefly. I do it mainly during very intense periods of a game, helps me to focus.

Although, it's a sign of anxiety feeling into it and not holding the breath, can cause me to face memory &feelings that are unpleasant/Baby-Schocks and trauma. I have some toxic mental impressions I can't get them out of my system at times, when I am gaming a competitive game. Like guilt trips in video games and the mental warfare even in chess etc. I hold my breath and click away at times to disguise my intention, as I seriously notice others intentions in-game etc. Even in Chess I play a subtle move to not evoke for example a potential mistake (I am not high ELO in any game, I have a very competitive ego which can be positive & good, yet I coped a lot due to much emotional b.s etc)

You could re-frame it as a positive signal, similar to stress seen as positive creates more positive results.

Hold it and see it as a concentration thing.

Release it and go with the flow .

Notice the contraction of the breath and the other held fear mindfully.

Focus on different sensations to positively distract yourself, for e.g a positive emotional or image. 

Look for what works I tested playing competitive games after meditation retreats. It's odd it's more a quality of conscious intention & decision making, instead of pure mechanics & reactions. Same goes for gaming while tripping totally different experience.

 

 

 

Edited August 2, 2023 by ValiantSalvatore

[mmKay]

Its part of why they're addicting. Rarely you get that level of engagement and presence IRL unless its fighting or sx. It emulates fight or flight.

Source: life long addiction to online competitive games. WoW, LoL , shooters, etc

What can we say? Breathe deep, relax , be mindful. Maybe play standing up for more body awareness

[Snader]

I used to have the same problem before when I used to play competitive fps games. Everytime I brought my attention to my body trying to keep it loose and relaxed while breathing deep and slow, I lost awareness in-game. I think it's really hard in intensive games, especially if you have years of bad habits in your resume.

I think it's really about ''rewiring'' your nervous system and ''re-programming'' the body-mind connection slowly over time. It would be wise to start from the root level, directing attention to that while doing basic activities throughout the day and slowely train yourself to be loose and relaxed in more intense activities. It takes repetition to make it automatic.

[Javfly33]

7 hours ago, mmKay said:

Its part of why they're addicting. Rarely you get that level of engagement and presence IRL unless its fighting or sx. It emulates fight or flight.

 

exactly 

[Carl-Richard]

Practice. When your skills go up, anxiety goes down.

[caspex]

I have a habit of doing the same during contemplation, when I am at peak concentration and about to generate an insight. I think it's very interesting that focus does that to your breath. I never saw it as a bad thing though. I see at as the body withdrawing energy away from other tasks to employ that energy into focusing.

Edited August 7, 2023 by Swarnim

[Jacob Morres]

@Snader opposite happens for me. My main intention is focus so when i do mindfulness practices my focus actually increases 

I'm using focus as my intent and using mindfulness as a background boost. Idk if that makes sense 

I'm using mindfulness with labeling which has concentration baked into it so maybe this why 

 

Tho I've had a friend I brought this upto and he does vipassana. He said he doesn't do meditation when playing bc he loses focus. Idk if he's doing it wrong tho 

Edited August 7, 2023 by Jacob Morres

[Jacob Morres]

@Carl-Richard not for me, practice alone wont help at least in my experience, bc the better i got, the better the opponent so the challenge is always there 

Tho it is true because my anxiety would be gone for the weaker opponents 

Edited August 7, 2023 by Jacob Morres

[Carl-Richard]

7 minutes ago, Jacob Morres said:

@Carl-Richard not for me, practice alone wont help at least in my experience, bc the better i got, the better the opponent so the challenge is always there 

Tho it is true because my anxiety would be gone for the weaker opponents 

When your skill level becomes very high, you'll be in a flow state regardless.

[Carl-Richard]

22 minutes ago, Jacob Morres said:

 Tho I've had a friend I brought this upto and he does vipassana. He said he doesn't do meditation when playing bc he loses focus. Idk if he's doing it wrong tho 

Do mindfulness before playing, then play. Be fully immersed in whatever you're doing. That is how you become good.

Edited August 7, 2023 by Carl-Richard

[Jacob Morres]

@Carl-Richard flow state is caused when the challenge is just slightly above your current level 

It's not about high/low skill

[Jacob Morres]

@Carl-Richard 

1 minute ago, Carl-Richard said:

Do mindfulness before playing, then play. Be fully immersed in the game. That is how you become good.

Before helps a lot but I noticed there was a drop off in my mindfulness if I didnt continue it while doing it. it would continue for a bit but would taper off

I find during the most significant but before is also critical 

[Carl-Richard]

3 hours ago, Jacob Morres said:

@Carl-Richard flow state is caused when the challenge is just slightly above your current level 

It's not about high/low skill

Flow doesn't only depend on optimal challenge. It also depends on things like energy levels and fast action-response rates. Also, the challenge doesn't only come from the opponents. It comes from the way you generally interact with the game (the controls, etc.). For example, if you choose to do 5 operations per second vs. 0.5, that will greatly impact your ability to enter flow, and that also depends on your absolute skill level. You simply don't enter flow if you're a complete newbie at something. The energy levels, the familiarity with the basics, the processing speeds, just aren't there. You need some base level skill to get there.

Edited August 7, 2023 by Carl-Richard

[Carl-Richard]

3 hours ago, Jacob Morres said:

@Carl-Richard 

Before helps a lot but I noticed there was a drop off in my mindfulness if I didnt continue it while doing it. it would continue for a bit but would taper off

I find during the most significant but before is also critical 

Solution: practice more mindfulness and practice more playing the game. Accept that it will taper off. It will taper off less over time if you pratice enough. If you're practicing mindfulness during the game, you're not really playing the game. I have a term for this: "spiritual OCD"; intrusive thoughts about things like mindfulness or not being spiritual enough which actually impedes those things in a given activity. It's a big trap in spirituality which only robs you from the real fruits of the practice: being here, fully present in what you're doing.

Edited August 7, 2023 by Carl-Richard

[Snader]

2 hours ago, Jacob Morres said:

opposite happens for me. My main intention is focus so when i do mindfulness practices my focus actually increases

What kind of games do you play and are you competing?

[ValiantSalvatore]

4 hours ago, Carl-Richard said:

Do mindfulness before playing, then play. Be fully immersed in whatever you're doing. That is how you become good.

For me it's similar, it's better when I do it before & I also notice plateus in skills the biggest thing I noticed though when I am fit & mindful is the abillity to lead and coordinate in teams and handle stress. 

Doing it before is better than afterwards mostly. Although sometimes I am "to conscious" for othters in earlier conscious type of video games, they don't comprehend the perspective & I have to adjust for example to the lower vibes, which can suck. 

[Jacob Morres]

@Snader

Nah I don't compete I'd had to start way younger. My main choices are basketball and tetris rn. Just been into mastery past few years 

Edited August 8, 2023 by Jacob Morres

[Jacob Morres]

@Carl-Richard I see yeah, i could def see a distinction where you are meditating and you are not actually playing bc your main focus is on something like spirituality/meditation. 

But there's definietely a way to improve your endeavor with mindfulness, it's actually like really well (scientifically) studied. More focus, flow, clarity, presence. It's great stuff honestly 

->

https://chat.openai.com/share/a4e8ca61-7243-4cd9-94d2-9af4678744aa

Edited August 8, 2023 by Jacob Morres