[Sunset Dragon]

I'm quite sure I posted a long time ago about trouble with breathing while attempting to meditate. I take control of my breathing to the point that I either force breath or hold it. I would also panic when feeling the sensations of the breath, while also doing the same when becoming aware of my heartbeat. I've been making some small progress by showing more compassion, less perfectionism, and by diverting my focus to surrounding noises and away from my breath. That being said, I've come to realise my problem has been sensorimotor OCD, since it has worsened in other areas. In particular, I am having an issue with excessive saliva/swallowing by simply becoming aware of it.

I'm posting this for two reasons, one to enlighten anybody who may be facing similar challenges during meditation without knowing the cause, and to ask if anybody else has been confronted by this and how they've personally worked around it in meditation. Diverting my attention elsewhere has been my best bet, although that comes with its own faults. Focusing on surrounding noises can be distracting in its own right.

Edit: A note to mods, maybe this one's better in the meditation section of the forum? My mistake.