Simple Breathwork For Reducing Anxiety and Trauma In The Body

 

The wisest one-word sentence? Breathe.

– Terri Guillemets

Hey, Lovelies.

After having so many of you ask about breathwork, here are some simple techniques you can try yourself:

Five-Five-Five Breathing

Breathe in for a count of five. Hold for five. Breathe our for five. Do this for five cycles.

Count to five in a way that is comfortable for you and that doesn’t strain you. Allow yourself to relax more and more with every outbreath. If possible, do this with your eyes closed. Count it off on the fingers and thumb of one hand if that helps. You can do this often during your day. Before you eat. At your desk. During a commercial break. In the shower. Before going to sleep. Any time you are stressed, in pain, or upset.

Cyclic Sighing

One of my medical practitioners taught me this a few months ago. She was taught it by a colleague, and it is backed by Stanford University studies which prove that this helps to calm anxiety. Here’s how to do this:

1. Breathe in through your nose until your lungs are about halfway full
2. Pause briefly
3. Breathe in again through your nose until your lungs are full, feeling your chest expand
4. Breathe out slowly through your mouth

Even a couple of breaths like this will have a calming effect, but if possible, try to breathe like this for five minutes.

Conscious Breathing

Breathe in slowly and mindfully through your nose. Close your eyes if it helps.

Hold for just a second with your lungs full. There’s a tiny point of calm there. (Try it and you’ll see for yourself.)

Breathe out slowly (through mouth or nose) until your lungs are empty. Hold for just a moment. There’s that same tiny point of calm again, and a sense of being grounded back into your body. (It might be fleeting, you might need a few slow deliberate breaths but you’ll find it.

Breathe in again slowly and mindfully. Pause for a moment. Breathe out fully. Pause.

Begin again.

With each conscious breath cycle you can incrementally calm your body, relax your mind, bring your scattered energy back to whole.

It only takes a minute, but it can make a world of difference when life gets all too much.

4-7-8 Breathing for Sleep

This technique is used to work through anxiety and insomnia so that you can fall asleep.

1. Settle yourself comfortably in bed.

2. Breathe in through your nose for a count of four.

3. Hold that breath for a count of seven. (Don’t strain – if seven is too hard, try for six, or even five – as you become used to this exercise the holding part will become easier.)

4. Exhale through your mouth for a count of eight (or once again work up to this number if it is hard to get to eight at first).

That’s all you need to remember. 4-7-8.

As you do this meditation you will find that your mind quietens, your heart rate will slow and so will your breathing – all things that help us move into sleep.

Love, calm, hugs and deep reassurance, Nicole xx