Breathe
Breathing plays a profound role in our health.
Breathing interventions are relatively easy to learn, may be done at any time, and can help restore balance.
The autonomic nervous system will not allow us to relax our vigilance while our breathing is rapid and shallow, or while we’re holding our breath. Often accompanied by tension in our body, this breathing pattern sends a strong signal to our nervous system that we are in danger.
We can do practices to change this, allow our breath to signal safety, and make our neuroception (perception of safety and danger) more accurate.
Do you enjoy attuning to how your body moves as you breathe?
Some people find it difficult to bring their attention to the stomach area because of uncomfortable feelings and sensations. A reset practice like cyclic sighing can help, as can noticing the flow of air in the nostrils instead of the body’s movement.
We practice grounding and orienting to establish awareness in our body and we move into breathing practices. Alternate nostril breathing or joyful breath is a master practice that is safe for everyone, because it helps to balance, strengthen and heal the nervous system.
Sometimes we need to shake things up before we settle into stillness
We do the Qi Gong practice of shaking the tree to release edgy energy out of our body or tension/release. We have fun with a Breathe, Shake, Dance practice to release stored trauma and open us up to creativity and joy.
Friends With Your Mind?
Our nervous system generates a lot of the compulsive thoughts in our mind. We practice ways to come back into regulation when caught in a train of thought.
Establish smooth continuous diaphragmatic breath through the nose 24/7. As your nervous system receives signals of safety, allow your body to relax. Maintain in daily life by speaking in longer sentences, practice, and breath awareness.
In September 2023, we did Breathing Week, a 7 day practice challenge. Learn more about that here and access the guided practices.
This shocking statistic reveals how our nervous systems are not coping well with the pace and stress of modern life. Fortunately, we can work with our breath to bring ourselves back into a more regulated state.
The ideal pace for nervous system balance is 5 respirations (complete breath inhale/exhale) per minute = 6 seconds inhale and 6 seconds exhale. Breathing twice as fast at 3 seconds for each inhale and exhale brings us to mild sympathetic emphasis. Breathing twice as fast as that (20 RPM) puts us into the beginning of the severe sympathetic emphasis, where we’re feeling very stressed, anxious and perhaps panicking.
There are two ways we can work with this. One is to intervene with something like Cyclic Sighing for a reset. Longer term, we can strengthen our resilience through awareness, relaxation and breathing practices. Our breath will begin to signal safety to our nervous system and over time, our whole system relaxes and our breathing becomes fuller, smooth, more continuous and slower.
I have many resources and guided practices to help with this. One is a free self paced course called Breathe!
Join me for daily practice - free online 25 minute nervous system reset 8AM Eastern
The daily Breathing Week 2023 practices: Listen here
Day 1 of 7 Even continuous breath
Day 2 of 7 Cyclic sighing, long exhales
Day 3 of 7 Shaking the Tree, Vooo
Day 4 of 7 Thoughts, sweeping breath
Day 5 of 7 Grounding touch, sighing, yoga
Day 6 of 7 Breathe, shake, dance
Day 7 of 7 Safe place to rest and breathe