Take a Deep Breath

How conscious breathing can help you

Like most people, I have had my fair share of trauma and anxiety throughout my life. I remember being young and crying to my mom about one thing or the other and she would tell me to just breathe. When I moved away from my hometown after living there for 32 years one of my sisters gave me this mug with a whale on it that said " Take a deep breath." When people I loved left or betrayed me, the feeling of the inability to breathe. Bringing life into this world and breathing through the pain of contractions. We breathe from our first moments in this world until our last, and usually we usually just breathe on auto pilot, but maybe we shouldn't. Maybe we should be breathing more consciously, with intention.

Conscious breathing is the practice of intentionally focusing your attention on your breath. On your inhale and exhale. Being mindful and grounding yourself in the present moment. It’s a powerful mindfulness tool, and it’s used in everything from meditation and yoga, to stress relief and emotional regulation. Conscious breathing means breathing on purpose. Instead of breathing on autopilot, you become aware of it. You notice the feeling of air entering and leaving your nose, the rise and fall of your chest or belly, the rhythm or depth of your inhales and exhales.

Being mindful and in the moment helps when you have to deal with the overwhelm of life. Kids, work, bills, traffic. It can help with everyday stress and anxiety, but also helps with the big moments in life. When the world feels like its crashing down around you. Breathing through fear and pain. It brings you into the now. It helps put the past back in its place and resets the worries about the future. Conscious Breathing also helps improve focus, it helps with emotional regulation by slowing racing thoughts and softening emotional reactions, improving self awareness, and helps with physical health. Deep breathing improves oxygen flow, digestion, sleep, and even heart rate variability.

Some techniques that can help with conscious breathing are

Mindful breathing

Utilized in meditation and yoga. Start each day with a few minutes of meditation or yoga, focus on your breathing and hold a positive mindset for the day to help set the mood for the day. Also ending your day with a few minutes of meditation can help regulate the stress and emotions from the day, to prepare you for a restful nights sleep.

Equal Breathing (Sama Vritti)

Inhale and exhale for the same count (5 in, 5 out)

Helps balance and stabilize your mood. When you start feeling life weighing on you, ground yourself, release the sadness, anger or stress to rebalance your emotions.

3 Deep Breaths

Pause, inhale deeply through your nose, and exhale slowly through your mouth. Do this 3 times.

A great practice throughout a hectic day. Some days are just more to handle than others.

Box Breathing (4-4-4-4)

Inhale for 4 counts Hold for 4 Exhale for 4 Hold for 4 Repeat

Great for calming nerves or preparing for sleep. End your day with conscious breathing to release the stress from your day and calm yourself for a good nights rest.

4-7-8 Breathing

Inhale for 4 Hold for 7 Exhale for 8

Used to quickly settle the nervous system. When life shakes things up, and your stress or anxiety get triggered. Take a few minutes to self regulate your nervous system and emotions. There's a video below for the 4-7-8 method.

I try to take a few minutes everyday to meditate to set the thoughts and mood for the day. When I pause to breathe consciously, I find that I can think more clearly than when I let the anxiety, fear or sadness run rampant. I can be in control of my emotions instead of letting them control me. I have the clarity of mind and heart to react calmly in stressful situations and be in the present moment. I encourage you to take the time in your day to focus on your breath. Ground yourself in the moment you are living. Meditate daily. Everyone experiences stress and emotions on the full scale from miniscule to world shattering. Being in the moment, reducing your stress, regulation your emotions, improving your focus, can help you better handle life and everything it throws at you.

"The moment is everything. Don't think about tomorrow; don't think about yesterday: think about exactly what you're doing right now and live it and dance it and breath it and be it."

-Wendy Whelan

Conscious breathing is a reset button for your mind and body. It’s free, and only takes a few moments to create calm within you and your inner world. Take a deep breath.