Stress Management Part 3: Just Breathe

Stress Management Part 3: Just Breathe

Breathwork is a fantastic way to slow down, pause, and check in with ourselves. It is a very helpful tool to manage the anxiety and stress you may be feeling during challenging times.

Prior to any specific breathing technique try checking in with yourself by doing the Abdominal Breathing exercise listed first below.

Abdominal Breathing

  • Sitting comfortably or lying down (you may put a pillow under your head or knees) …
  • Place one hand on your abdomen just below your ribcage and one hand over your heart
  • Inhale and exhale through your nose. Notice how your chest and abdomen move with your breath.
  • Are you able to isolate your breathing so that you breathe more deeply into your lungs allowing your belly to expand more than your chest? Are you able to breathe so that your chest expands more than your belly?

Eventually you want your breath to expand your abdomen more than your chest.

Equal Breath Technique

  • Sitting comfortably, close your eyes when you are ready
  • Be mindful of your normal breath pattern for several moments
  • Slowly inhale through your nose for a count of 5 (one-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand etc.)
  • Exhale using the same five-second count.
  • As you inhale and exhale pay attention to the expansion and contraction of your lungs.
  • Repeat 10 times.
  • As you become more relaxed try increasing your inhale/exhale count from a 5 second count to a 7 second count if you desire
  • When you are ready open your eyes
  • Take a few moments to reflect on any changes from before performing this exercise to how you feel after performing it

4-7-8 Breathing Technique

  • Start by sitting in a comfortable position. When you are ready close your eyes.
  • Place the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth, just behind your upper front teeth.
  • Slowly inhale through your nose for a count of 4. Remember to breathe deeply into your belly which should expand.
  • Hold your breath for another count of 7
  • Open your mouth slightly, keeping your tongue in place, and exhale for a count of 8
  • Repeat this cycle 4 times
  • When you are ready open your eyes
  • Take a few moments to reflect on any changes from before performing this exercise to how you feel after performing it

Somatic Breathwork & Sound Healing

We are new fans of Somatic Breathwork here at Sadhana Health. We highly recommend working with Pixie at PixieAcia.com for her community breathwork classes. We hosted Pixie in April and are inviting her back again — hopefully for a class in July or August! Check our calendar for up-to-date listings of classes and lectures.

Sadhana Health Workshops | Classes | Events

Move smarter. Live better.

There are many choices we can make and things that we can do to take some control back of our daily routines. Creating an integrative wellness routine will help provide some structure to your day as well as relieve some of your stress and anxiety during this time of reflection, change and renewal.

This is a four part series.