alleviate anxiety and stress

BREATHE TO DE-ESCALATE

persistent stress in our daily lives can overwhelm our brain's capacity to distinguish existential peril from ordinary stressors. when our brain's most primal response fight or flight becomes its default setting it can trigger dangerous and disproportionate reactivity.

breathing deeply and purposefully through moments of panic anxiety and fear can allow us the space to assess the validity of our response and fine-tune it. breathing with intention can bring us back to neutral and disrupt an unsustainable and unhealthy habit loop.

basic diaphragmatic breathing

engage your diaphragm

shallow breathing lies at the heart our fight or flight response. learning to regulate our breathing is crucial to finding solid ground in moments of distress. by activating our parasympathetic system deep diaphragmatic breathing can restore calm.

before you take your first breath

release all breath through your nostrils. place your hands horizontally along your lowest ribs to center yourself. you can also place one hand on your heart and one on your belly to begin if that feels more intuitive to you.

inhale deeply through your nose

take a full deep breath through your nose. notice you ribs expand sideways as your diaphragm engages and pushes against your rib cage. inhale for 4 counts to register the sensation of expansion.

hold and observe the stillpoint

for a count of 2 breaths observe the in between space between your inhale and exhale... this is your still point... the moment of non-doing and just being and breathing.

exhale slowly through your mouth

release your breath slowly and steadily for a count of 6 and feel your ribs compress and your diaphragm disengage. this is one breath.

repeat the process

breathe deeply 10 times to establish a rhythm. practice frequently during the day to avoid shallow breathing for more calm and focus.

use as often as needed

you now have a tool that is available to you anytime you may need to culltivate attention or de-escalate.

on breathing

there are people who say mindfulness is just one thing- breathing in and breathing out. they are right.

thich nhat hanh, buddhist zen master

find calm in any moment

EXPAND YOUR PRACTICE

breathing in an articulated and practiced pattern can help us de-escalate quickly. practice the breathing techniques below so you can access them to reign in stress and reactivity whenever and wherever they are triggered.

simple box breath

4 - 4 - 4 - 4

breathe in for 4 counts hold for 4 counts breathe out for 4 counts hold for 4 counts. repeat 10 times.

simple equalizing breath

5-5

breath in for 5 counts breath out for five counts. repeat 10 times.

stress releasing breathing

cyclic sighing

two short inhales through your nose with a slight gap in the middle followed by an extended exhale through your mouth. repeat as many times as you need to regain calm.

extended inhale and release

6 - 4 - 6

breathe in for 6 counts hold for 4 counts breathe out for 6 counts. repeat 10 times.

calmind and cleansing ocean breath

ujjayi breath

inhale and exhale through your nose with a slight constriction in the back of your throat. create a sound like the ocean... breathe in a consistent pattern till you find balance.

prepare for rest

4 - 7 - 8

release all breath through mouth with sound then inhale for 4 hold for 7 release with sound for 8. repeat 10 times.

find equilibrium between breaths

still point

rather than focus on the inhale and exhale concentrate on the space between the two. use any three or four part breath pattern for still point meditation. extend the still point period as you advance in your practice.

rewire your brain for happiness

10 BREATHS PRACTICE

it takes 30 seconds to create a new synapse in the brain and replace a habitual and negative thought trajectory with a positive and constructive one. 10 breaths is a buddhist practice that can help us find meaning and joy hiding in plain sight.

focus on just one thing

bring your attention to a single object. it could be as simple as a leaf or a dandelion in your path.

give it ten breaths

give the object of your choosing your undivided focus. breathe in a calm and unforced manner. each in-breath and out-breath taken together count as one complete breath. if you lose focus during the practice begin again. hold this object in awareness, just noticing and being fully present for it in the moment.

build a new synapse

choose to create a new neural pathway of focused and joyful attention. rather than be held hostage by anxiety and fear, harness the attitudes of spaciousness and inquiry by anchoring your attention to the present moment.

use it for problem-solving

next time you are faced with an intractable problem, give it 10 breaths so you can reframe your response to it in a more constructive way.

BUILD RESILIENCE ONE BREATH AT A TIME.