3 Breathwork Techniques You Can Practice Anywhere to Reduce Stress

In our fast-paced world, stress has become an unwelcome constant, whether it’s from work, school, or the relentless notifications on our phones. Amidst the chaos, few practices offer an immediate shift in state and can be done anytime, anywhere. Breathwork is one of these rare gems.

In this blog, I’ll introduce three breathwork techniques you can easily integrate into your daily routine whenever you’re feeling stressed or overwhelmed. With just a few minutes of practice, you’ll notice an immediate shift in your state. Before we jump into the techniques, let's explore some breathwork basics to understand how we can activate and train the parasympathetic nervous system. Let's dive in!

Understanding Breathwork

Breathwork is the act of bringing conscious awareness to the breath, noticing the ways in which you breathe, how it feels, and how it influences your emotional state. The way we breathe directly affects how we feel, and vice versa. When we’re stressed out, as we often are, we tend to breathe shallowly, which activates the sympathetic nervous system (our fight or flight response), perpetuating these feelings of stress. However, when we can begin to breathe with conscious awareness, deeper, and softer, we stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, moving into states of relaxation and calm. This system, known as our rest and digest mode, helps us breathe more deeply and slowly, promoting a balanced and peaceful state of being.

Activating the Parasympathetic Nervous System

Through breathwork, we stimulate the vagus nerve, which is the longest cranial nerve in the body and a key player in activating the parasympathetic nervous system. When we’re thinking about moving into our rest and digest mode, there are a few basics we want to consider for effective breathwork:

1. Inhale through the nose. While some breath styles do activate the parasympathetic system by breathing through the mouth due to the conscious awareness they bring, for stress relief purposes, it's best to inhale through the nose. Nose breathing more effectively activates the parasympathetic system, helping to calm and balance the body.

2. Exhale through the mouth. While we can absolutely still exhale through the nose to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, breathing out through the mouth helps to activate our rest and digest mode quicker. It also helps us to release and let go of stuck and stagnant energy that may be contributing to stress or anxiety.

3. Focus on elongated exhales. Quicker breathing activates the sympathetic nervous system, while deeper breathing and longer exhales stimulate the parasympathetic system. 

4. Practice breath holds. Breath holding is a beautiful way to train the nervous system, teaching our bodies that we can easily switch between stress states and calm states. Breath holding activates the sympathetic nervous system, but when we explore holding with conscious awareness and with deeper breathing patterns, we can move into the parasympathetic and teach our nervous system to move between these two systems.

While these four practices don’t have to be integrated into every breath style, they are to be considered when breathing on your own to move both your body and mind out of states of stress and into states of calm, relaxation, and peace. Now, let's dive into three specific breathwork techniques you can integrate into your daily routine to reduce stress and promote relaxation.

3 Techniques to Practice Anytime, Anywhere

1. Vagal breathing

• Inhale through the nose for a count of 4
• Exhale out of the mouth for a count of 8 (can also exhale out through the nose)
• You can explore any count as long as the exhale is double the length of the inhale
• Repeat for at least 3 minutes, or until you feel a state shift

Vagal breathing deepens and slows down the breath, elongating the exhale to move us into a state of calm and relaxation.

2. 4-7-8

• Inhale through the nose for a count of 4
• Hold at the top for a count of 7
• Exhale out of the mouth for a count of 8 (can also exhale out through the nose)
• Repeat for at least 3 minutes, or until you feel a state shift

This technique helps slow the breath, elongate the exhale, and incorporates breath holding to enhance relaxation.

3. Box breathing

• Inhale through the nose for a count of 4
• Hold at the top for a count of 4
• Exhale through the nose for a count of  4
• Hold at the bottom for a count of 4
• Repeat for at least 3 minutes, or until you feel a state shift

Box breathing helps train the nervous system through breath holding and encourages mindful, slow breathing.

Conclusion 

Ready to elevate your breathwork practice? Dive into our on-demand library, where you can access over 80 hours of transformative recordings designed to power up your journey. Start your free trial today using this link and unlock a wealth of resources to enhance your breathwork experience. Discover new techniques, deepen your practice, and embrace a renewed sense of peace and clarity. Join us and take the next step toward a more calm and balanced you!