From the pandemic to readjusting to “normal”. From school to juggling housework, keeping up with the kids, and working a full-time job, it’s proved to be a very difficult time to handle stress – for some of us. But lucky for us, there are literally dozens of methods out there to help us relieve stress.
But the breath in particular is such a powerful, effective, and natural way to do this.
In this article, I’m going to introduce you to my favorite breathwork exercise for dealing with (and releasing) stress..
Oftentimes when we get stressed, we go into either an anxious pattern where our minds are super busy, or we collapse or fall into depression. We do this because we don’t really understand how to properly handle the emotional triggers and energy present in our bodies.
Most of the time we are so resistant to feeling pain, hurt, and even stress that we try to override and numb these feelings out. Other times we try to distract ourselves with our method of choice – it could be social media, food, marijuana, or drinking.
But before we allow ourselves to fall into this trap of distractions and numbing, there’s one very important thing we must acknowledge…
The pain that we’re feeling in our body is a catalyst for our growth.
We can manage the stress we feel by actually allowing ourselves to feel it.
Remember, if we want to feel better, then we have to be better feelers.
Feeling our pain is the best way of eliminating it…
But we live in a world today where we turn to our vices way too fast. When we feel pain, the first thing we do is to ask ourselves: “how can I get rid of this?. What do I need to do?”
Breathwork does the opposite.
Breathwork helps us understand our pain and feel our emotions deeper instead of numbing out and avoiding them. We don’t need to start with looking for ways to get rid of the emotions. What we need to do first is pause…. and then begin to feel.
Now take a moment to just sit with your body…
I want you to ask yourself this question…what’s here now?
Whatever is present for you, name it.
- Do you feel a little contraction in your stomach?
- A little heartbreak?
- A little closed in your throat?
Once you’ve named it, acknowledge it and fully accept it – without resisting it, without pushing it away, and without wishing it was different.
Once you name it, and after you acknowledge it… then you can use your breath to actually shift some of that energy.
I love breathwork and it’s my preferred method of stress release – yes even over meditation – because with breathwork, I don’t have to go through the layers of the mind that meditation requires.
I use breathwork to help get back in alignment and clear up. It’s not about thinking of how to feel better.
You’re letting the breath and the body do what they were designed to do. We were designed to be able to feel our emotions and to clear stress – not through the force of the mind, but the wisdom of the body.
Next time you’re feeling stressed, try using this breathwork pattern…
The breath pattern I want to introduce to you today is called the Halo Active Breath. This is part of the Pause Breathwork technique.
First, let’s start with taking a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth…
Now when you exhale, you can either relax it or you can intensify it, to give yourself more power. This gives your body more activation and brings in more energy.
How you want to do it is up to you. The speed you go is also up to you. If you want to slow it down or up, it doesn’t matter.
Repeat that pattern 25 times, and at the very end take a nice deep breath in through the nose and hold your breath at the top before finally releasing…
And then repeat the entire cycle 2 more times.
If you’d rather follow along to an audio, check out this one.
https://www.pausebreathwork.com/free-audio/
I love doing this exercise – which I call the morning energizer – in the morning. It allows me to release everything from my dreamland when I was sleeping and get back in my body. So I have a clear mind to start the day. If you want to continue your Breathwork journey you can head to https://www.pausebreathwork.com/app/, and get a free 14-day trail for our Pause Breathwork App!
Watch this instead:
