Using Breath as an Anchor

Breath is one of our greatest and most available tools in regulating our systems. Breath can help us anchor to the present moment, and most importantly it engages our parasympathetic nervous systems responsible for rest and relaxation. This means breath effectively deescalates our heart rate and has the power to release tension. With practice, breathing tones the vagus nerve (the brain body connection), increases tolerance of intense emotions, and helps us attune to ourselves and others. 

Especially if you’ve experienced trauma, breathing exercises can be triggering, so rest assured that deep breathing is not the only way to calm your nervous system! Grounding can be a good alternative to breathing exercises, and you can find our resources on grounding here and here. Consider this your invitation to show yourself some compassion with the below suggestions and refrain from pushing yourself to the point of discomfort. Breathing exercises are NOT effective if they don’t feel safe for you. 

Elongating Exhales

Elongating exhales can engage the parasympathetic relaxation response, slowing down your systems that are over functioning and restoring them back to balance. Notice how it feels to breathe into a count of 4 and exhaling to a count of 6, or at a rhythm of breathing that feels comfortable to you. Even inviting in a big sigh as you exhale can be regulating! 

Inhaling and Exhaling with Movement

Coupling your breath with movement can be a great way to tune into physical sensation and your own bodily rhythm. Movement can also move us out of a frozen or numb state and reconnect. I invite you to experiment with inhaling as you drop into cow pose and exhale into a cat pose (see a video of what this could look like here). Another option is to raise your arms out and up meeting your hands in the air above you and exhale as you bring them back down to your sides. You can get creative here as you find a way that feels good for your body to move with your breath. 

Grounding Through Breath

See what it’s like to notice the texture of your breathing, the rhythm of your breathing, and even the sound of your breath. Maybe you notice the parts of your body that move, expand, or deflate with your breathing. As you do so, notice if your thoughts start to slow down or if you become more present minded. 

Diaphragmatic Breathing:

Many of us go through the day with shallow chest breathing. You can try de escalate feelings of overwhelm through breathing in air all the way down to our diaphragm. One way to try diaphragmatic breathing is through crossing your arms around your torso so that your hands are holding onto either side of your upper torso or rib cage. As you inhale, I invite you to think about expanding through your rib cage like a balloon slowly getting blown up. As you exhale, you might feel this part of your body deflating like a balloon blowing air out. 

Please note that breathing is a way to manage your nervous system reactions and help your emotions become more manageable, it is not meant to “fix” or completely change how your feelings are showing up for you. To learn more about emotional tolerance and processing emotion, reach out to one of our therapists. 

Authored by Anna Zapata