Your breath is one of the most powerful tools you have for managing stress, energy levels, and overall well-being. Unlike other bodily functions, breathing is both automatic and under your conscious control, making it a bridge between your nervous system and your awareness. Learning to work with your breath intentionally can help you feel more calm, focused, or energized as needed.
The Connection Between Breathwork and Acupuncture
Traditional Chinese Medicine has long recognized the breath as a way to move and balance qi (vital energy) throughout the body. Different breathing patterns activate different aspects of your nervous system – your sympathetic nervous system (which energizes and alerts) or your parasympathetic nervous system (which calms and restores). When you change your breathing pattern, you’re directly influencing your body’s stress response and energy levels.
Getting Started with Breathwork
The key to effective breathwork is consistency rather than perfection. Start with just a few minutes at a time and gradually build your practice. When working with any breathing technique:
- Find a comfortable position – sitting or lying down both work well
- Don’t force or strain – breathing should feel natural, just intentionally guided
- If you feel dizzy or uncomfortable, return to normal breathing
- Practice regularly – even 2-3 minutes daily is better than longer sessions done sporadically
- Notice how different techniques affect your energy and mood
Understanding Breathing Patterns
Basic Principles:
- Inhale = Exhale: Creates balance and equilibrium
- Inhale > Exhale: Uplifting and energizing
- Exhale > Inhale: Relaxing and calming
- Adding retention to the inhale: Amplifies uplifting effects
- Adding retention to the exhale: Amplifies relaxation
Breathing Locations:
- Lower abdomen: More calming and sedating
- Thoracic (rib cage) region: More energizing
- Clavicular (upper chest): The “panic breath” – avoid this pattern
Energizing Breath
Take 10-15 rapid inhales through your nose, breathing into your rib cage without holding the breath. Exhale quickly through nose or mouth and immediately begin the next inhale. At the end of the final inhale, hold as long as comfortable, then exhale. Repeat for 1-5 cycles as you are able.
Leah’s Take: Definitely energizing and wakes you up. It feels a little weird to take the rapid inhales and exhales, so feel free to take a breath or two between each cycle to reset.
Relaxing Breath
Take 5 inhales through your nose, breathing a little longer and more fully than usual. For each exhale, release the breath through your nose even more slowly and fully than you brought it in. On the fifth exhale, suspend the breath until the need to breathe feels like a mild necessity. Repeat for 1-5 cycles.
Leah’s Take: Excellent breath for calming and relaxation. I particularly like the pause at the end of the exhale on the fifth breath.
Balancing Techniques
Three Step Breath
Lie on the floor or sit in a chair. Intentionally exaggerate your inhale, drawing in about one-third of your maximum breath. Pause for 2-3 seconds, draw in another third, pause for 2-3 seconds, then draw in a final inhale that fills you to capacity without strain and hold for 2-3 seconds. Exhale passively and let your body rest until you need to inhale again. Another way to think of this is by location: belly, abdomen, chest. Practice for 3-10 minutes, trying to minimize the effort you use for the inhales.
Leah’s Take: I find this breath balancing. It’s a nice time-out during the day, when I want to exit from a breath practice feeling calm, but alert.
Reversed Three Step Breath
Lie on the floor or sit in a chair. Take a full breath into your abdomen and chest. Breathing out through your nose, exhale one-third of your breath, pause for 2-3 seconds, exhale the next third, pause for 2-3 seconds, exhale the final third and pause until you need to take your next breath. Immediately repeat. Practice for 3-10 minutes.
Leah’s Take: Since this lengthens the exhale, it’s definitely a calming and relaxing breath.
Key Points to Remember
Your capacity for breathwork improves over time, so start gently and be patient with yourself. Different techniques will feel more natural at different times – use energizing breaths when you need alertness, relaxing breaths when you need to wind down, and balancing breaths when you want to feel centered.
In-the-Moment Stress Relief—The Physiological Sigh
Unlike the other techniques in this guide, which are like exercise – building your capacity to manage stress through consistent practice- the physiological sigh is something you can use when you’re already stressed out, anxious, or about to lose your temper. It works instantly and is one of the fastest ways to calm down in real time.
The technique is simple: Take one deep inhale through your nose, filling your lungs completely. Then, without exhaling, take a second shorter inhale through your nose to top off your lungs to maximum capacity. Finally, exhale all the air slowly through your mouth until your lungs are empty.
Even just 1-3 physiological sighs can allow us to stay in or return to a calmer state. This breathing pattern activates a specific neural circuit involving the brain and the diaphragm, making it highly effective in managing stress, anger, or any acute emotional distress.
What makes this technique so powerful is that physiological sighs are natural responses of our body that occur spontaneously every five minutes or so, whether we are awake or asleep. They serve the purpose of reopening alveoli in the lungs, which are tiny air sacs that absorb oxygen and release carbon dioxide. When you do this voluntarily during stress, you’re essentially hitting your nervous system’s reset button.
Leah’s Take: This is your emergency brake for stress. Use it when you feel your heart racing, when you’re about to react in anger, or when anxiety is spiking. It literally works within seconds, and you can do it anywhere without anyone noticing.