You can change how you feel very quickly by altering your breath.

Did you know that deep & slow breaths calm your body while shallow & quick breaths stimulate & tense your body?

Breathwork was a powerful practice for me in the height of my severe anxiety days. I had no idea my breathing was so shallow and making me feel more anxious. Once I started breathwork I started having more energy and my body started to find a calm state for the first time in many years.

The science of how this works:

The autonomic nervous system regulates almost everything in the body. It has two branches, the sympathetic branch (which upregulates our nervous system to make us more alert) and the parasympathetic branch (which downregulates our nervous system for rest, digestion & relaxation).

When we breathe in we activate the sympathetic branch and when we breathe out we activate the parasympathetic branch. Breathwork practices that emphasize the out breath help us to relax our nervous system when we are feeling tense or anxious.

Here is a breathwork practice to support relaxation:

This is best done laying on your back with a hand on your belly.

1. Inhale taking a long slow breath into your belly to the count of 4 (feeling your hand rise as your belly moves out).

2. Hold the breath to the count of 4.

3. Exhale slowly and extend the breath out to a count of 6.

4. Now return to your usual breathing for one cycle (in and out without control).

5. Repeat the process (steps 1 to 4 ) 10 times.

Doing this practice regularly is highly beneficial for decreasing anxiety in all areas of life.

Like any practice you need to be consistent to get the best results. It’s definitely worth spending just 5 minutes of your day doing, you have nothing to lose but the gains will be huge.

Working consciously with your breath is a powerful tool and you have the ability to make huge changes in your life by starting today.

Love & blessings

Danielle x

P.S. If you are interested in more powerful tools to regulate your nervous system and rewire your brain for calm and happiness check out my Anxiety Transformation Program.

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