Try These Basic Breathwork Techniques
One of the easiest, totally free, and most palpable bio-hacks is breathing. You can use your breath to destress, energize, work through pain, help you get to sleep, and so much more. You can do it anytime, anywhere. Sounds like I'm selling a dream product!
I do 2 minutes of breathwork to start my meditation practice (all I do is randomly pick something from this list based on how I'm feeling). This helps calm my mind and grounds me into meditation. However, it can be as quick as pausing to take one deep belly breath throughout the day and I always feel noticeably different. Breathwork gets us to stop, center and check-in with ourselves.
I do 2 minutes of breathwork to start my meditation practice (all I do is randomly pick something from this list based on how I'm feeling). This helps calm my mind and grounds me into meditation. However, it can be as quick as pausing to take one deep belly breath throughout the day and I always feel noticeably different. Breathwork gets us to stop, center and check-in with ourselves.
I want to give credit to the book "How to Breathe" by Ashley Neese, where a lot of these exercises come from. Just like everything else I post about, I encourage you to experiment and see what techniques resonate with you.
Five Breath Grounding: Deep inhale through your nose counting from 1-5, then exhale through your nose counting 5-1. Do this 5 times focusing on the air filling and leaving your belly.
Alternate Nostril Breathing: Begin by pressing your thumb on your right nostril and breathe out gently through your left nostril. Next, breathe in through the left nostril gently, and press the left nostril closed with a different finger. Remove your thumb from the right nostril and breathe out through the right nostril. Next, breathe through the right nostril, close the nostril, and then exhale from the left. If you ever need to calm yourself down quickly, try just breathing through your left nostril.
2X Out Breathing: Simply breathe in for 4 counts and then out for 8 counts. Exhaling is more calming to your nervous system and too often we focus more on the inhale.
Decompression Breathing: Inhale and expand your ribcage up and out to the sides of your chest. You then focus on keeping the rib cage expanded while you exhale–using your stomach muscles to expel the air out of your lungs. This is good for when you have been sitting in front of a computer all day.
3-3: Stand up, three small breaths in through the nose (breathe, hold, breathe, etc). Then three small breaths out through the mouth. This is good for when you are in a negative thought loop.
Letting Go: Stand up, inhale deeply while raising arms up, hinge at hips and release your arms by swinging down to your sides as exhale a giant sigh through open mouth. Repeat ten times.
One Minute Breath: 20 seconds to inhale, 20 seconds to hold breath, 20 seconds to exhale. To start, inhale slowly, filling the lower abdomen, stomach area, lungs and then finally, the chest. If 20 seconds is too much, start smaller at first (like 8 seconds). Try it for a minimum of 3 minutes.
Tense & Release: Lie down, breathe in and gently contract the muscles in your face. Then repeat this process for each body part - neck, arms, hands, chest, upper/lower back, stomach, thighs, feet - sensing any tension or discomfort. Breathe out loudly, let go, and completely relax the muscles, letting the tension flow away. Do this three times going through whole body. I use this to help me fall asleep when my thoughts are racing.
Bubble/Cloud Breathing: Each time you breathe out, imagine that a flow of dark bubbles or smoke is leaving your body, taking away the stress, tensions, anxieties. Each time you breathe in, imagine that a flow of golden bubbles or white light is coming into you, bringing in peace, calmness, and quiet or anything else you may be needing at this moment.
Focus: Breathe in through the nose for two counts, exhale through mouth saying “Haaaa” in regular speaking tone.
Legs Up the Wall: Put your legs up a wall, with your body in an L shape. Inhale for 7, exhale for 7, hold at the bottom for 5. This is great for the end of the day and takes the stress off feet.
Grounding: Seated in a chair, bring awareness to soles of feet, with slow inhale imagine energy drawing up from the earth to the soles of your feet, up towards your knees and back towards your hips. On exhale imagine the energy flowing from your hips to knees to feet. Sync energy revolutions with breath for 5 minutes.
Relaxation
Box Breathing: Close your mouth and slowly breathe in through your nose for four counts. Hold your breath for four seconds. Then slowly exhale through your mouth for a count of four. Hold the exhale for another four counts. Another version would be starting with a count of 4 and working your way up to 12 box breaths (ex. in 5, hold 5, out 5, hold 5, in 6, hold 6, etc).
Cooling Breath: Close your eyes, curl your tongue and inhale through your open mouth. Then close your mouth and exhale through your nose.
4-7-8: Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound. Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of 4. Hold your breath for a count of 7. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of 8. Do this 3 more times for 4 cycles total.
Self-Healing: Lying down, scan body for areas of discomfort, choose one area of discomfort to support. Bring one hand to area if possible, allow yourself to notice the discomfort on the inhale, soften your body on exhale for several rounds, next lengthen exhale for several rounds, allow feelings to move through you. I find focusing on the area surrounding the discomfort, not the area of pain itself, can help decrease the intensity of the feeling.
Energy
Breath of Fire: Sit up straight, relax face, all through nose, shallow and equal in/outs, no pause in between. Begin to rapidly breathe through the nose and pump the naval point in and out with each breath. Minimum of 3 minutes.
Skull Shining Breath: Sit up with hands facing up, one minute breathing in and out through nose to settle, eyes open, hand on belly, long slow inhale followed by a quick, powerful exhale generated from the lower belly (contract abs), all through the nose, for a total of 10 breaths.
Shoulder Pumping: Quick body scan first. Breathing in, bring your shoulders up, fists closed. Holding your breath, do an "up and down" movement with your shoulders. Make it as brisk or as gentle as you want. When you need to, breathe out loudly and let go of shoulders, arms, hands. Repeat three times.
Energy: Sit or stand with arms by your side, inhale lifting arms to sky, exhale bending elbows and pulling your arms down so your hands are aligned with your head (cactus pose), inhale to raise them up and exhale bring them down for 1 minute.
Resilience: Stand up, inhale deeply while raising arms up palms facing forward growing taller, exhale and bring your hands into prayer position to rest in front of your heart, ending by releasing arms down to side. Repeat for 3 minutes.
Joy: Stand up, inhale deeply while raising arms up, hold breath for a couple of seconds, release your arms down by your sides as you laugh out loud, repeat ten times breathing and laughing as deeply as possible. Try it facing a friend.
Grounding/Stress Relief
Five Breath Grounding: Deep inhale through your nose counting from 1-5, then exhale through your nose counting 5-1. Do this 5 times focusing on the air filling and leaving your belly.
Alternate Nostril Breathing: Begin by pressing your thumb on your right nostril and breathe out gently through your left nostril. Next, breathe in through the left nostril gently, and press the left nostril closed with a different finger. Remove your thumb from the right nostril and breathe out through the right nostril. Next, breathe through the right nostril, close the nostril, and then exhale from the left. If you ever need to calm yourself down quickly, try just breathing through your left nostril.
2X Out Breathing: Simply breathe in for 4 counts and then out for 8 counts. Exhaling is more calming to your nervous system and too often we focus more on the inhale.
Decompression Breathing: Inhale and expand your ribcage up and out to the sides of your chest. You then focus on keeping the rib cage expanded while you exhale–using your stomach muscles to expel the air out of your lungs. This is good for when you have been sitting in front of a computer all day.
3-3: Stand up, three small breaths in through the nose (breathe, hold, breathe, etc). Then three small breaths out through the mouth. This is good for when you are in a negative thought loop.
Letting Go: Stand up, inhale deeply while raising arms up, hinge at hips and release your arms by swinging down to your sides as exhale a giant sigh through open mouth. Repeat ten times.
One Minute Breath: 20 seconds to inhale, 20 seconds to hold breath, 20 seconds to exhale. To start, inhale slowly, filling the lower abdomen, stomach area, lungs and then finally, the chest. If 20 seconds is too much, start smaller at first (like 8 seconds). Try it for a minimum of 3 minutes.
Tense & Release: Lie down, breathe in and gently contract the muscles in your face. Then repeat this process for each body part - neck, arms, hands, chest, upper/lower back, stomach, thighs, feet - sensing any tension or discomfort. Breathe out loudly, let go, and completely relax the muscles, letting the tension flow away. Do this three times going through whole body. I use this to help me fall asleep when my thoughts are racing.
Bubble/Cloud Breathing: Each time you breathe out, imagine that a flow of dark bubbles or smoke is leaving your body, taking away the stress, tensions, anxieties. Each time you breathe in, imagine that a flow of golden bubbles or white light is coming into you, bringing in peace, calmness, and quiet or anything else you may be needing at this moment.
Focus: Breathe in through the nose for two counts, exhale through mouth saying “Haaaa” in regular speaking tone.
Legs Up the Wall: Put your legs up a wall, with your body in an L shape. Inhale for 7, exhale for 7, hold at the bottom for 5. This is great for the end of the day and takes the stress off feet.
Grounding: Seated in a chair, bring awareness to soles of feet, with slow inhale imagine energy drawing up from the earth to the soles of your feet, up towards your knees and back towards your hips. On exhale imagine the energy flowing from your hips to knees to feet. Sync energy revolutions with breath for 5 minutes.
Relaxation
Box Breathing: Close your mouth and slowly breathe in through your nose for four counts. Hold your breath for four seconds. Then slowly exhale through your mouth for a count of four. Hold the exhale for another four counts. Another version would be starting with a count of 4 and working your way up to 12 box breaths (ex. in 5, hold 5, out 5, hold 5, in 6, hold 6, etc).
Cooling Breath: Close your eyes, curl your tongue and inhale through your open mouth. Then close your mouth and exhale through your nose.
4-7-8: Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound. Close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose to a mental count of 4. Hold your breath for a count of 7. Exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of 8. Do this 3 more times for 4 cycles total.
Self-Healing: Lying down, scan body for areas of discomfort, choose one area of discomfort to support. Bring one hand to area if possible, allow yourself to notice the discomfort on the inhale, soften your body on exhale for several rounds, next lengthen exhale for several rounds, allow feelings to move through you. I find focusing on the area surrounding the discomfort, not the area of pain itself, can help decrease the intensity of the feeling.
Energy
Breath of Fire: Sit up straight, relax face, all through nose, shallow and equal in/outs, no pause in between. Begin to rapidly breathe through the nose and pump the naval point in and out with each breath. Minimum of 3 minutes.
Skull Shining Breath: Sit up with hands facing up, one minute breathing in and out through nose to settle, eyes open, hand on belly, long slow inhale followed by a quick, powerful exhale generated from the lower belly (contract abs), all through the nose, for a total of 10 breaths.
Shoulder Pumping: Quick body scan first. Breathing in, bring your shoulders up, fists closed. Holding your breath, do an "up and down" movement with your shoulders. Make it as brisk or as gentle as you want. When you need to, breathe out loudly and let go of shoulders, arms, hands. Repeat three times.
Energy: Sit or stand with arms by your side, inhale lifting arms to sky, exhale bending elbows and pulling your arms down so your hands are aligned with your head (cactus pose), inhale to raise them up and exhale bring them down for 1 minute.
Resilience: Stand up, inhale deeply while raising arms up palms facing forward growing taller, exhale and bring your hands into prayer position to rest in front of your heart, ending by releasing arms down to side. Repeat for 3 minutes.
Joy: Stand up, inhale deeply while raising arms up, hold breath for a couple of seconds, release your arms down by your sides as you laugh out loud, repeat ten times breathing and laughing as deeply as possible. Try it facing a friend.