
Breathwork For Dissolving Fear
by Tess Rouse
When fear hijacks your thoughts and freezes your body, this session gives you a way out. "Dissolving Fear" helps you move from anxious paralysis to embodied courage. This practice includes a calming meditation, a full breathwork experience, and an integration to anchor in safety and strength. Feel your fear unravel and your nervous system settle.
Transcript
Fear is often heavy,
Like a weighted companion that holds us back and keeps us small.
It's natural for it to come to meet you when you begin to step into the unknown.
Know that it's okay to feel afraid,
To waver,
To want reassurance.
In this practice,
We will breathe with intention to soften the grip of fear.
With each breath,
You'll begin to get curious about what fear wants to tell you.
Allowing it to be witnessed,
To be processed,
Will allow it to dissolve bit by bit.
As you breathe out,
Let go of what no longer serves you.
Here,
Filling the lungs,
Slowly exhaling,
Releasing any tension,
Any thoughts,
Any worries.
Taking a deep breath here in through the nose,
Gently filling your lungs with fresh,
Calm air.
Slowly exhale,
Releasing any tension,
Any thoughts,
Or any worries that you may be having.
Let your body begin to soften with each and every breath.
Allow yourself to fully arrive in this moment,
Feeling the weight of your body as it rests against the ground.
Know that you are here,
Right now,
That you are safe.
Now bring awareness to your breath.
Feel the cool air entering your nose.
As you exhale,
Allow the breath to travel slowly and fully,
Releasing all tension out of the body with each and every out breath.
I want you to breathe in for a count of 4,
3,
2,
1.
Hold.
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Breathe out for 8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Coming back to our easy nose inhales and exhales through the mouth.
With every exhale,
Imagine your nervous system calming,
Like waves on the shore.
Each wave pulling back more and more of the stress,
The tension,
Leaving you in a place of stillness.
Keeping like this for a few moments,
Feeling your body soften and move deeper into relaxation.
Feel the support of the earth below you,
Grounding you,
Holding you.
With each breath,
Allow yourself to sink deeper into the support,
Feeling more anchored,
More present.
Imagine that your breath is moving down into your body,
Traveling through your chest,
Into your belly,
Down into your legs and feet.
Your body feels warm.
It feels relaxed.
Allow the wave of your breath to wash over your entire body,
Relaxing your muscles,
Calming your mind,
And settling you deeper into your own being.
Continue to scan your body with these deep inhales and exhales,
Feeling where there's any residual tension.
Send your breath there.
Allow it to release.
Allow yourself to fully surrender to this moment of stillness,
Knowing that right now you have nothing else to do.
You are simply here.
You are simply breathing.
And with each breath,
You are coming home to yourself.
Take a final few deep breaths here,
Feeling your body relax and fully at ease.
We'll begin the active breath now.
One hand on the belly,
One hand on the chest.
Big,
Full belly.
Big,
Full chest.
Exhale.
Belly.
Chest.
Exhale.
Staying with this breath pattern,
Allow the belly to expand,
Allow the chest to open,
And exhale out of the open mouth.
Remember what's important is that you follow the breath pattern,
But the pace and the depth at which you take the breath is completely yours to set.
Listen to your body.
Remember that it's normal to feel lightheaded,
To have some mental resistance to the practice.
Why am I doing this?
Remember that that's the ego,
And so often it's coming to protect us.
It's scared of allowing emotions to the surface.
Remembering that you're safe in your body and you're safe in this breath.
Remember if you're feeling any tingling or yawning or coughing,
That that is completely normal.
In a few minutes,
Continuing with the breath,
You won't even be thinking about it.
Stay with it.
Keeping to the pattern of your breath,
Setting an intention for the practice.
What is the fear that's presenting in your life right now?
What is holding you?
What is keeping you awake at night?
What is distracting you in the present moment?
What's the fear?
Our animalistic tendencies,
Our survival systems,
See fear as danger.
The survival of our human experience has depended on this.
However,
It's our job.
It's our job to filter what is truly dangerous and what is just unknown.
Maybe you're taking a leap,
Stepping into a new chapter,
Pursuing a dream,
Or simply just daring to be seen.
It's stirring a fear inside of you that can almost feel primal,
As if the very ground beneath you is trembling with uncertainty.
Deepening into your breath here.
Big full belly,
Big full chest.
Exhale.
What's important is that you have no breaks in between those inhales and exhales,
Like links in a chain.
Deepen into your breath.
If you find yourself getting distracted,
Come back to the breath.
Belly,
Chest,
Exhale.
Remembering that in our bodies,
Although this fear feels like a threat,
It's not the enemy.
It's the soul's signal that you're at the edge of something.
Something profound.
That you're standing before a doorway that you've longed for,
That you are unsure how to pass through.
Allowing any sense of fear that's coming up in your body with your breath,
I just encourage you to lean in.
Feel it.
Fear does not go away until it is answered.
It arises because it senses that in this moment,
This phase of your life,
This leap,
Will challenge the boundaries of who you think you are and push you into the unknown spaces of who you're becoming.
When we stand on the precipice of risk,
The fear we feel is just the voice of our ego,
Desperate to keep us safe within the familiar.
It whispers of failure,
Of loss,
Of the unseen dangers that might await us.
It pulls discomfort into our bodies as we know that stepping into the unknown will mean leaving what is comfortable,
What is known,
What feels safe.
Ask yourself if you can take breath just a little bit deeper here to access what it is your body needs you to feel in this phase of fear,
In the face of uncertainty.
Ask yourself,
Can I listen just a little bit deeper,
Beyond the echo of doubt?
Because in truth,
This fear,
This fear that's coming up inside of you,
Is an invitation to grow,
To shed the skin of the old self,
To step into a new version of you,
One that is braver,
Wiser,
More aligned with your true purpose.
A leap is not a jump into the void,
But a leap into the vast,
Untapped potential of who you could be.
It's the soul's call to break free from the illusion of control,
And to trust that the universe will meet you halfway.
In that moment,
You are not falling,
You are ascending.
Allowing the breath to fill the body,
Fill the chest.
Exhale,
Tapping in,
Deepening the breath.
I just want to encourage you right now to try a breath hold with me on the count of three,
Taking a big deep inhale and holding at the top.
One,
Two,
Three,
Inhale.
Hold.
Feel your body.
Feel the power that it holds.
What would it be like to unleash that?
Big,
Full exhale.
Coming back to the breath pattern,
Belly,
Chest.
Exhale.
Remember when we are ascending,
We are choosing to expand beyond our current limits,
To embrace the mystery of the journey,
And surrender to the flow of what is meant to unfold.
Fear and rawness just simply shows you how much it matters,
How deeply your soul desires to grow,
To create,
To live fully.
This fear signifies the birth of new possibility,
The quiet stirring of transformation.
It's saying to you,
You are on the edge of something extraordinary,
And with every step you take,
Even in the trembling,
You align yourself more closely with the truth that life is not about staying safe,
But about leaping into the unknown,
Into the risk,
Into the fullest expression of who you were always meant to be.
Allowing yourself,
If you're feeling any emotion,
Come up right now,
Just to embrace it,
To see it,
To allow it to be witnessed.
If you need to audibly release with an ah,
Do that now.
If you feel like you need to move your hands or your legs or your feet to move the energy,
Listen to your body.
Staying with your breath here,
Continuing the pattern,
You have just a few more minutes.
Ask yourself,
Do I have anything left to feel into here?
Is there any part of that fear that I'm still holding in my body?
You need to remember that the point of this journey is to grow,
To fulfill our life's passion,
To alchemize,
To overcome,
To truly embrace the polarity of our experience.
This cannot be actualized in complacency from sitting on the sidelines.
It's time to take one step at a time and enter the ring of your life.
Remember you are the writer of your story.
The plot is yours to decide.
Just taking one last active breath here,
Big full belly,
Big full heart,
Exhale.
Beautiful.
Just coming back to a normal nose breath,
In through the nose and out through the mouth.
Giving yourself a moment with some grounded breaths,
Allowing yourself to continue tapping into any emotion that may still be at the surface here with this experience.
And just staying with your deep full nose breath,
In through the nose and out through the mouth.
See in your mind's eye as I walk you through this visualization to help us integrate your experience on this journey.
Visualize in your mind that you are walking along a forest path.
Hear the birds chirping amongst the serene silence the trees create.
Allow the crisp natural air to fill your lungs,
Take in the surroundings of your environment.
Feel the warmth of the Sun on your face as it begins to descent over the crest of the valley.
The path that you are walking on continues to darken.
You feel fear set in as you're not sure how to continue walking forward on your path.
You notice cracks of light beaming out from your body,
But not enough to create visibility.
You have all the tools that you need to keep walking forward,
But something is holding you back.
Something is blocking your light.
Taking a deep breath here,
Big exhale out.
Ask yourself,
What's blocking me?
What is the fear that I'm holding on to?
What fear is preventing me from stepping forward?
And as you begin to acknowledge each fear,
Just allow it.
Allow it to be there.
Begin to feel the hold that it has on you.
Noticing that each time you acknowledge the fear,
You witness it,
You feel it.
The cracks begin to widen and your light begins to spill out.
Remembering that fear is just a warning.
It's a mechanism to keep us safe.
We must meet our fears.
We must hold them like they are the young children inside of us.
See them,
Validate them,
And they will begin to subside.
As the light begins to pour out of you,
Your path is relit and you continue forward,
Knowing that despite your external circumstances,
You have all you will ever need from within.
Allow yourself just to take a few more minutes here.
I hope you enjoyed this practice.
Thank you for joining us today.
4.6 (5)
Recent Reviews
Heidi
August 21, 2025
The experience was very uncomfortable at first. ‘Pushing through’ was rewarded with a gentle yet powerful sense of calm. Thank you🌷
