Breathing For Stress And Anxiety Relief

Return to the present moment with this 15-minute guided breathwork meditation for stress relief, led by Ashlee Sunshine. When life feels overwhelming, your breath can offer a steady anchor—a place to pause, reconnect with your body, and invite a sense of calm. Through easy-to-follow guidance, you’ll bring your attention to the sensations of breathing, gently returning to the present whenever worries or distractions arise. Give yourself space to soften tension and meet this moment with greater ease. Use this practice to begin your morning with intention, take a midday reset, or unwind before bed. Wherever you are in your day, let this be an invitation to slow down, breathe, and give yourself the gift of presence.

Transcript

Welcome to this guided breathwork meditation to help reduce stress, Whether you find this in the morning, Afternoon, Or evening, This guided breathwork meditation is great for any time of the day whenever you're feeling stressed or overwhelmed and you just want to come back into the present moment and not worry about all the things that are happening outside of right now, Not worrying about the future or the past, Simply just being present with the breath because all we have is this moment. All we have is now. All that matters is right now. And our breath is our anchor. Supports us, It's our life force, It grounds us. So wherever you are, Finding a nice and comfortable seated position. You can also do this lying down. You can be sitting in a chair, On the floor, On your bed, Legs crossed, Laying down flat. Sitting in a chair with your feet on the ground. Sitting with a nice straight spine if you are sitting up. Drawing the shoulders down and away from the ears to release any tension in the head and neck shoulder area. Allowing the hands to relax in a comfortable position either on the legs or in a mudra of your choice. You can have your hands, Palms facing down or up. Just finding a nice, Relaxed, Comfortable position. Allowing your eyelids to be heavy. I invite you to close your eyes or gaze down at the ground. Whatever is comfortable for you. Allowing the tongue to rest away from the roof of the mouth. Resting against the back of the teeth. And just allowing the body to be heavy. Gently bringing the focus and attention. To the breathing. Just noticing how it feels to breathe in this moment. Without trying to change it. Notice the breath, How it feels to breathe. Noticing the rhythm of your breath. As it comes in through your nose and into your body, Into your chest and your lungs. Noticing it leaving. Your body as you exhale. Noticing the textures and the qualities of the breath without judgment or labels. And if you find your thoughts starting to wander, Just observing that your thoughts are wanting to wander, Observing where they want to wander to notice and then gently bringing the awareness back to focusing on the breath. Now bringing the awareness to the nostril point. Focusing at the nostril point where the breath comes in through the nose. And out through the nose. You can focus at this point. Or you can focus at your belly if that's more comfortable for you. Just noticing the belly rising. And falling with each inhale. And exhale. Keeping your attention and your focus on the breath, On the belly or the nostrils. The mind will want to wander into all these other things. And that's okay. That's what the mind does. We are human. That's part of being human, But we can train our mind and our focus by noticing without judgment and then redirecting our attention and our focus back to the breathing, Back to focusing on the nostril point, On the sensation of the breath, The feeling. Inhaling fresh oxygen, Fresh life into the body. Exhaling any stagnant air energy. Things we want to release, Emotions, Feelings, Thoughts. Making space for fresh new energy in the body with each and every inhale. Lighting up each and every cell in the body. Exhaling stagnant energy here releasing stress and worries with each and every exhale. You can visualize it leaving your body and your lungs in the form of a dark black smoke. From your nose or your mouth. As we inhale, We can imagine inhaling things we want to bring into our life, Happiness, Joy, Abundance, Love, Peace, Whatever else you would like to invite into your body and into your life. In the form of a white golden light. Inhaling love, Peace, Joy, Abundance. Exhaling stresses, Worries, Anxieties. Fear, Doubt, Limiting beliefs. Letting it go is no longer a part of you. Release it in the form of a thick dark black smoke. Inhaling peace, Love, Joy, Abundance, Happiness. Exhaling fear, Worries, Anxieties. Let it go. Give it to the earth. Now let's take a big deep breath together in through the nose. Exhale through the mouth. Long, Deep exhale. Let's do that two more times. Deep inhale through the nose. Exhale through the mouth. Last time, Inhale. And exhale. Now returning the breath to normal breathing. I'm just noticing how you feel now compared to the beginning of this session. Just taking note if you notice any differences in your body, Your feelings, Sensations, Quality of your thoughts or mind. Without judgment or labels, Just observing. Being kind and gentle to ourselves, It's important that we treat ourselves with kindness and compassion. Especially during times of stress or worry, Uncertainty, Just remember you can always come back to the breath no matter how Out of control, Life can feel sometimes, We can always come back to our breath. I invite you to stay in this meditative position. You feel cold? Stay as long as you'd like. Thank you so much for joining me for this guided breathwork meditation. Truly an honor and a privilege and I'm so grateful to be able to share this practice with you and may you find peace like I have through this practice. Namaste.