Have you ever noticed yourself taking a big sigh when you feel stressed or overwhelmed?
This is your body relieving stress naturally,
And you can actually use this response intentionally when you're feeling anxious.
Welcome back to my anxiety series.
My name is Bea.
I'm a yoga meditation teacher and somatic practitioner.
And today I'm going to show you another one of my favorite breath practices,
The physiological sigh.
This is a breathing pattern that involves taking two inhales through the nose,
Followed by a long,
Slow exhale through the mouth.
When we intentionally breathe like this,
The second inhale brings in a little more air,
While the long,
Slow exhale helps create a deeper release.
This can be especially helpful when you're feeling stressed.
Activated or like your anxiety is starting to build.
I love this practice because it's just so simple.
You don't need any equipment,
You don't need to count your breaths,
And you can do it pretty much anywhere.
So let's try it together.
I'm going to demonstrate first,
So go ahead and find a comfortable seat.
Again,
The practice is one deep inhale.
Followed by a second shorter inhale.
And a long,
Slow exhale,
Like this.
And if you like,
You can try adding a more audible sigh as you exhale,
Like this.
Uhhh.
.
.
And as you exhale,
Really try to let everything go as if you're really deflating.
Let's try it together.
Find your comfortable seat.
Allow your shoulders to soften.
And maybe unclench your jaw.
And first,
Just notice your natural breath without trying to change anything.
Now take a deep inhale through your nose.
Then take a shorter second inhale through your nose.
And then slowly exhale all the air out of the mouth.
Let's do it again.
Inhale through the nose.
Take one more small sip of Aaron.
And then slowly sigh it out.
Again,
Inhale.
Another inhale in.
And slowly let it go.
Okay,
One more time,
Breathe in.
Take in that small second sip of air.
And then slowly let everything go.
And now you can return to our normal breath pattern.
And before you go,
Just take a moment to pause and feel.
Maybe your body has softened.
Maybe your breathing is a little easier.
Or maybe you don't really notice the difference at all and that's okay too.
Again,
The goal of practices like this isn't to force your anxiety to disappear.
Think of it as one more tool you can use to help interrupt the spiral and reconnect to your body when you're feeling activated.
And remember,
When anxiety starts to spiral,
Sometimes you can start with something as simple as your next breath.
Thanks so much for watching and I'll see you in the next video of my anxiety series.
See you next time.
Bye for now.
