Breathwork for Anxiety Relief

This class is for you if you’re looking to carve out some time in your day to do nothing but breathe. My goal with this breathwork class is to offer you space to go deep within to release the anxiety that’s being held within your body. When we feel less stressed, we feel lighter. When we feel lighter, we can get to a place where we can truly rest.

Transcript

Alright,

Let's gently begin by breathing in and out through our nose.

Kind of settle in and just let go of anything that's going on in our life right now.

Just kind of be present with what is.

In and out through the nose.

When your body is in fight or flight mode,

Your body can't heal.

When you move from an activated fight or flight to your parasympathetic nervous system,

True healing happens through proper rest and digestion.

In an activated stress state,

Your pupils expand,

You have fast,

Shallow breaths,

Your heart pumps faster and you have an inactive gut.

In a calmer state,

Your pupils shrink,

Your heart rate slows,

You naturally take deeper breaths and you have an active gut for proper digestion.

An activated parasympathetic nervous system leads to your body running more efficiently,

A boosted immune system and better sleep.

Let's use your breath today to activate that parasympathetic nervous system so you can work towards healing,

Relaxing and feeling good.

Again,

We're just settling in,

Breathing in and out through our nose.

Gentle inhalations and exhalations,

Preparing our body for the work that's about to come.

Okay,

Now let's begin our three-part breath.

Deep into the belly,

Deep into the heart,

Out through the mouth.

Find a pace that works for you,

Settle into a pace that feels good for you.

We're building up energy for our first breath hold right now.

Deep into the belly,

Deep into the heart,

Out through the mouth.

Change only happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of change.

You play on this class for any number of reasons.

Using your breath,

You're going to be moving a lot of energy that's been stuck within.

Sometimes you're not even aware of this stuck energy and how it affects your actions and reactions to what life hands you.

It's about trust and commitment.

Trusting the breath,

Trusting the body,

Committing to the practice.

And all you have to do for the next 40 minutes is just keep breathing.

Almost there,

Building up that energy for that first breath hold.

Paying attention to anything that may arise and letting it come up without any shame or judgment or guilt.

Just a little bit longer,

Stick with me.

This is where the discomfort comes in.

Feeling the energy moving around and throughout your body.

If you find any spaces that are tight,

Just breathe into them.

See if you send energy there,

What happens if you can loosen it up a little bit.

Here we go.

We're getting ready for our first breath hold.

A couple more breaths,

Just a couple more.

Take a full deep breath in and fully out.

Just laying here empty for as long as we can go.

Remember when you have to breathe in,

Breathe in and hold for as long as it feels good.

And then exhale and get back in the three part breath.

But I urge you to stick with this as long as you possibly can.

This is where we train our body,

Our nervous system to respond to stressful states in a calmer manner.

Because we don't lay here empty very often in life.

It's not common.

But this puts your body into a stressful state where your internal systems,

Your nervous system,

Your immune system,

They respond by taking care of you,

By releasing stress,

By healing whatever needs to be healed,

By letting go of the anxiety.

Remember,

If you're laying here empty,

Go as long as you can.

But if you have to breathe,

Take a full deep breath in,

Hold for as long as it feels good,

And exhale and get back to the three part breath.

Breath work isn't about rising above your hurts and pains.

It's about bringing them closer.

The freedom that you seek is found when you get comfortable with the things that make you uncomfortable.

And the more you lean into the fear,

The pain,

The anxiety,

The traumas and your grief in healthy ways,

The better equipped you'll be to live your life on your own terms when it inevitably gets challenging.

So much of this life is out of your control.

But choosing how you breathe is always up to you.

So keep breathing.

Stick with this three part breath and these breath holds for as long as you can,

Even if it's uncomfortable,

Even if it's bringing up any sort of painful things or any sort of memories that you regret.

Just stick with it.

I promise that your body will take care of you.

You're putting it in a space to do what it needs to do to release these self limiting beliefs to work through your traumas,

To work through your grief,

To work through your anxiety,

Just in that three part breath still building up energy for our second breath hold deep into the belly,

Deep into the heart and out through the mouth,

Settling into a rhythm,

A pace that works for you.

You just have a little bit longer here,

Just building up that energy for our second breath hold.

Again,

This is the part where it takes commitment,

It takes trust,

Courage,

Bravery to keep breathing,

Even though it might be uncomfortable,

Even though it might be intense.

Almost there.

Just a little bit longer.

Pick it up just a little bit.

See if you can breathe a little bit deeper into the belly,

A little bit deeper into the heart and a gentle,

Relaxed exhale out of the mouth.

Build up that energy.

Here it comes.

The breath hold is coming.

All right,

Take a full deep breath in and fully out.

Again,

You're laying here empty for as long as you can go.

And I know sometimes it feels like we've emptied our bellies of air.

But if you feel like there's a little bit left in there,

Just take a sip of air a little and then fully exhale again.

That's okay.

The point is to make sure that we're laying here empty for as long as we can go.

When you do have to breathe,

Breathe in and hold for as long as it feels good.

Then exhale and get back to the three part breath.

At this time,

Being that we have more energy,

I want you to wait for that moment when your brain says,

Hey,

It's time to breathe in.

And I want you to sit in that uncomfortable space for three to five moments before you actually give in and breathe.

You will be okay.

Your body will take care of you.

Remember,

Wait until it says,

Hey,

It's time to breathe.

Pause for three to five more moments before you give in and breathe.

And then when you have to breathe,

Breathe in fully,

Hold for as long as it feels good.

And then fully exhale and get back to the three part breath.

If you're still holding on empty,

That's great.

Lay in there for as long as you can.

But if you're back to the three part breath,

That's okay too.

Every time you revisit this breath root practice,

It's going to be different.

The sensations,

The feelings,

The amount of time that you can lay there empty.

The point is that you're just creating a space for yourself to heal,

To relax,

To restore.

And you've committed to doing the work.

This is all you.

Just breathing deep,

Breathing in a way that's not common,

Breathing in a way that puts your body into a space to release,

To relax.

You have a vast amount of divine knowledge inside of you.

Your body knows what it needs to release.

Your body knows what it needs to heal.

So it doesn't matter what I'm saying during this session,

As long as you're trusting in your breath,

Trusting in your body to do the work that it needs to do.

This means sticking with it,

Even if it is uncomfortable.

Can you use your breath as a tool to surrender?

Can you use your breath to tap into that divine wisdom that you hold within?

Just keep breathing.

Do you have any tight spaces in your body?

If you do,

Or even if you don't,

I just want you to move a bit.

Just shake up some energy.

If you feel compelled,

Make a noise,

Any noise,

A scream,

A laugh,

Anything that feels right.

Just kind of wiggle,

Shake,

Move around,

Make a little bit of noise.

These are all healthy forms of release.

If you feel the need to scream,

Scream.

If you feel like letting out a big belly laugh,

Let out a big belly laugh.

Just trust that your body is going to do with that what it needs to do.

And then settle back into the three-part breath for just a little bit longer because we're almost ready for our third breath hold.

Just a little bit longer.

I know you feel like you're ready to burst and you're about to get that relief in the breath hold.

Just a couple more breaths,

Deeper into the belly,

Deeper into the heart,

Bringing as much energy within that you possibly can,

Right?

Just a couple more breaths.

All right,

Take a full deep breath in and fully out.

As you're laying here empty this time,

Just stay empty as long as you possibly can.

When your brain says it's time to breathe in,

You're going to wait five to eight moments before you actually give in and give it that breath that your body is craving.

Those moments of discomfort between when your body says it's time to breathe and when you actually do train your nervous system to respond to stressful events in your life in a more calm way,

It prepares you so that your body knows how to handle the stress better.

So just lay here empty for as long as you can.

And remember when you absolutely have to breathe,

Breathe in fully,

Hold for as long as it feels good,

Exhale fully,

And then get back to that three-part breath.

Stick with this emptiness for as long as you can.

Promise that the work that you do pays dividends out in the real world.

We're laying here empty for as long as we can,

Pausing for five to eight moments from when our brain says,

Hey,

I need air,

And then breathing in fully,

Holding for as long as it feels good,

And fully exhaling and getting back to the three-part breath.

And if you're back to the three-part breath right now,

That's okay.

You're doing the best that you can.

You just have two breath holds left.

As you move deeper,

Can you release any shame or judgments you hold about your pain and imperfections?

When you resist what you don't like about yourself and your life,

You close yourself off to the magic and the greatness that is you,

Shaming and judging yourself leaves you feeling small.

And when you meet your pain and imperfections with love and acceptance instead of avoidance,

You find freedom.

And life doesn't have to feel like a battle all of the time.

When you constantly return to your breath,

To your breath work,

As often as you like,

You're putting your body into a state that meets it with love.

This is an act of self-love.

You deserve it.

You deserve to feel good.

You deserve to release the anxiety and the stress that just comes with being alive in the world right now.

There's so much that's out of our control.

And all you have to do is just keep breathing deep into the belly,

Deep into the heart,

And out through the mouth.

Everything going on in the real world doesn't matter.

This hour is yours.

Time is for you.

This space is for you to just breathe.

We're building up energy here for our fourth breath hold.

We just have two to go and then the work is over.

Keep breathing.

Again,

There should be a lot of energy swirling around,

A lot of interesting things going on in your body.

Maybe you fell asleep.

Whatever you need,

Your body's going to give it to you right now and that's okay.

I just ask that you keep returning to the breath,

That you stick with it even if it's uncomfortable.

Deep into the belly,

Deep into the heart,

Out through the mouth.

Almost ready for our fourth breath hold.

Just stick with it.

Breathe a little bit deeper into the belly.

Breathe a little bit deeper into the heart space.

Gentle exhalations out the mouth.

Almost ready for that next breath hold.

Couple more breaths.

All right,

Take a full deep breath in and fully out.

Staying here empty for as long as we can go.

This time I want you to pay attention to when your brain says it's time to breathe in and before you do,

Go 10 to 12 moments before you actually give in.

So you're laying here empty,

Your brain says it's time to breathe and you're going to just pause.

And in that discomfort,

In that pause,

That's when you're doing the work.

That's when you're training your nervous system to handle any sort of stressors from a more calm,

Centered and grounded place.

Stick with this as long as you can laying here empty and know that if you absolutely have to breathe,

You can.

And when it's time to breathe,

Take a full deep breath in,

Hold for as long as it feels good and then fully exhale out and get back to the three part breath.

Again,

This is our fourth breath hold.

We only have one more to go.

I want you to make each one the best that you possibly can.

You've handled everything that life has thrown at you up to this point the best way that you possibly could.

You've made it.

You're here.

You're alive.

You've survived.

You are so much stronger than you think.

Remember if you're laying there empty,

That's great.

Stick in this emptiness for as long as you can.

But if you're back to the three part breath,

That's okay too.

Hold up that energy for the fifth and final breath hold.

Deep into the belly,

Deep into the heart,

Out through the mouth.

With so much of life that's out of our control,

You often feel powerless.

But your true power comes from within.

Your power comes from an open heart and an open mind.

And open hearts and minds come from loving yourself fully,

Imperfections and all.

Staying in touch with the breath,

Allowing yourself to feel your feelings,

Accepting yourself right now in this moment without any shame or judgment or guilt.

Those are all forms of opening your heart.

Those are all forms of self love.

And there's so much there to love.

This world needs you fully alive and sharing your own unique gifts that only you can share with us.

Know that life feels hard sometimes and get it.

We all have our little moments.

We all say and do things that we regret.

We hurt people.

We're doing the best that we can.

And right now,

You're using your breath to put yourself into a state to heal.

You're pushing yourself deeper and farther than you ever thought possible.

You're laying there empty longer than you ever thought possible.

And I just ask that you stick with it,

That you stay with the practice.

Deep into the belly,

Deep into the heart,

Out through the mouth,

Over and over and over again,

Building up energy for our fifth and final breath hold.

We're so close.

And I know you're ready for that breath hold.

We're going to build up a little bit more energy here.

Just a few more breaths and we'll be a time for our fifth and final breath hold.

A little bit longer,

A little bit deeper,

Breathing into the belly,

Breathing into the heart.

The work is almost done.

Almost there.

Ready.

All right,

Take a full deep breath in and fully out.

Laying here empty for our fifth and final time of this session.

I want you to stick with this for as long as you possibly can.

When your brain says it's time to breathe,

See if you can lay in that discomfort,

Lay in that emptiness for 15 to 20 moments longer and know that if you absolutely have to breathe,

You can.

And there's nothing wrong with that.

But when you do have to breathe,

Breathe in fully,

Hold for as long as it feels good,

Then exhale and then start breathing just like a normal breath in and out through the nose.

But I want you to lay here empty for as long as you can.

Comes a point when you're laying here empty where your body kind of starts to shake a little bit.

You're vibrating,

You're moving because you want that air and it's not comfortable,

But you're okay.

You've been practicing for this the whole session.

Just lay there empty for as long as you possibly can.

And then when you absolutely have to breathe,

Breathe in and hold for as long as it feels good,

Then exhale and get back into a normal,

Relaxed breath in and out through the nose.

There's no more three-part breath.

The work is done.

If you're still laying there empty,

Great.

Stick with it as long as you possibly can.

But if you're done with your breath holds,

Gently return to a breath in and out through the nose.

And on the inhales,

I want you to pay attention to your diaphragm and I want you to fill your diaphragm up with air,

Almost like you're pushing your belly out like a baby.

And on the exhale,

I want you to suck the diaphragm back in and empty that diaphragm out of air.

This is called horizontal breathing or baby breath.

It's called this because when we're younger,

When we're first born,

This is how we breathe.

It's just through life,

We start taking shallower breaths and the air never goes down past our chest and into our diaphragms.

So that leaves air stuck down in there,

Stuck down in the belly that we're never switching out with new air.

And because we're breathing shallowly,

It actually puts tension on our neck,

Tension on our shoulders.

So I want you to really focus on breathing in and out through the nose,

Filling up the diaphragm on the inhale and completely emptying it on the exhale.

The more you breathe this way,

The more you can retrain your body to breathe horizontally.

You're better able to handle stress,

You're calmer,

You sleep better,

Your body will digest its food better.

Quality of your breath directly impacts the quality of your life.

If you catch yourself thinking here,

That's okay.

Just bring yourself back to the breath.

See if you can follow the air in through the nose and all the way down through your chest and into your diaphragm.

And then follow it back out all the way through your diaphragm,

Back through your chest and out through your nose.

And anytime you catch yourself thinking,

Just return back to the breath,

Return back to the awareness of the breath.

As you're breathing here,

I want you to take one hand and place it on your heart.

Feel your strength that comes from your heart beating over and over again.

I want you to take a few moments and acknowledge your courage.

Acknowledge your bravery in being here and staying committed.

Recognize that you stuck this session out all the way through the end,

Even if it was difficult.

And can you bring that fortitude and resilience to every aspect of your life?

Recognizing that you survived every single day up to right now.

You are a survivor.

You've lived through every mess up,

Every struggle,

Every heartbreak you've ever experienced.

And you are a love filled force of a human being.

Acknowledge that and just keep breathing.

In through the nose,

Filling up the diaphragm,

Emptying the diaphragm on the exhale.

If you're ready to be done,

Begin to wiggle your hands and feet.

And slowly come back into your body.

If you want to lay here for a little bit longer,

That's totally fine.

The music is going to continue on for another 10 minutes or so.

But if you are ready to be done,

If you feel like you've gotten enough from the session,

Again gently come back to your body by wiggling your hands and feet.

Taking your time,

Knowing that you don't have anywhere to be right now.

You're just here,

Present,

Relaxed.

Make sure before you sit up,

You roll over to your right side.

Laying on our right side is another way we can soothe and calm our nervous system.

So spend a few moments there.

And then when you're ready,

Sit up and recognize that you just went on a journey and a lot happened in the last 40 minutes.

So offer yourself grace.

Offer yourself some patience and know that the work that you did is going to pay off in so many ways.

If you're still here,

Lay in here.

Thank you.

Thank you for showing up for yourself today.

Thank you for doing the work.

Thank you for committing to the breath and sticking with it.

Anything that came up to arise without shame or judgment or guilt and just returning to the breath over and over and over again.

I hope you take this energy out into the real world,

Into your relationships,

Into your work and that you recognize that today this breath work was a huge form of self-love for yourself and you deserve to be loved well.

Thank you for being here.