The quick coherence breathing technique is an easy technique to help you feel less intense physical symptoms of anxiety and it can be used to help you feel like you're more in charge of your emotions.
It can help reduce the impact of stress on your mind and your body and it reduces the energy drain so that you feel more neutral and even and renewed.
It can change your physiology from anxiety symptoms like a racing heart,
Shortness of breath,
Contractions in your throat or your belly,
And other symptoms to breathing freely,
More regulated heart rate,
And just calmer overall.
It can allow you to step back from your racing mind and your emotionally charged feelings.
There are three steps to this technique.
It can be helpful to learn and practice the first two steps until they become comfortable and then when you're ready you can add step three.
Even just the first two steps can help neutralize negative states like fear,
Anxiety,
And anger and help you find a calmer state.
So let's begin.
You can sit comfortably or lie down on your side or your back.
You can do this with your eyes open or closed.
The first step is to gently focus your attention in the area of your heart.
If you'd like,
You can put your hand over your heart to help anchor your attention on your heart area or you don't have to do that.
You can imagine your actual heart or an image of your heart or you can imagine the fourth chakra if you connect with that image or a color or just simply focus on the general area of your chest where your heart is.
There's no right or wrong to do this.
If your mind wanders,
Gently shift your attention back to the area of your heart.
So just take a moment and focus your attention on the area of your heart.
The second step is as you continue to focus your attention on the area of your heart,
Imagine your breath is flowing in and out through that area.
This helps your mind and energy stay focused on your heart area and your respiration and your heart rhythms begin to synchronize.
You might notice that your breathing is a little slower and deeper than usual or you might simply be breathing naturally.
There's no incorrect way to breathe.
Continue to imagine your breath is moving in and out of your heart area and as you continue to breathe in and out of your heart,
You're creating a parasympathetic feedback loop through your vagus nerve.
So doing these two steps is enough to bring your entire system into a parasympathetic coherent state.
That's the opposite of fight,
Flight,
And stress.
Now if you'd like to add in step three,
Allow your imagination to call forth a memory or image that gives you a positive or regenerative feeling.
This can be a time when you felt a sense of comfort or calm inside.
It can be a feeling of appreciation or peace or a time you felt proud of yourself.
Maybe you can remember a beautiful place in nature that you like to visit or a favorite city or a place in your home.
It can be a pet or an activity you enjoy.
It can even be a moment when you remember feeling some pleasant sensation like the sun shining on your face or the cool ocean water when you were swimming.
And now connect with the positive feeling this memory or image gives you and bring this feeling into your heart area.
Attempt to re-experience that feeling as you continue to breathe in and out of your heart.
It's as if you're bathing your heart area with that feeling of peace or calm or appreciation or whatever the feeling is for you.
We'll be here for about two minutes.
If you lose connection with your positive feeling,
You can simply continue to breathe in and out of your heart.
And now slowly allow your breath to be natural and observe what you notice about your body and your nervous system state.
Every system in your body,
Your heart rate,
Your breathing,
Your circulation,
Your muscle tone,
Your nervous system,
Your digestive system,
Has come into a state of coherence.
It's a complete reset for your entire body and it takes you from a physiological state of anxiety into a physiological state of regulation.
This quick coherence breathing technique can be practiced anytime,
Anywhere,
With your eyes open or closed for any length of time.
It empowers you to self-regulate,
To shift from one way of feeling to another,
And this technique actually changes the emotional memories and patterns that underlie the stress and creates new neural pathways or habits for your nervous system.
Thank you for practicing.
