A Five Minute Breath Break

Feeling a bit burned out? Exhausted by your phone and the news? Struggling to manage work/life balance now that they share the same space?

We reached out to our good friend, and respected breath coach Kathy Parsons to create something simple yet powerful, that will help us all come back to center.

Kathy designed this 5 minute guided breathing session using the 4:4 Belly Breath to help us unclench the body.

In this simple practice, you can use breath to shift your nervous system state. We call it balance breathing because of the equal lengths of inhales and exhales, and because this is good to do at any point of your day or night to get back to an even state. 

It’s easy to take breath for granted, but you can think of it as a tool. Our body is constantly shifting from the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight mode) to the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest). Sometimes, it spends too much time in one or the other. Conscious breath stabilizes the nervous system to bring you back to the moment; functionally balancing the oxygen levels in your blood. Feeling tired? This can help to energize you. Feeling stressed? This can help to calm you down.

With only a few minutes of mindful breathing, we’ll shift you out of fight or flight mode, and into rest and digest mode--a calmer, more contented place to be. Ready to go?

Find a comfortable seat, or lie down if you prefer. Turn off your notifications, and give your body, mind and soul this nourishing reset. Enjoy. 

 

Note: if you ever feel uncomfortable with the breath work, gently come back to your normal breathing.