Practical Tools for Regulation — Part 2: Breathwork

🌬️ Practical Tools for Regulation — Part 2: The Mystery of Breathwork

Why breathing is simple, but not always easy

We all breathe in and out, every moment of every day. In fact, we take somewhere between 17,000 and 30,000 breaths each day without thinking about it.
And yet… when we’re stressed, fearful, overwhelmed, or caught in old patterns, our breath is almost always the first thing to change.

Breathing is simple — but it’s not always easy.

So let’s slow it down and explore why breath is one of the most powerful tools we have, and yet one of the most overlooked.

🌀 The Nervous System Lives in the Breath

Our nervous system and breath are deeply intertwined.

When we’re threatened, even emotionally, our bodies default into protective patterns:

• Shallow breathing

• Quick chest breathing

• Holding or freezing the breath

• Tension in the shoulders, belly, or jaw

These changes aren’t failures; they’re survival strategies. But we often stay in that breathing pattern long after the threat is gone — which can keep our nervous system in a state of alert, without us realizing it.

Breathwork is one of the few tools that allows us to influence the nervous system from the inside out.

🌬️ Why is Breathwork Hard Sometimes?

You may have tried breathwork before — a guided meditation, a yoga class, a calming technique — and wondered:

“Why do I feel more anxious when I start trying to breathe deeply?”

You’re not alone.

When we’ve gone through trauma or prolonged stress, deepening the breath can feel unsafe.
To feel the breath is to feel the body — and sometimes the body has held things we’ve been avoiding.

So if breathwork feels uncomfortable at first:

• You’re not doing it wrong.

• You’re not "bad” at breathing.

• Your nervous system is trying to keep you safe.

This is why we often start slow, gentle, and kind. Not forcing anything — just noticing.

🪞 The Breath Is a Mirror, Not a Fix

One of the greatest misconceptions is that breathwork is a “quick fix.” Something we do when we’re anxious, expecting it to snap us into peace instantly.

But the breath is a mirror — showing us what’s happening inside.

Try this:

• Place one hand on your chest

• Place one hand on your belly

• Breathe normally

• Where does movement happen first — chest or belly?

• Is the breath shallow or expansive?

• Does the breath speed up when you focus on it? Slow down?

There’s no need to change it. Just notice.
You’re already doing breathwork — simply by observing.

🌿 Simple Breathwork Practices (That Don’t Demand Calm)

1. Sighing Out Loud
   A natural reset. Long exhale, relaxed jaw, sound if you want. You’re signaling safety to your nervous system.

2. Box Breathing (4-4-4-4)
   Inhale for 4 | Hold for 4 | Exhale for 4 | Hold for 4
   Great for anxious energy or overwhelm.

3. Hand-to-Heart (And Stay)
   Lay one hand over your heart, breathe into that space. Let the warmth of your hand bring focus and softening.

4. Extended Exhale
   Inhale normally | Slow, slow exhale (longer than your inhale)
   Helps shift the body toward parasympathetic (calming) states.

🌱 The Breath Comes With You

One of the best things about breathwork?

You don’t need a mat
You don’t need a class
You don’t need silence
You don’t need to be “doing it right”

You just need a moment.

In bed, between tasks, while reading this blog.
Breathe — and notice.
That alone is a good beginning.

Closing thought:

Breath shows us what’s possible — a way to stay in our bodies with more kindness, ease, and curiosity.

Just Breathe..

- Anique

Founder, Sanctum & Soil

🪶 Next in the series: Grounding — Bringing the Body Back into the Present.