12/02/2025
The Resting Season - A Slumber Series. 💤💤
Breath of Rest. 🌬️
Hi All!
Just giving another instalment in the Winter months, to help you foster ways to incorporate good levels of rest into your life. This one is about breath.
I am going to keep it simple as it can be a lengthy (and very nerdy) subject. Your breath and the way you breathe, determines a lot of how other systems work within your body, including responses to stress. I could write a long essay on this, but the better you breathe, the better your overall health.
Here are some breathwork tips to foster your nervous system into 'rest and digest' states and out of 'fight or flight' states, which is more akin to stress, over stimulated states and lethargy if left long running in that state.
All breath practices here are breathing through the nose. In and out. Find a comfortable position (either sitting, standing or laying). Make sure that you are straight in the spine, shoulders dropped away from ears and open. Really allow openness in the torso. Slouching will limit breath. To start I recommend laying on your back with knees bent (or cushions underneath your knees) or supported sitting on a chair. A good place to start is 5 minutes away from the busy or distractions. Later you can gradually increase the practice over time, to a good 15 minutes.
🌬️The Full Breath & Following the Breath: These 2 methods are fundamental and will help make the others I mention in this post easier. Learning the full breath especially goes a long way on it's own for your wellbeing.
Follow the breath: Start by just following your breath. See if you can feel it pass through your nose and into your body. Notice where it lands on it's pathway in and out. Simples :) This one is a great way of getting to know your breath and how you breathe.
The Full Breath: The next method you can try is the full breath. A full breath normally makes the belly open up, the ribs open and the collarbones lift slightly (without the shoulders hiking up to the ears). See if you can make that happen. You can start by placing your hands on your stomach and seeing if the belly expands/lifts on the inhale, drops on the exhale. If it doesn't, see if you can breathe into your hands.
The same goes for placing your hand on the sides of your ribs and another hand placement is just underneath the collarbones. You can do this as a combined practice (breathe a while into stomach, then change to ribs, then change to collarbones).
Once feeling OK with the above, you can then combine all 3. Follow the breath on the inhale into your stomach, then ribs, then collarbones. On the out breath, follow it out from collarbones, ribs, then belly (you can also as another option follow it out from belly, ribs then collarbones for a more controlled out breath, feel what is right for you).
🌬️ Equal/Balancing breath:
From the full breath, you can try to equalise the breath. This breath helps to balance the systems within the body and brings a gentle calm. See if you can breathe in for a count of 4 and out for a count of 4. You want the count steady to start. You can visualise the numbers or silently repeat them in your mind. If a 4 count is too much, drop it lower. If too short, lengthen the pace of the count or the number. Experienced practitioners can more or less feel an equal breath as opposed to counting.
🌬️ Exhale longer than inhale:
The next technique is the one that fosters putting the nervous system into a rested state. Start by inhaling to a count of 4, then exhale to a longer count (5 or 6 is a good place to begin. or 1 or 2 counts longer than your inhale).
🌬️ Retentions: Another add on is by adding retentions. A retention is where you hold the breath for a couple of counts between a breath ending and beginning (a retention or pause after an exhale and before the inhale beginning for example). Be aware than with practice, retentions can naturally occur as your breath slows. a retention on the inhale tends to foster space, a retention on exhale gives a great feeling of stillness. You can use the equal breath and add a couple of retentions between breaths (inhale 4, hold 2, exhale 4 hold 2). You could also practice this with the latter technique (inhale 4, hold 2, exhale 6, hold 2).
🌬️ Contact breath: You can also practice these breath patterns with your hands on your body. A hand near the heart and another near the stomach is my go to. This is especially good if you 'do not feel in your body' and feel you are living within your head too much. It is a great way of grounding your awareness into your body.
🌬️ Final Note: You do not have to practice for long stints, but regular practice is more key. You can practice while in a checkout queue, in traffic (hazards permitting), or if you need to drift off to sleep or wake up in the night. You also want it to fit your breath, so you want it comfortable. If needing to, adjust the count so it fits OK to you before moving on in your breath journey. It is a very versatile practice and one that helps you into a rested state. Once learned, it is one you will turn to often :) Enjoy! Lx
Complementary, Sports and Remedial Massage & Therapies, Meditation, Yoga, Reiki & Sound Therapy in Tendring. Fully qualified and insured Therapist since 1999.
