everything you need to start, techniques to try, people to follow

I feel passionately about breathwork. Not just because it has changed me but because it is our birthright. It’s a stress management tool given to us at birth. Everyone has access to it. There is nothing to buy, the techniques can be as simple or as complicated as you want them to be and most importantly…you can do it anywhere and at any time.

Breathwork is an active form of meditation for me. It immediately gets me back into my body when I'm feeling stressed, overwhelmed, sadness, depression, jealous, triggered, all the feelings. If you have never been able to sit and meditate, I promise you will be able to do this. You can start exactly where you are, right now, let’s go…

If you can go ahead and close your eyes, if not, no worries. Take a deep, intentional breath in through your nose, hold it for however long feels good (a few seconds) and then exhale through your mouth slowly.

Repeat.

That’s it, that’s the basic formula. You can take this with you all day: in the car, with a partner, in a heated moment, with your kids. You can do this breathwork once, twice, 10 times until you feel grounded again. I really love to do a good 5/10 mins every morning of breathwork to get me into such a grounded place to listen to my intuition. I honestly believe that is all you need most times, but if you want more there are different techniques you can add to deepen your practice. Here are things I have added over the years that have helped enhance my practice:

Belly Breath: I learned this from Gabrielle Bernstein who taught me how to meditate. When we inhale your stomach should fill up and on the exhale it should empty. I started by putting my hand on my stomach in the beginning. It really helps. Breath in, feeling my stomach fill up then exhale feeling it shrink back.

Posture: you can sit, lay down, even walk while doing breathwork, I find sitting to be the best for me. I usually sit crossed legs on the floor (sometimes it’s in a chair with my feet firmly planted on the ground). I place my hands on my thighs, usually facing down to ground me, but you can face your palms up to receive anything you’re needing that day. Do what feels right for you.

Box Breath: you might have heard of this one since Navy Seals use it to calm their nervous systems when their jobs get a little stressful, it’s great for when you need to focus. I love this because it’s easy to remember making it a great starter technique. You breathe in (nose) for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 4 seconds, breath out (nose) for 4 seconds and then hold for 4 seconds. Do this for 5 minutes and you will be a different person, but even 2 minutes can make a change.

When: I think this can be the biggest challenge to a meditation/breathwork practice. I'm a firm believer that if you're starting out, do whatever makes sense for you. We all have different lifestyles, jobs, etc. Whatever time of day you can commit to is the one to pick. That being said, I’m also gonna say that anytime I’m starting a new habit, I like to do it first thing in the morning if possible. The days get crazy, we get triggered and life happens. If you can get in 5 minutes of meditating or breathwork first thing in the morning not only will you most likely stick to it but you will reap the benefits all day long.

More Tools

People I love to follow, apps to use, websites that can help:

@gabriellebernstein

Follow her for in-the-moment inspiration but also her website is FULL of free resources/tools. I go back to the tools Gabby taught me almost every day. A great place to start is this free anxiety workshop: https://gabbybernstein.com/relief/

Also love this blog she wrote with lots of free resources and videos for techniques: https://gabbybernstein.com/beginners-guide-to-meditation/

@melisswoodhealth

Her feed is filled with meditation and breathwork in real time, very inspirational. I have her workout app and use the guided meditations as much as I do the workouts.

https://melissawoodhealth.com/

@headspace

I’ve used this app for years, (it’s a bit pricey) but they have a great guided breathwork section full of quick and easy videos to follow.

https://www.headspace.com/

This article has three great starter techniques explained perfectly: https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/breathwork-techniques-for-beginners

Ok, now it’s up to you. Try it out for a week, see how you feel. Let me know what you think.

jodi xx