Breathing Through Anxiety: A Simple Practice to Calm Your Nervous System
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Erica: [00:00:00] Anxiety lives in your body, not your mind. Your breath speaks the language of calm—this episode will guide you back to where peace begins.
Welcome back to Inner Sanctuary Raw. I'm so glad you're here today. Today we're talking about breathing through anxiety, not ignoring it, not overthinking it, but just using your breath to find calm.
This is something I use every day with my clients and in my own life. If you've ever felt tightness in your chest, a racing heart, or that restless, buzzing under your skin, you're not alone. By the end of this episode, you'll have a simple, powerful breath practice you can use anytime anxiety shows up.
Let's start with the real truth about anxiety. It isn't just in your head, it's in your body. Anxiety is your body's way of saying, I don't feel safe. It's your survival, brain firing off alarms, [00:01:00] trying to protect you from a threat, even if that threat isn't actually there. Most people try to think their way out of anxiety.
Maybe you try positive thinking or distract yourself with your phone or tell yourself to just calm down. But when you're anxious, your logical brain, the part that solves the problems and reason things out, isn't really in charge. It's like trying to reason with a fire alarm while the room is still full of smoke.
So what does work? Your breath. When anxiety takes over, your breath becomes shallow and fast, and your body reads that as danger. But when you slow and deepen your breath, you send your body, the opposite message, we're safe now and your body listens.
Let's talk about why this works. Your breath is directly connected to your autonomic nervous system. The part of you that [00:02:00] decides if you're in survival mode or in calm mode. Every slow, intentional breath you take stimulates the vagus nerve. Think of the vagus nerve as your body's built in off switch for stress.
When you exhale slowly, especially if your exhale is longer than your inhale, you activate what's called the parasympathetic nervous system. This is your body's natural relaxation response. Your heart rate slows down, your cortisol drops, and your brain gets the signal you're safe.
Science shows that breathing at around five to six breaths per minute, so nice and slow, can shift your whole body from stress to calm. That means just a minute or two of slow breathing can start to change how you feel right here, right now.
So [00:03:00] let's practice together. If you're driving or busy, just listen and come back to this part later where you can fully participate. If you're able, find a comfortable seat. Place one hand on your heart, the other on your belly. Close your eyes if that feels good.
Let's start by taking a gentle breath in through your nose, filling your belly for a count of four, one. 2, 3, 4. Hold for two. Now exhale through your mouth for 6, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Good. Let's do it again. Inhale. 2, 3, 4. Hold, one, two. Exhale. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. With each breath, feel your belly rise, your chest expand.
With each exhale. [00:04:00] Imagine tension melting from your shoulders, your jaw, your chest.
Good. Let's do three more rounds together. Inhale,
hold, exhale.
Inhale,
hold, exhale.
One more. Your fullest breath of the day. Inhale, hold. Exhale.
Good. Let your breath return to its natural rhythm. Just notice how you [00:05:00] feel.
Notice what's shifted. Maybe your thoughts are quieter, your chest feels lighter, or your body feels just a little more at ease. That's the power of breath. It bypasses the busy mind and speaks directly to your body. Practice this when you're calm, not just when you're anxious. So your body learns peace as a habit, not just as an emergency response.
If this brought you even a moment of peace, share it with someone who needs it today. You can also grab my free heart opening Harmony breath guide in the show notes, a five minute daily ritual to help regulate anxiety before it begins. And if you wanna go deeper, join me in the inner sanctuary journey where we reset the nervous system and rewrite those old patterns that keep you stuck in [00:06:00] survival mode.
Until next time, your breath is your anchor. Come back to it and you'll always find your way home, and I'll see you tomorrow.
Thank you for breathing with me today. Remember, even one slow, intentional breath can bring you back to yourself—so take it with you, wherever you go.”
