Breathwork – it sounds kind of woo woo, right? A lot of people don’t know the science behind breathwork and all of the different and amazing breathwork techniques that can help us calm our nervous systems and ultimately live better! Keep reading below to find 3 breathwork techniques and how they can help you!
Related Articles:
UM Club Episode – Breathwork
Mindfulness for Kids: How to Help Anxiety in Kids and Support Mindfulness
7 Symptoms and Signs of a Hormonal Imbalance
The Stages of the Menstrual Cycle Explained
Calming Mantras for Moms Who Need a Break
Assertive Communication: How to Get What You Want, With Skill
Halo Active Breaths
The halo active breath is kind of like normal breathing but with intention. So think in through your nose, out through your mouth, but really focusing on the act of breathing. Not all types of breathwork have to be hard to do or to figure out – some breathing techniques are just what they sound like, different ways to breathe.
When you’re practicing different types of breathing techniques, you might be using different body parts. For halo breaths, you want to be filling up your whole body. Our lungs can get so big, and with halo breaths we really want to take advantage of that. This means puffing out your whole stomach and really filling up with as much air as you can – and after that, start filling up those lungs!
The best part about halo active breathing? You can change it however you want and to fit whatever you need. Halo breaths are great breathing techniques for stress, and they can help you get back to a calm place. Dealing with 3 screaming kids and on your way to soccer practice to watch 12 more? Might be time to pull out the halo breath!
Snake Breaths
Snake breathing – the name just sounds fun, doesn’t it? Snake breaths are great deep breathing exercises for kids! This is a great calming breath and is a cool breathing technique for anxiety. To do snake breaths, you want to take a big breath in through your nose, and then let it out through your mouth with your teeth closed. This is where the name comes from, you look like a snake!
Snake breaths are another type of breathwork that make you use all of your lung space; take in a big intentional breath before you let it out. Maybe even see who can make the snake sound the longest. Snake breathing is such a fun way to get our kids practicing deep breathing, and it helps them learn stress relief techniques.
It may seem silly to our kids, but think how much better we’d have been as teens if we had breathing techniques to help with anxiety? For our young kids, this is a great thing to do together when you’re maybe feeling stressed – they’ll be distracted and you’ll get a few minutes to just breathe!
Related Unapologetic Mom’s Club Episodes:
If you’re interested in learning about more topics that truly impact your life as a busy mom, check out our library of over 50 Unapologetic Mom’s Club Episodes that challenge the way you think, and push you to take action to live a more fulfilled life.
Anxiety 101 with Mary Tate from Tate Psychotherapy
How to Manifest Your Desires with Master Attractor Nicole McLellan from My Aligned Purpose
Reclaiming Your Hormone Health with Laura Martire
Teaching Kids Mindfulness with Certified Mindfulness and Meditation Teacher Cynthia Arscott
Menstrual Cycle 101: How to Tune in to Your Cycle For A More Aligned Life with Period Coach Sarah Starrs
Pulse Breaths
Pulse breaths are super fast and energizing breaths. They’re going to give you the boost you need to get through the day (which we all need help with sometimes). Breathwork meditation isn’t the only way to use our breath, we can use this energizing breath to perk up before getting on with the day.
To do the pulse breath, you want to breathe in and out through your nose (or in through your nose and out through your mouth) really fast and in a rhythm. This can be 1, 2, 3, 4, or 1, 2, or really any number that speaks to you. What matters most about the pulse breath is that you keep it even, so you’re doing the same number of tiny breaths in and out. 1, 2, 3, 4 in, then 1, 2, 3, 4 out, and keep repeating.
The pulse breath is a lot shallower, so you might not use all of your lung capacity like with the other two, and that’s totally okay. This is a breath for you to help you get through whatever long day you have ahead of you, so make sure to give it a try! At the end of the day, you know your body best, so practice the breathing technique that works best for you!
So you’ve gone through these three awesome breathing techniques – now what? Well, that’s what we have our exclusive UM Club Episode with breathwork coach Kari Gregory for! Kari gave us the ins and outs of the benefits of breathwork, more great breathing techniques, and answered our main question (because we know a lot of you are wondering): what is breathwork? We can’t wait to see you over on the UM Club, and hear all about how you’re using these breathing techniques on the UM Club Facebook page!
Related Articles:
UM Club Episode – Breathwork
Mindfulness for Kids: How to Help Anxiety in Kids and Support Mindfulness
7 Symptoms and Signs of a Hormonal Imbalance
The Stages of the Menstrual Cycle Explained
Calming Mantras for Moms Who Need a Break
Assertive Communication: How to Get What You Want, With Skill
[…] 3 Breathwork Techniques for Everyday Life […]