Our breath. Breathing. You know, that thing our body does without us thinking about it or trying?
Yeah that thing is absolutely P O W E R F U L. 

Especially when we are able to be more aware of it and control it with more intention. 

I mean this auto-matic system keeps us ALIVE ALL DAY. You mean we can control it more to enhance our mental, emotional, physical and overall health EVEN MORE?! 

Holy Cow what a concept.

Focusing on my breath and practicing breathwork has gotten me higher in a more natural way than the lovely medicinal cannabis herb.
It’s reduced my anxiety.
It’s helped me manage the day to day stressors and BIG stressors that happen in life.
It has me back in my body, grounded on this planet and rooted- centered. 

Instead of in my head worrying about the past, present and future ALL at once.

Here are my top favorite, go-to breathwork practices for stress management and anxiety:

1. Belly Breathing– Forget you have lungs and drop down into your belly! Breathing only into the lungs can enhance feelings of anxiety and anxious breathing patterns (when panic attacks happen the breathing pattern is all in the chest.) Think of your body as a glass and the oxygen you’re breathing like water. When you pour the water into the glass it goes straight to the bottom, then fills up. Think of your belly as the bottom of the glass. Let it blow up like a balloon filled with oxygen. Inhale through the nose for a count of 4, exhale mouth for a count of 6. When exhaling- imagine pushing your belly button to your spine the best you can so you can get all of the air out of you to take a nice FULL belly breath. Always make sure the exhale is longer than the inhale so you can get connected to your parasympathetic nervous system. 😉
2. Box breathing- Inhale your nose for a count of 4, hold that breath in your body for 4 seconds, exhale for 4 seconds and hold the breath out of your body for 4 seconds. You will do this using the belly breathing technique. You can do this as many rounds as you want or have time to do!
3. Alternating Nostril Breathing- Cover one of your nostrils like you would to use some flo-nase (without getting the flo-nase lol). Now inhale through the open nostril (using the belly breathing technique) for a count of 3, then exhale through that same nostril for a count of 3. Do this 3 times total for this nostril then switch to the other nostril and do the same thing for 3 times. Do as many rounds as you need, but I’m sure you will feel the difference soon. 😉 This technique helps with balancing the chemicals in your brain since you’re inhaling through your nose!

That’s it for now! The BEST thing about these techniques is you can literally do them ANYWHERE.
In the car when you’re driving, when you’re waiting for your kids to finish with their activities, in the bathroom at work, or during high stressful/anxiety moments.