You are right on time to breathe, Becca!

Breathing Calendar Flows

Two-Part Exhale

This technique involves dividing your exhale into two distinct phases: first, releasing half the air slowly, then pausing briefly before releasing the remaining air. The dual-phase exhalation can help activate the parasympathetic nervous system more effectively than a single continuous exhale.

Shoulder Shrugs to Box Breaths

Begin by shrugging off other people’s heaviness with some gentle shoulder shrugs and audible exhales before transitioning into box breathing. This combination helps prepare the body for better breathing by first addressing physical tension living in the clavicular area.

Summer Cooling Breaths

Begin by focusing on an element of nature to remind you to ground and slow down. The extended exhales in this flow turn on the rest-and-digest arm of your nervous system, providing relief during hot weather or when feeling overheated.

Resonant Breath with Heart Focus

This practice combines slow, rhythmic breathing at approximately 5-6 breaths per minute with attention directed toward the heart center. The technique promotes heart rate variability and creates a sense of emotional balance and coherence.

Good Morning Breaths

These are energizing breathing patterns, a combination of extended inhalations and holds at the top of the inhale, designed to gently wake up the nervous system and prepare the body for the day ahead. The technique typically involves progressively longer breaths that help increase alertness and mental clarity.

Full Moon Breathe

This practice invites you to complete, whole, complete inhales that mirror the full, round quality of the full moon. The technique emphasizes wholeness and completion in each breath cycle, promoting a sense of fulfillment and balance.

Extended Inhales

Extended inhales help energize the nervous system and can be useful for increasing alertness and combating feelings of lethargy.

Additional Resources

Becca’s Box Breath Flow Recording

7 minutes to practice:

  • Lengthening the sides of the box

  • Shortening the sides of the box

  • Pay extra attention to allowing the abdominal muscles to soften in the retention after the inhale

Autonomic Highway

The autonomic highway defined by Sarah Baldwin is a great tool to begin to learn about your state of the nervous system and which regulating resources to use when you are feeling a certain way.

As I mentioned, I recommend printing this out and referencing it throughout the day.

4 Voo Breaths Recording

4 Voos. 2 minutes. Notice how you feel. We breathe in for 4 and voo for about 6 seconds on each.

With each voo, envision it reaching further down the abdomen with the last one encouraging engagement in the pelvic floor.

Breaking the Inhale Ceiling

This worksheet walks you through four exercises to allow for more space in your three breathing areas.

Reflection Prompts

Set a timer for 10 minutes and choose one of these prompts to write or speak to — remember you can extend your inhale at any point of the expression practice.

  1. If your inhale could speak, what would it say about feeling more welcomed and unrestricted?

  2. What parts of you have been working overtime to keep you safe through holding and bracing (physical, spiritual, and emotional) ?

  3. What stories or beliefs about worthiness and being seen might be connected to how you breathe?

  4. What is one small way you could honor your breath's request for space in the coming days?