How to Become Aware of Your Breath
…and any emotion or tension you may be holding…with one gentle exercise! (audio included!)
A version of this article was featured on Medium on Sept. 23, 2021.
We often ask each other, “How are you feeling?”
But perhaps the better question to ask is, “How are you breathing?”
Ask yourself, right now…“How is my breathing?”
Do you have any idea how you are breathing? Do you have the capacity to notice your breath right now, in this very moment?
Did you know…
How you feel can depend greatly on how you are breathing?
Your breath can perpetuate how you feel - both physically through sensations, and emotionally through feelings.
Think about it…
When you are feeling anxious, what happens to your breath, your breathing?
What about when you are feeling sad or stressed?
Maybe it’s like this for you, too…
You become worried, overwhelmed, or anxious, your mind is spinning…
Your back becomes tense, your chest tight.
Your eyes are irritated.
Your arms and legs feel like they are jittery or racing.
Your hands and jaw are clinched.
Now…What about your breath?
What has happened to your breathing
when you experience any or all
of the sensations above?
In my experience, both personally and professionally, teaching yoga in behavioral health and substance use settings, when we feel anxious, or any negative emotion, our breathing stops, it pauses, somewhere in our body. Our breath (our life-giving oxygen) doesn’t make it all the way inside to expand the diaphragm or belly or to reach our fingers, toes, our spirit and cells that are craving that breath.
Maybe you’ve experienced your breath stopping somewhere around your throat or collarbone, or maybe somewhere around the top of your chest, above or around your heart.
How does that feel, the experience of a short, tight, shallow, or tense breath?
Can you imagine, for a moment, what it feels like for your breath to enter through your nose or mouth and then stop at your collarbone or the top of your chest? What does this stopping, pausing, or holding of breath do to your physical body? Your mental or emotional state?
Are you able to feel sensations and develop a mindset of expansion, abundance, joy, or peace when you aren’t breathing fully? Probably not!
What can you do?
It’s quite magical when you think about it…our breath is always (ALWAYS) with us. We can use the breath to bring peace into our worlds. It takes practice, but it works, and breathing is a practice we can do absolutely any time.*
Self-Guided Workshop: Noticing Breath, Noticing Tension*
Tools Needed (some or all):
journal, blank paper
pens, pencils, pastels, paints
a quiet space for contemplation and working
Feel free to pause this 11 minute audio before you begin the exercise, when directed, or whenever it feels right, so you can make notes in your journal.
Practice 🧘🏻♀️
In a safe, quiet, and comfortable place, relax, soften, or close your eyes.
Imagine for a few moments what causes you to tighten your breath. Imagine what causes you to breathe in a shallow, tense way.
Next, imagine yourself taking a deep breath…imagine inhaling fully into your chest, your diaphragm, your belly…imagine exhaling, allowing a full release of your belly, lungs, thoughts, and emotions that are not helpful to you in this moment.
When you feel ready, allow yourself to begin to really notice your breath. There’s no need to change the way you are breathing, just begin to notice that you are breathing.
Where does the breath travel within your body? Does it go into your chest, stop there, then exit? Does it move in through your chest to your belly, core, or somewhere else?
Do you feel tight or tense anywhere in the body, such as your chest, back, shoulders, hands, jaw?
As you breathe, see if you can begin to inhale a little more fully and exhale with a gentle sense of release.
Breathe in this way for as long as it feels comfortable, and as you do, bring an awareness to the tense, tight areas of your body, and notice if, with each exhale, those areas begin to loosen or release.
When the mind takes you away from your breath, and it will (over and over and over again!), say to yourself — “Stop” or “Pause” or “Peace” or “No” or any word that will interrupt the chatter — and return to an awareness of your breath, your chest, your belly, your shoulders, your jaw.
Continue to allow yourself to focus on your breath, your inhale and exhale, and the way your body feels when you are aware of your breathing. Do this as long as you like.
When you feel ready, you may like to take a deep breath in and stretch parts of your body. Exhale fully and stretch a little more.
You may like to acknowledge that you have just taken good care of yourself.
And then, when it feels right, thank yourself for practicing breath and body awareness.
Consider writing some notes on how and what you felt during this practice.
Prompts ✒️
What did you notice about your breath during this exercise? Did it travel to a certain place in your body and then stop or pause there? Or could you feel it move from your nose or mouth all the way through your body, expanding your lungs, belly…reaching your fingers, toes, spirit, cells?
What feelings or emotions were you experiencing before you began this exercise? What are your feelings, emotions, sensations, breathing like now that you have finished? Are there any noticeable changes or shifts in your thinking or feeling?
How does your body feel right now? Did you notice you were holding some tension or tightness in your body, and if so, were you able to release or soften these areas of your body through this breathing exercise?
If you found this exercise to be helpful in changing your breath, or shifting your mood or physical sensations, can you turn this into a new daily habit, setting a specific time to practice breath awareness each day?
Final thoughts…
If you’re not in the habit of observing your breath on a regular basis, I encourage you to add it to your daily routine.
Being aware of your breath, how it enters your body, where it flows inside you, is such an easy way to understand how you are feeling and what you need in order to move through your day with more ease and peace, a greater connection to yourself, and a deeper knowing of your potential and purpose.
As a person who has a history of experiencing anxiety…getting to know my body and breath has been a saving grace for my mood, releasing tensions in my body, inviting peace into my days, and connecting more deeply to my loved ones.
I leave you with a poem on my experience of breath…
breath lost
finding my breath
when i didn’t know it was missing
seems a great, unending task
so…
i shall sit
i shall surrender
i shall survive
in the pleasure of knowing
my breath is here always
if only i pause and close my eyes
xoxo Michelle
*above poem & breath practice from Fear and Musings: a journey from anxiety to peace through poetry, prayer, and practice…by Michelle Crider
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