Welcome to my video blog this week. Today, I’ll be sharing another mindful breathing exercise. Breath practices can be a powerful way to modulate stress by helping to calm and sooth our agitated nervous system. This breath is called the strengthening breath but I call it the weird twisty breath. It meets my two criteria for mindful breath practices: 1) It has steps to follow, which helps to keep us anchored mindfully in the here and now, and 2) It gently extends the exhalation, which shifts the ratio of carbon dioxide to oxygen and encourages our nervous system to calm. When I was first learning the weird twisty breath in yoga teacher training, I was skeptical and thought it was, well, weird. After practicing it, I loved it and now enjoy teaching it to others. It’s weird but it’s a great practice!
Check out the video below for a demonstration of this weird and wonderful breath practice:
What was your experience of the strengthening breath practice? Were you able to focus while doing this breath practice? Did you find it pleasant or easy or calming? If so, I encourage you to play around with the strengthening breath. Most people find this breath practice to be calming and soothing When I practice strengthening breath, it tends to quiet my mind, which is a great thing in my busy life.
Happy breathing!
Dr. Jen
P.S. Did you miss my other mindful breathing practices? Please check them out:
