8 Breathing Practices to Settle Big Emotions
Having a daily breathing practice can be beneficial for settling big emotions with they occur. Practice these breathing techniques in a calm quiet space. Taking time to breathe gives us time for calm. “As is the breath, so is the mind.”
Gratitude Breathing
Begin in Easy Pose
Breathe in and reach up your arms up over your head
Name something you are grateful for, “I am grateful for ME!”
Bring hands together, palms touching over head
Breathing out, bring hands to heart center
Send thoughts of gratitude out to the universe
Countdown to Calm:
Take a deep in breath and extend all 5 fingers of your hand.
Breath out and place one finger down at a time, counting down from 5 to 1 slowly.
Repeat 5x in a row.
Practice every day.
Use when not calm feelings arise
Breathe the Universe:
Stand with feet apart and arms by your sides in Mountain Pose – take 3 deep breaths
Inhale and come up on to toes and raise arms (Candle Flame Pose)
Exhale and come back to stand (Repeat 3-5 times)
Returning to Mountain Pose, breathe in deep and raise arms up over your head
Breathe out and bend down and sigh “Ahhhh!” as you fold forward
Breathe in again and picture gathering up the entire universe in your arms
Come back to standing and imagine all the stars and planets shining down over you.
Bend forward and breathe out and sigh “Ahhh!”
Repeat as many times as necessary
End in standing Mountain Pose and take 3 slow breathes
Breathe in Peace, Breathe out Calm
Counting Breath
Find a comfortable place to sit or lay down.
It only takes a minute or two for you to connect with the breath.
As the breath slows and becomes long and gentle, so does the mind.
Notice your breathing for a few moments and just settle in.
Then begin to inhale to the count of 4, exhale to the count of 4.
Repeat a few times until feeling calm, or the breath count becomes longer on the exhale.
Reach for the Sun Breathing:
Stand up with feet slightly further then hips distance apart
Bend your elbows and bring forearms to waist, making gentle fists with hands
Breathe in and reach up, look up
Breathe out with a loud “Ha!” as you bring your arms back to waist
Repeat a few times, being mindful of any lightheadedness. If lightheadedness occurs, resume normal breathing. The brain is receiving too much oxygen too fast, which is energizing, but also can be uncomfortable.
Count to 10 Breathing:
Begin with an Inhale and count 1
Exhale and count 2
Inhale and count 3
Repeat all the way to 10
When you get to 10, go back down to 1
Inhale on odd numbers, Exhale on even ones.
End on Zero, exhale
Count and breathe up to 10 and down to 0 as many times as you like.
Bumble Bee Breathing
Breathe in and on the exhale HUM
Try it with eyes closed
Try it with hands over the ears
Try it with both eyes closed and hands over the ears
Notice how you feel
Balanced Breathing
Balance out the inhales and exhales of your gentle breathing cycle.
Inhale and count 1, Exhale and count 1.
Inhale and count 1, 2, Exhale and count 2, 1.
Repeat with counting to 3 on an inhale and back from 3 on an exhale.
Try counting to up to 4, 5, 6 and 7, and back down again until you find a balance breathing cycle that you can maintain.
Breathing with balance for as long as you like.
Other Resources:
Ms. Brandon, RCYT, RYT500, holds a Master's degree in Special Education from Western Carolina University, is a highly qualified educator, and has 20 years' experience working with children and children with special needs. Information for this resource page come from Ms. Brandon’s 95 hour Children’s Yoga Teacher Training RCYS, and is approved by Yoga Alliance.
