Breathe to Shift: How Simple Breathwork Can Transform Your State in Minutes

In our busy, overstimulated world, it’s easy to feel hijacked by stress, scattered by overthinking, or disconnected from our bodies. But you can regain control - physically, mentally, and emotionally - in just a few minutes, without needing a therapist, a pill, or a yoga mat. The key lies in something you’re already doing: breathing.

The Power of Regulating Your Breath

Your breath is one of the only bodily functions that is both automatic and voluntary. That means it sits right at the crossroads between your unconscious stress responses and your conscious awareness. By changing how you breathe, you can shift your state on demand - calming anxiety, boosting focus, energising your body, or even preparing for restful sleep. This isn’t just “relaxation.” It’s biochemistry.

Breathwork can:

• Regulate your nervous system

• Change your hormonal balance—reducing cortisol and increasing oxytocin

• Improve heart rate variability (HRV), a key marker of resilience

• Stimulate your vagus nerve, which connects brain, heart, lungs, and gut
  

Get in touch with your vagus nerve

Breathwork can quickly impact the vagus nerve - the longest cranial nerve in your body, running from your brainstem down through your lungs, heart, diaphragm, and gut. It plays a central role in your parasympathetic nervous system - the branch responsible for rest, digestion, recovery, and emotional regulation. Stimulating the vagus nerve through slow breathing, sound, and movement can powerfully shift your internal state in just a few minutes.

Why Nasal Breathing Matters

Most breath practices start with a simple instruction: breathe through your nose, because: 

• Nasal breathing releases nitric oxide, which improves oxygen uptake and opens airways

• It encourages air to travel deeper into the lungs and belly

• It slows the breath, reducing anxiety and increasing oxygen efficiency
  

Breath Practices for Every State

Use the this guide to choose a breathing technique depending on how you feel—or how you want to feel. Whether you need to calm, balance, or stimulate your system, these practices offer rapid and reliable tools to change your state on demand.

Calming Practices

Practice	Instructions	Physiological Impact & Benefits
Cadence Breathing	Inhale (nose): 3 sec Hold: 3 sec Exhale: 6 sec Hold: 3 sec Repeat for 10 minutes.	Balancing – Resets autonomic rhythm. Lowers baseline anxiety and enhances clarity.
Alternate / Unilateral Nostril Breathing	Step 1: Close right nostril, inhale through left (3 sec), hold (3 sec), exhale through right (6 sec). Step 2: Close left nostril, inhale through right, hold, exhale through left. Repeat 4–6 rounds.	Balancing – Harmonises brain hemispheres. Helps with overthinking, emotional swings, and sleep.
Diaphragmatic Breathing	Hand on chest and belly. Inhale (nose): 4 sec into abdomen Hold: 2 sec Exhale (mouth): 6 sec Repeat gently.	Balancing – Strengthens vagal tone and encourages abdominal awareness. Reduces shallow breathing and mental agitation.