The Art of Breathing: Conscious Breathing for Conscious Living – Part Two

Read Part 1 Consciously focusing on your breathing opens you to insights on how your whole body is responding to your inner and outer world. While deeper breathing may help alleviate anxiety, another way to calm an overactive stress response system is to breathe through the nose. Because nasal passages are narrower, breathing is slowed and the parasympathetic nervous system is engaged, allowing for a “rest and digest” state of being. With practice, consciously using both abdominal and nasal breathing will, over time, become the default way you normally breathe, allowing for a calmer state of mind and body, in each and every moment. Practicing other breathing techniques will help support overall health, as well as be at the ready when you find yourself in a stressful situation that requires even more breath support. One of these techniques, used by