Breathing for when you're restless
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Equal Breathing — Simple and balancing. Match your inhale and exhale length. About 1 minute.
Why this works
An even in-and-out at about 6 breaths a minute sits in the resonance window, where heart-rate variability peaks and blood pressure and breath fall into step.
Other techniques for this
- Sitali (Cooling Breath) — Inhale through a curled tongue to cool body and temper.
- Resonance Breathing — 5.5 breaths per minute for heart-brain coherence.
- Three-Part Breath (Dirga) — Fill belly, ribs, then chest. The classic full yogic breath.
- Alternate Nostril — Ancient yogic technique for balance and clarity.
- Diaphragmatic (Belly) Breathing — Deep belly breathing for oxygen efficiency and endurance.
- Ujjayi (Ocean Breath) — Soft throat constriction creates an oceanic sound.
- Screen Apnea Fix — Undo the shallow, held breathing you don't notice at the keyboard.
- Rib Room Breath — Widen the ribs sideways when there's no room left to breathe down.
- 360° Core Connection — Reconnect the diaphragm and pelvic floor before any other core work.
- Chandra Bhedana (Left-Nostril Breath) — In through the left nostril, out through the right. Cooling and quieting.
- Wind-Down Ladder — Long exhales with a soft pause - a gentle descent into sleep.
- Post-Meal Walk Breath — Nasal breathing paced to your steps on a short walk after eating.
- Cool-Down Descend — Progressively slower breathing to close out a session.
- Left-Side Settle — A sleep breath for the third trimester, lying on your left.
- Cramp-Ease Breath — Slow breathing into the low belly to take the edge off period pain.
- Paced Cooling Breath — Six breaths a minute - the paced breathing studied for hot flushes.
Feeling something else?
Stressed · Anxious · Can't Sleep · Low Energy · Unfocused · Angry · Overwhelmed · Fatigued
This is general information, not medical advice.