Somatic Breathwork: 5 Easy Ways to Regulate Your Nervous System and Feel Safe in Your Body
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- 14 min read
Somatic Breathwork: 5 Easy Ways to Regulate Your Nervous System and Feel Safe in Your Body
If your nervous system feels overwhelmed, tense, or overstimulated, somatic breathwork offers a simple way to regulate your body using conscious breathing. Somatic breathwork combines breathing exercises with body awareness to support nervous system regulation, reduce physical tension, and improve mental health in everyday life.
Unlike traditional breathwork practices that focus on performance or long sessions, somatic breathing exercises are designed for real moments, between tasks, during stress, or when your body needs a reset. These breathing techniques work directly with the autonomic nervous system, helping shift the body from stress responses into calmer, parasympathetic states.This approach really helped me when I was struggling with constant anxiety and living almost entirely in my head, never feeling fully safe in my body. Learning how to work with my breath gave me a way back into my body and changed how I experience stress.
In this guide, you’ll learn practical somatic breathwork techniques you can use anywhere to support emotional regulation, reduce stress hormones, lower physical tension, and improve both physical and mental health.
Table of Contents
Quick Somatic Breathwork You Can Do Right Now
If you landed here looking for straightforward, quick and easy breathing exercises that actually help in the moment, start here. You don’t need special tools, long rituals, or perfect conditions. You just need one minute of conscious breathing.
Try one of these simple somatic breathing exercises now:
Feel your feet on the ground. Notice the floor beneath you and the weight of your body. Wiggle your toes to bring your awareness down toward the earth. Take one slow breath in through your nose, feel the sensation of the warm breath.
Soften your jaw and face. Unclench your teeth, relax your tongue, and exhale slowly through your mouth. Let your exhale be even longer than your inhale. Slow breathing with extended exhales helps activate the parasympathetic nervous system.
Place your hands on your chest. Feel it rise with your inhale and fall on the exhale. Notice the light pressure of your hand on your chest, reminding you that you're safe and present. This is somatic breathing: Breath paired with physical awareness.
Pair with a mantra Continue to breathe slowly and with control and remind yourself, "I'm safe". Feel your chest rising with each inhale. Take only 5 more deep inhales paired with exhales as you keep reminding yourself that you are safe.
Somatic breathwork only works when you practice it. Reading about conscious breathing won’t regulate your nervous system — doing it will. Before continuing, set a one-minute timer and stay with your breath until it rings.
If you’re new to breathwork practices, feeling overwhelmed, or supporting your mental health through gentle somatic therapy tools, you’re in the right place. This isn’t about doing breathing techniques perfectly. It’s about helping your body feel safe enough to slow down.
What Is Somatic Breathwork?
Somatic breathwork is a breathing practice that combines conscious breathing with body awareness to support nervous system regulation. At its core, it is breath paired with attention to physical sensations in the body.
The word somatic comes from the Greek soma, meaning body. When practicing somatic breathing exercises, the focus is not just on moving air through the lungs, but on noticing how breath affects the physical body, including the expansion of the rib cage, changes in heart rate, and the release of muscle tension through slow breathing.
Unlike performance-based breathing techniques, somatic breathing emphasizes conscious awareness rather than doing it “right.” The goal is not transcendence, but reconnection. It supports the mind body connection by bringing awareness back to present-moment bodily sensations.
Somatic breathwork practices are gentle, grounding, and suitable for daily life. These simple breathing exercises can be used during moments of stress, emotional overwhelm, or mental fatigue to support mental health, emotional balance, and nervous system regulation.
Many people turn to somatic breathwork in real-life moments, such as before difficult conversations, while lying awake with racing thoughts, or when the nervous system feels overloaded. In these moments, intentional breathing helps the body settle, restore a sense of safety, and return to regulation.
If you’re drawn to somatic breathwork, you may also resonate with somatic yoga as a complementary practice. I explore somatic yoga as an embodied, nervous system–aware approach to movement and breath in a separate post focused on presence, regulation, and allowing yourself to feel good in your body.
How Somatic Breathwork Helps Regulate the Nervous System
What makes breathwork so powerful is its connection to the nervous system. The nervous system shapes how we respond to stress, how we breathe, and how safe we feel in our bodies. When you work with your breath, you’re gently reminding your body that it’s okay to settle and soften. Somatic breathwork influences the autonomic nervous system, which controls breathing, heart rate, digestion, and the body’s stress response.
When the sympathetic nervous system is activated, the body enters fight, flight, or freeze mode. Stress hormones increase, muscles tighten, heart rate and blood pressure rise, and breathing becomes shallow. The parasympathetic nervous system supports rest and recovery, slowing breathing, lowering blood pressure, and allowing the body to return to regulation.
Somatic breathwork uses conscious breathing and body awareness to help shift the nervous system from sympathetic activation into parasympathetic regulation. Breathing techniques that emphasize slow breathing, diaphragmatic breathing, and longer exhales stimulate the vagus nerve, signaling safety to the body.
Even short breathing exercises can be effective. Research shows that 60–90 seconds of slow, controlled breathing can reduce stress hormones, improve heart rate variability, and promote relaxation at a physiological level.
Through repeated somatic breathing exercises, the respiratory system learns safety, making it easier for the body to regulate during stress — supporting emotional regulation, mental health, and physical health.
My Mental Health Journey Through Holistic Healing
My journey into holistic healing began after years of searching for support that medication alone never seemed to provide. Even when I was taking my prescriptions consistently and trying different combinations, I still experienced some of my hardest breakdowns. I want to be clear that I’m not anti medication. I know it can be supportive and even life saving for many people. But for me personally, it wasn’t giving me the relief or stability I needed, and that left me feeling frustrated and stuck.
Over time, I began to notice that many of my struggles were tied to how I was living in my body and responding to stress in my everyday life. I was carrying chronic diagnoses, constant anxiety, and a deep sense of disconnection that medication didn’t touch. That realization pushed me to start looking at my nervous system, my breath, and the patterns I was repeating.
Everything began to shift when I learned how to embody my healing. Through yoga, breathwork, and somatic practices, spirituality stopped being something I understood intellectually and became something I experienced physically. Training as a yoga teacher deepened this work, helping me understand nervous system regulation, embodied awareness, and how breath can support lasting change.
Holistic healing, for me, became an integrated practice of mind, body, breath, and Spirit working together. Learning how to regulate my nervous system transformed my relationship with mental health and gave me a sense of mental freedom that continues to support me in daily life.
Benefits of Somatic Breathwork for the Nervous System
Somatic breathwork supports nervous system regulation by combining conscious breathing with awareness of physical sensations in the body. Unlike generic breathing exercises, somatic breathwork focuses on how breath affects muscle tension, emotional responses, and the autonomic nervous system in real time.
Over time, practicing somatic breathing and somatic breathing exercises can help reduce stress hormones, release physical tension held in the body, and support both mental health and physical health. These breathwork practices encourage conscious awareness of the breath, helping shift the body out of stress responses and into states of calm, balance, and emotional regulation.
Breathwork is one way to regulate the body, but it’s part of a bigger picture. I’ve written more about how to reset your nervous system using gentle, everyday practices that support long-term regulation and balance.
Many of the ideas in this post are explored more deeply in my book Embracing the Sacred Flow, where we weave together somatic practices you can use anywhere and learn how to build an authetic spiritual practice that helps you feel safe and at home in your body, anytime.
5 Somatic Breathwork Techniques You Can Do Anywhere
Here are a few more deep breathing techniques that you can do.
1. Nadi Shodhana (Alternate Nostril Breath) for Balancing
This is my favorite one. I keep coming back to Nadi Shodhana because it feels like a neural reset — like someone gently untangling the knots in my mind.
Nadi Shodhana comes from yoga philosophy, where it’s believed to balance the left and right energy channels (ida and pingala nadis) that run along the spine. In more practical terms, it seems to harmonize the two hemispheres of the brain, calming racing thoughts and creating a sense of mental clarity and equilibrium.
How to practice:
Sit comfortably. Let your left hand rest on your knee.
Bring your right hand up. Use your thumb to close your right nostril, and your ring finger to close your left nostril.
Close your right nostril with your thumb. Inhale slowly through your left nostril for about 4 counts.
Close your left nostril with your ring finger (both nostrils now closed). Brief pause.
Release your right nostril. Exhale slowly through the right for 4 counts.
Inhale through the right nostril for 4 counts.
Close the right, release the left. Exhale through the left for 4 counts.
That’s one full cycle. Repeat 5-10 cycles, or for 1-3 minutes.
How it feels: Thoughts start to smooth out. There’s often a sense of coming into the center of yourself — not too activated, not too sluggish. A quiet steadiness.
When to use it: Before ritual work, tarot pulls, journaling, or bed. Anytime you feel scattered or need to transition from one energy to another.
Benefits: Supports focus and heightened awareness, reduces spiraling thoughts and anxiety, balances the autonomic nervous system, and helps you drop into centered presence for spiritual work. It’s particularly lovely before moon rituals when you want to be fully present.
2. Elongated Exhale (The One-Minute Calm-Down)
This is the most discreet technique — you can do it in a meeting, on public transit, anywhere. Nobody will notice. It’s your secret reset button.
The science is simple: when you exhale longer than you inhale, you activate the parasympathetic nervous system. The exhale is what signals safety. It lowers blood pressure, slows the heart, and begins to quiet the body’s stress response.
How to practice:
Breathe in through your nose for 3-4 counts (don’t force it).
Breathe out through your nose or mouth for 6-8 counts — longer than the inhale.
Repeat for at least one minute.
Set a literal 60-second timer. Commit to staying with the breath until it rings. A minute is nothing — and also longer than you think when you’re truly present.
How it feels: Shoulders drop. Jaw softens. Belly loosens. You might notice your heart rate gently slowing. It’s like the volume on everything turns down one notch.
When to use it: Mid-anxiety, when anger flares, during a stressful workday, while trying to fall asleep, or anytime the day feels chaotic.
Benefits: Calms acute anxiety, softens reactivity, promotes restful sleep, offers quick stress reduction, and helps manage stress in real-time situations. This is rhythmic breathing at its simplest and most effective.
3. Hand-on-Heart and Belly Breathing (Diaphragmatic Breathing)
This is another great one. I've also heard it refered to as "3d breath" as this one really emphasizes expanding your diagraghm. one that feels like holding yourself. It’s especially powerful for sensitive nervous systems, after difficult conversations, during shadow work, or whenever you need to feel safe in your own skin.
Belly breathing (also called diaphragmatic breathing) is foundational to all somatic work. When you add the physical touch of hands on heart and belly, you’re layering in self-soothing and deepening the felt sense of being held.
How to practice:
Sit or lie down comfortably.
Place one hand on your heart. Place the other hand on your lower belly.
Inhale slowly through your nose, letting your belly rise into your hand. Your chest stays relatively still.
Exhale softly, feeling your belly fall.
Continue for 1-3 minutes.
If you’d like, add a simple phrase on the exhale: “I am here.” “I’m allowed to slow down.” “I am safe in my body.” This is connected breathing with gentle intention.
How it feels: Warmth under your palms. The sensation of your own heartbeat settling. A growing sense of safety — of being “held” even when you’re alone.
When to use it: After emotional conversations, during inner child work, when feeling lonely or anxious, after lots of screen time, or before connecting with Spirit in ritual.
Benefits: Supports emotional regulation, soothes attachment anxiety, helps release trapped emotions, reconnects you with bodily sensations after dissociation, and deepens your relationship with your heart space and Spirit.
4. Box Breathing for Clear, Steady Focus
Box breathing is structured and rhythmic — which makes it perfect for moments when your mind feels scattered, jumpy, or chaotic. It creates a sense of containment and order that many people find deeply calming.
This controlled breathing pattern is used by everyone from Navy SEALs to therapists to people just trying to get through their workday. It works because the equal counts and breath holds create a predictable rhythm that the nervous system can relax into.
How to practice:
Inhale for 4 counts.
Hold your breath for 4 counts (gentle hold, not straining).
Exhale for 4 counts.
Hold empty for 4 counts.
Repeat for 1-3 minutes.
If 4 counts feels too long (especially if you’re very anxious), try 3 counts instead. You can also visualize tracing the four sides of a square as you breathe — this adds a simple visual anchor for wandering minds.
How it feels: Like building a calm inner container. Thoughts become more orderly. Scattered energy consolidates into focused presence.
When to use it: Before difficult conversations, during workdays, while studying, before spellwork or journaling, or anytime you need mental clarity and steady focus.
Benefits: Improves concentration, steadies the nervous system, supports emotional balance before challenging tasks, and works beautifully as a grounding ritual before any spiritual practice. It’s one of the most versatile breathing patterns for both physical and mental health.
5. Sighing Breath Release (Tension Melting on the Exhale)
I love this one because a little dramatic yet deeply satisfying. The sighing breath is perfect when your body feels tight from stress, overthinking, or holding physical tension all day. Think of is as a "sigh of relief".
Research on the human respiratory system shows that physiological sighs (the kind your body does naturally when you’re relieved or releasing) help reset your breathing patterns and signal safety to the nervous system. This technique just makes that sigh intentional.
How to practice:
Inhale through your nose or mouth — a full, deep breath.
Let out a long, audible sigh through your mouth. Like a relieved “haaaaah.”
Let your shoulders drop. Let your face soften.
Repeat 3-7 times.
If you feel the urge to roll your shoulders, stretch, shake out your hands — do it. That’s your body releasing. That’s everyday magick in motion, moving stuck energy through the physical body.
When to use it: After closing your laptop, stepping out of a stressful environment, transitioning into evening ritual or rest, or anytime you catch yourself holding your breath.
Benefits: Quickly discharges pent-up physical tension, signals safety to the nervous system, improves mood, and creates a mini “reset portal” between tasks or roles. It’s especially good for releasing physical manifestations of stress that accumulate throughout daily life.
The Healing Power of Weaving Breathwork into Daily Life
One thing that i enjoy about breathwork is that these practices are meant to live inside your real life, not only on the mat or at the altar. If you are feeling overwhelmed, you can take one minute to step aside and do these techniques. The benefits of somatic breathwork show up most powerfully when you weave breathing breaks into the ordinary moments of your day.
Try attaching breath awareness to moments you already have:
Daily Anchor | Breathing Practice to Try |
Waiting for the kettle to boil | 5-10 elongated exhales |
Standing in line anywhere | Box breathing, 3 rounds |
Before opening social media | Hand on heart, 3 deep breaths |
During your commute | Nadi Shodhana (if you have a free hand) |
When you catch yourself clenching your jaw | One big sighing exhale |
Before bed | Belly breathing for 2 minutes |
You can set phone reminders with gentle messages: “One minute to breathe.” “Come back to your body.” “Soften.”Think of these as invitations, not demands. Your nervous system responds better to kindness than to pressure.
For those of us practicing seasonal magick, somatic breathwork becomes another way to attune to natural cycles. In autumn, I find myself drawn to deeper grounding breaths — longer exhales, more belly breathing. In spring, I might add more energizing practices or rapid breaths followed by stillness. The breath, like everything else, can follow the Wheel of the Year.
Here’s what I want you to really take away from this: one honest minute of mindful breathing, repeated over time, is more transformative than waiting for the “perfect” 30-minute practice you never actually do. Small and consistent techniques are what will change your practice.
When Breathwork Feels Hard (And How to Be Gentle With Yourself)
I want to normalize something: somatic exercises can feel confronting in a way. But I promise you this Sometimes when you slow down and start paying attention to physical sensations, emotions surface. Old tension reveals itself. You might feel dizzy, resistant, bored, or suddenly tearful. But here's the thing: Keep using your tools if you want to change your life.
This is especially true for trauma survivors, highly sensitive people, or anyone whose nervous system has been in overdrive for a long time. The body isn’t used to slowing down. It might interpret stillness as dangerous at first. For many years, I didn't know how to exist while being still. It will feel uncomfortable, but know that logically, this is what your body needs.
Some gentle safety guidelines:
Keep your eyes open if closing them feels unsafe
Shorten the breath counts — 2 counts is fine
Return to normal breathing anytime you feel overwhelmed
If intense emotions surface repeatedly, consider working with a trauma-informed physical therapist, somatic therapist, or breathwork facilitator
There were times I couldn’t slow my breath at all. Counting made me more anxious. In those moments, somatic practice helped. I would notice my feet on the ground or take one softer exhale without trying to control it. Sometimes breath awareness is simply noticing the breath you’re already taking.
Nervous system regulation takes time, and mental health symptoms do not shift overnight. The healing power of conscious breathing exercises builds slowly.
If breathwork feels too confronting, add grounding. Hold a stone, touch a plant, place your feet on the earth, or whisper an intention to Spirit. This is holistic healing. It takes work, but it is worth it.
Return to Your Breath, and Return to Yourself.
If this somatic breathwork guide supported you, I’m so happy to hear that. Keep in mind that the real shift comes from practice. Nervous system regulation isn’t about forcing calm. It’s about consistently teaching your body that it’s safe to soften. A few conscious breaths each day can lower stress hormones, support mental health, and help you return to your body when stress takes over.
If you want to go deeper into embodied healing and spiritual yoga, I explore these practices more fully in my book Embracing the Sacred Flow, where we weave together somatic tools you can use anywhere to feel safe and at home in your body.
For those walking a spiritual path, this is everyday healing. Somatic breathwork reconnects you to your physical body and to Spirit through presence. It’s simple, but it works.
Choose one technique from this article and commit to even just a few breaths per day. Use these techniques when you are feeling chaotic, and I promise over time you will start to notice the difference in yourself. Change is possible, but it requires showing up for yourself.
Your breath is always available. One steady exhale can be the doorway back to safety.
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