Come Home to Your Breath

Your Breath Is Powerful

It is your constant connection to the world around you. Each inhale enlivens your body, and each exhale guides you closer to your essential nature—your soul.

We enter this world with an inhale and leave it with an exhale. In between, we experience hundreds of millions of mini births and deaths—each one an opportunity for renewal.

Your breath is also the bridge between your physical body and your energetic Self. When we move and think at the pace of our breath, we are balanced and grounded. When we don’t, we tend to be caught in our heads—reactive and untethered.

Here are a few simple breathing, or pranayama, practices to strengthen your lungs and bring you back into balance:

1. Belly Breathing

Place your left hand on your heart and your right hand on your belly. With each inhale, fill the belly first, then the chest—navel to nose.
With each exhale, empty the chest first, then the belly—nose to navel.
It’s like filling and emptying a pitcher of water.

2. Equal Part Breaths

Breathe in to a count of four, and out to a count of four.
To feel even more grounded, extend the exhale: inhale for four counts, exhale for six.

3. Breath with Pauses

Introduce a pause at the top and bottom of each breath.
Let yourself rest in absolute stillness.
In that stillness, notice what arises.

4. Alternate Nostril Breathing

Using your right hand, place your thumb on your right nostril and your ring finger on your left. Tuck your index and middle fingers gently toward your palm.

• Close the left nostril and inhale through the right.
• Close the right nostril and exhale through the left.
• Inhale through the left, then switch again—close the left and exhale through the right.

Continue alternating, switching nostrils after each exhale.
This practice balances the nervous system and enlivens your third eye.

There are many beautiful breath practices to explore. Choose energizing techniques when you need to ignite vitality, calming ones to quiet the mind and ground your energy, and balancing practices to harmonize the yin and yang within you.

Your breath is always here—ready to support whatever you need in the moment.