3 Breathwork Techniques to Reduce Daily Stress

If you often feel like your mind is racing, your chest is tight, or you’re carrying tension that won’t let go—know that you’re not alone. And also know: there’s a simple, accessible way to begin releasing that stress. Your breath.

In this post, I’ll walk you through three breathwork techniques to reduce stress that you can start using today. These aren’t complicated. They don’t require anything fancy. Just a few moments of intention and the willingness to pause.

These are the same techniques I use in my private sessions and virtual classes to help clients shift from overwhelmed to grounded. They’ve supported my own healing journey from high-functioning anxiety to feeling calm, clear, and empowered in my body and life.

Let’s breathe.

Why Breathwork Is So Effective for Stress

Breathwork is more than deep breathing. It’s the intentional use of your breath to influence your physical, emotional, and energetic state. It activates the parasympathetic nervous system—your body’s "rest and digest" mode—which helps reduce cortisol levels, ease tension, and create space for clarity.

In other words: breathwork tells your body you’re safe.

And when your body feels safe, your mind can stop spinning, your shoulders can drop, and you can reconnect to your present moment power.

3 Breathwork Techniques to Reduce Stress

Let’s dive into the three most effective breathwork techniques to reduce stress that you can do anytime, anywhere.

1. The Sighing Exhale (2-3 minutes)

This is the quickest way to create an instant shift in your nervous system.

How to do it:

• Inhale through your nose for a count of four.

• Hold at the top for a moment.

• Exhale out of your mouth with a big audible sigh (really let it out!).

• Repeat for 2–3 minutes.

Why it works: Sighing tells the body it’s safe to relax. This intentional exhale helps release pressure, resets your nervous system, and brings you back into your body. Use this technique when you’re in a tense meeting, stuck in traffic, or need to transition between tasks.

2. The 4-7-8 Breath (3-5 minutes)

This calming breath is excellent before bed, after a stressful conversation, or anytime your thoughts feel too loud.

How to do it:

• Inhale through your nose for 4 seconds.

• Hold your breath for 7 seconds.

• Exhale slowly through your mouth for 8 seconds.

• Repeat this cycle for 3 to 5 minutes.

Why it works: The extended exhale activates your parasympathetic nervous system, signaling your brain and body to slow down. It’s a gentle way to release tension and come back into a state of equilibrium.

3. The 2-Part Active Breath (10 minutes + rest)

This is the technique I use most often in my breathwork sessions. Click here to join an upcoming Breathwork Class from the comfort of your home.

It’s powerful, energizing, and deeply healing. This active form of breathing can help you de-stress, process stored memories and emotional blocks in the body, and experience improved self-awareness and mental clarity.

How to do it:

• Inhale through your mouth into the belly. 

• Exhale through the mouth. 

• Continue this belly–exhale rhythm for 8 to 10 minutes. 

• Return to a normal breath and rest for 5 minutes.

Why it works: This breath floods your body with oxygen, clears out emotional stagnation, and activates powerful energetic shifts. Many people experience tingling sensations, emotional releases, or clarity around something they didn’t even know they were holding.

If you’re new to this breath, start slowly and listen to your body. Lying down is best, and having music or a guided practice can enhance the experience.

Real Talk: Why We Hold Our Breath

Most of us don’t even realize how often we hold our breath or breathe shallowly throughout the day. We do it when we check emails, get a difficult text, or feel overwhelmed. Over time, this creates chronic tension, fatigue, and disconnection from our bodies.

That’s why daily breathwork is so powerful. It helps you:

• Reconnect with your body and intuition

• Release stress that’s stored in your nervous system

• Create space for joy, clarity, and presence

You don’t need to wait until you burn out to pause and breathe.

How Breathwork Changed My Life

Before I found breathwork, I was constantly in go-mode. I was doing all the things—working in entertainment, trying to keep up, trying to prove myself. From the outside, I looked successful. But inside, I felt anxious, disconnected, and exhausted.

Then I found breathwork.

My first session was a revelation. My body shook, my hands cramped, and tears poured out of me. I had no idea how much I had been holding in until I finally let it go.

Now, this practice is at the center of everything I do—and everything I teach. Because when we breathe, we heal. We remember who we are beneath the pressure. We come home to ourselves.

Breathing Has a Direct Impact on How You Think and Feel

When you engage in intentional breathing, it...

• Releases feel-good hormones and endorphins to improve your mood

• Tells your mind you're okay so your body can relax and let go of stress and anxiety

• Clears your head and allows you to establish a focused mindset

• Opens up energy channels and lessens physical pain and tension

• Gives you space to heal from grief and trauma

Even just five minutes of breathing can decrease physical and emotional stress.

Download my free Relax Your Mind and Body Meditation and try it today. Your breath is your superpower—it’s time to start using it.

Ready to Experience How Breathwork Helps Ease Stress?

Stress may be a part of modern life, but chronic overwhelm doesn’t have to be your norm. These breathwork techniques to reduce stress are a powerful and always-available way to return to your center.

Start with just a few minutes a day.

Notice how you feel.

And let your breath show you the way back to peace.

To help you get started, I invite you to explore one of my offerings:

• Join a virtual breathwork class to breathe, relax and release in community

• Book a private healing session for personalized support for your journey

Happy breathing!

How Breathwork Helps with Anxiety: My Journey from High-Functioning Stress to Inner Calm

For years, I lived with high-functioning anxiety. On the outside, I looked successful—thriving in the entertainment industry, checking off every achievement. But internally? I was overwhelmed, disconnected, and silently struggling to keep it all together.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but my nervous system was constantly in overdrive. I was stuck in survival mode—always bracing, always pushing, always proving. I was successful, but I couldn’t breathe.

And then, breathwork found me.

What Is Breathwork and Why Does It Help with Anxiety?

Breathwork is a powerful, science-backed practice that uses intentional breathing techniques to regulate the nervous system, reduce stress, and calm an anxious mind. It activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is the part of your body responsible for rest, healing, and emotional balance.

If you’ve been feeling stuck in “go mode,” breathwork may be exactly what your body is craving.

My First Breathwork Session Changed Everything

I didn’t go looking for breathwork. It found me at a time when I was exhausted, burned out, and desperate for something to shift.

During my first session, I had a physical and emotional release I didn’t even know I needed. My hands cramped. My body trembled. Tears flowed without warning. It was like my nervous system was finally exhaling after years of holding everything in.

And for the first time in what felt like forever…

My mind was still.

My body felt soft.

I could finally breathe.

How Breathwork Helped My Anxiety (and Changed My Life)

I didn’t just feel better after that first session—I felt different. More present. More grounded. More me.

As I made breathwork a regular practice, I started to notice powerful changes, including:

• Less anxiety and mental chatter

• More clarity and inner peace

• Deeper connection to my body and intuition

• The ability to rest without guilt

• A sense of emotional safety I’d never experienced before

I was no longer just surviving. I was finally living.

The Science Behind How Breathwork Helps Anxiety

When we’re anxious, our breath becomes shallow and fast. This sends signals to the brain that we’re in danger, keeping us stuck in a stress response.

Breathwork reverses that cycle.

By using rhythmic, conscious breathing, we calm the nervous system, regulate cortisol levels, and interrupt anxious thought patterns. It’s a full-body reset—no medication required.

Studies have shown that regular breathwork practices:

• Decrease symptoms of anxiety and depression

• Improve sleep and emotional resilience

• Reduce heart rate and lower blood pressure

• Enhance focus and mental clarity

From Burnout to Purpose: Why I Now Guide Others

After breathwork transformed my life, I felt called to help others find the same relief and healing. Many of the people I support today come to me with stories that mirror my own:

• They’ve achieved external success but feel emotionally drained

• They’re always “on,” juggling responsibilities with no space to breathe

• They feel disconnected from their body and intuition

• Anxiety is a daily companion, even if no one else sees it

But through breathwork, they rediscover calm. They reconnect with their purpose. They remember what it feels like to feel good.

My Holistic Approach: More Than Just Breath

True healing isn’t about forcing change. It’s about creating safety in the body so transformation can happen naturally.

That’s why I combine:

• Breathwork to release stress and emotions stored in the body

• Nervous system regulation to build resilience

• Subconscious healing to shift old patterns

• Intuitive coaching to guide aligned action

Together, these tools help you not just “feel better,” but actually feel whole.

What Clients Are Experiencing

Clients often tell me, “This goes deeper than anything I’ve tried.” And it does.

✨ One client released years of burnout and launched a career that truly nourishes her

✨ Another finally felt safe enough to slow down and connect with her creativity

✨ High achievers learned how to stop performing and start living in alignment

They all say the same thing: “I can finally breathe again.”

You Don’t Have to Push Through Anymore

If your anxiety is running the show—or if you feel like you’ve built a life that looks good on paper but doesn’t feel good inside—know this:

There’s another way.

You can heal. You can feel at peace in your body. You can live with ease and success.

It starts with a breath.

Ready to Experience How Breathwork Helps Anxiety?

If you're curious about how breathwork could help your anxiety or support your emotional healing, I invite you to explore one of my offerings:

• Join a virtual breathwork class to breathe, relax and release in community

• Book a private healing session for personalized support for your journey

You don’t have to carry it all.

Let your breath carry you home.

7 Common Myths About Breathwork (And The Truth You Need to Hear)

Debunking Common Myths About Breathwork

Breathwork has become increasingly popular in recent years, showing up in everything from wellness podcasts to therapy offices to corporate wellness programs. But with that visibility has come a fair share of misconceptions. As someone who has guided thousands through breathwork—both privately and in group settings—I hear the same questions and doubts pop up again and again.

So today, I want to set the record straight by debunking some of the most common myths about breathwork. Whether you're brand new to the practice or still on the fence, I’m here to help you understand what breathwork actually is, how it works, and why its benefits could be the missing piece in your healing journey.

Myth #1: Breathwork Is Just Deep Breathing

The truth: Breathwork goes far beyond simply taking deep breaths.

While deep breathing is a helpful technique, breathwork involves intentional patterns of breathing designed to shift your nervous system, release stored emotions, and create real energetic movement in the body.

In my sessions, I use a two-stage pranayama-style breath that activates the parasympathetic nervous system and helps you tap into your subconscious. Many people experience emotional releases, clarity, physical sensations, and a deep sense of presence that’s very different from casual deep breathing.

Myth #2: You Have to Be Spiritual to Benefit from Breathwork

The truth: Breathwork supports everyone, regardless of their belief system.

You don’t need to consider yourself spiritual to receive the benefits of breathwork. It’s a physiological practice that works on a nervous system and cellular level. If you’re human and you breathe, this work is for you.

Many of my clients come from traditional or secular backgrounds. Some are high-achieving professionals. Some are parents, creatives, or entrepreneurs. What they all have in common is a desire to feel better, release stress, and come back into alignment, and breathwork helps them do exactly that.

Myth #3: Breathwork Is Too Intense for Beginners

The truth: There are breathwork techniques suitable for every level.

While some breathwork sessions can be emotionally intense, there are many gentle practices that are perfect for beginners. In fact, I always meet my clients where they are. We start with shorter, softer sessions that help your body feel safe, supported, and grounded before moving into deeper work.

Some people cry during their first session. Others just feel relaxed. There’s no right or wrong response. What matters is that you show up and breathe.

Myth #4: You Need a Lot of Time to Practice Breathwork

The truth: Even five minutes can make a difference.

This is one of the biggest myths about breathwork I hear, and it holds so many people back from getting started.

You don’t need to block off an hour or commit to a major practice. Just five minutes of conscious breathing can shift your entire day. It can reset your nervous system, bring you into the present moment, and help you respond rather than react.

Many of my clients use breathwork between meetings, before bedtime, or even while sitting in traffic. It’s about intention, not duration.

Myth #5: Breathwork Is Just for Stress Relief

The truth: Stress relief is just the beginning.

Yes, breathwork is incredibly effective at lowering cortisol, releasing tension, and calming the nervous system—but that’s only the surface.

Breathwork can also:

• Help process unhealed grief and trauma

• Create emotional breakthroughs

• Reconnect you to your intuition

• Increase creativity and focus

• Improve sleep, digestion, and overall energy

When you begin to explore this practice consistently, it becomes a tool not just for coping, but for transformation.

Myth #6: It’s Not “Real” Healing Compared to Therapy or Coaching

The truth: Breathwork accesses areas traditional methods sometimes can’t reach.

As someone who has done years of therapy and breathwork, I believe both are incredibly valuable. But the beauty of breathwork is that it works with the body, the energy field, and the subconscious all at once.

Many of my clients say breathwork helped them release things they’d been intellectually processing for years but couldn’t fully let go of. It creates a felt sense of relief and clarity that goes deeper than mindset work alone.

This is why I integrate breathwork with intuitive coaching and nervous system regulation, it’s a powerful combination that supports holistic healing.

Myth #7: It’s Not for Me Because I Don’t Know How to Meditate

The truth: Breathwork is actually easier than meditation for many people.

If you’ve struggled with traditional meditation, because your mind won’t stop or you feel like you’re “doing it wrong”, breathwork might be exactly what you need.

Because it’s an active process, it gives your brain something to do while your body releases and processes. Many clients who felt frustrated with meditation find that breathwork helps them drop in much more easily.

Breathwork doesn’t require stillness or silence. It just asks you to show up and breathe.

Final Thoughts on the Myths About Breathwork

If any of these myths about breathwork have been holding you back, I hope this post gave you the clarity to reconsider.

Breathwork isn’t just a trend. It’s an ancient, science-backed, body-centered practice that offers deep relief and renewal—no matter where you are on your healing journey.

You don’t need to be perfect. You don’t need to understand everything. You just need to breathe.

Ready to breathe with me? Book your private healing session and walk away feeling rejuvenated, clear, and deeply connected to yourself.