Welcome.
I’m so glad you’re here.
If you’ve ever felt your chest tighten, your thoughts race, or that low hum of anxiety that just won’t quit — these practices are for you.
We’re going to work directly with your breath. And I want you to understand why this works. Because when you understand what’s happening in your body, you become your own healer.
Anxiety and breathing are deeply connected. When we’re anxious, we breathe shallowly — just the top third of the lungs. Fast and shallow.
Over time, this trains your diaphragm to become weak, less responsive to needs. And a weak diaphragm signals danger to your nervous system. Your body reads shallow breathing as a threat. Which triggers more anxiety. It becomes a loop.
The good news? You can break that loop right now. With your breath.
Today we do three practices. Each works on a different layer of your nervous system. Together, they will move you from anxious to anchored. All you need is a chair and about twenty minutes.
Let’s begin.
Why Your Breath Is the Most Powerful Tool You Have
Hi, I’m Dr. Melanie Carlone.
I’m a physical therapist, trauma and yoga informed teacher, and lifelong learner. For over 40 years I’ve worked with people navigating pain, anxiety, nervous system dysregulation, and the patterns the body holds long after the original stress is gone.
Welcome to the BREATH & NERVOUS SYSTEM series.
In this series we explore the breath not as a technique to perform, but as a living conversation with your nervous system. One you can access anywhere, anytime, for free.
Your autonomic nervous system has two main branches. The sympathetic — fight or flight. And the parasympathetic — rest and digest.
Most of us these days are living in sympathetic overdrive. The body is stuck in “go.” We are not designed for that.
But your breath is a direct line to your nervous system. And you can use it intentionally to shift states — to move from bracing to landing, from anxious to anchored.
That is exactly what these three practices do.
Grounding Setup: Before We Begin
Sit comfortably in your chair. Both feet flat on the floor. Sit toward the front edge so your spine can be long. Hands resting on your thighs.
Close your eyes, or soften your gaze downward.
Take one natural breath in…
and let it go.
Notice where you are right now.
Not where you need to be.
Not what happened earlier.
Just here.
In this chair.
In this body.
With this breath.
Practice One: Kapalabhati — Skull Shining Breath
The Diaphragm Strengthener
Before we begin, I want to teach you three things: how to breathe from your low back, how to use your eyes to calm your nervous system, and how to count on your fingers so you stay present without losing yourself in numbers.
Teaching: Low Back Breath
Most of us breathe into our chest. But your lungs actually extend all the way into your back. Breathing into the low back activates the deepest lobes of the lungs and the full expanse of the diaphragm. This is where total strength is built.
Place your hands on your low ribs. Wrap toward your back if you can. Now breathe in — push your hands apart. Not just forward, but sideways and backward. Feel your ribs expand like an umbrella opening.
If you can’t reach comfortably, no problem. Press back into your chair and allow your ribs to push back and out into the chair. Breathe less into the front of your chest and more into the back.
Try that a few times. In through the nose… expand the back ribs… and release.
This is your foundation. This is what we’re going to fire up.
Teaching: Eye Position & the Lateral Gaze
This might surprise you — where you hold your eyes directly affects your nervous system.
When we’re anxious, our eyes dart, focus more intensely ahead, scanning for danger. One of the fastest ways to interrupt a stress response is to bring your eyes gently to the side. Not straining — just a soft peripheral gaze.
This activates the part of your nervous system wired for safety and connection. So during this practice, let your eyes rest softly to one side. Or gently alternate. Eyes closed is fine too. But if your mind is spinning, try the soft lateral gaze.
Teaching: Finger Counting
We’ll do rounds of ten exhale pumps. To count without losing yourself, use your fingers.
Each ten exhales — touch one finger to your thumb. Index, middle, ring, pinky — that’s four touches, forty breaths. Then back — pinky, ring, middle, index — that’s eighty. Two more makes one hundred.
For sacred geometry reasons, I suggest rounds of 108 breaths. You can work up to this, and eventually up to 540 breaths over time. It doesn’t take long, and is hugely beneficial to your diaphragm strength and nervous system stability.
Simple. Tactile. Present.
The Kapalabhati Practice
In Kapalabhati — Skull Shining Breath — the exhale is active and forceful. The inhale is passive, a natural rebound. Think of it like a bellows — pumping the diaphragm vigorously.
This clears stagnant air, strengthens your diaphragm, increases oxygen, and burns off the stress hormones anxiety leaves behind.
Practice — 30 Breaths to Start
Sit tall. Breathe into your low back. Bring your eyes softly to the side.
Inhale deeply. Exhale fully. Inhale halfway — and let’s go.
Exhale forcefully through the nose. Let the belly pulse naturally. Shoulders relaxed. Power comes from the diaphragm, not the throat.
Count ten on your fingers, then again, then a third time. That’s thirty.
— pump for count of 30 —
Now exhale fully and hold. You may notice you don’t need to breathe back in so quickly. This will become more available as time goes by. Resting without needing to breathe signals a more responsive diaphragm.
Now open up. Allow a full natural breath in… hold briefly at the top. Hold. And release slowly.
Notice the tingle. Notice the warmth. Your blood is more oxygenated than it was two minutes ago.
Repeat for two more rounds. Then just sit. Feel the buzz in your hands, your face, your chest.
This is your nervous system resetting. Your diaphragm just did real work.
Work up to 108 pumps, then to several sets. And just notice — can you sense the decrease in anxiety this practice inspires?
Practice Two: Box Breathing with Extended Exhale
The Nervous System Regulator
Where Kapalabhati was energizing and clearing, this next practice is about safety. About landing. About telling your nervous system — we are okay.
Why the Extended Exhale Works: Polyvagal Theory
There’s a nerve called the vagus nerve. It’s the longest nerve in your body, running from your brainstem all the way to your gut. It is the highway of your parasympathetic system.
And here’s the sweet key — the vagus nerve is activated on the exhale.
Every time you breathe out, especially when it’s slow and long, you are literally stimulating your vagus nerve. You are pressing the brake pedal on your stress response.
This is the science behind polyvagal theory, developed by Dr. Stephen Porges — the idea that our nervous system is always scanning for safety, and the long exhale is one of the most powerful signals of safety we can give it.
So in this practice, we do a box breath — four counts in, four counts hold — then we extend that exhale to six or even eight counts. That extended exhale is your vagal brake. Every long exhale is a message: you are safe.
Practice — Box Breath with Extended Exhale
Sit tall. Both feet on the floor. Hands open on your thighs, palms up if that feels okay.
We inhale for four counts. Hold for four. Exhale for six to eight.
Inhale… 2… 3… 4…
Hold… 2… 3… 4…
Exhale slowly… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6… let it all go…
Continue on your own. If your mind wanders, come back to the count. Come back to the exhale. That long exhale is your anchor.
— 3 minutes gentle silence —
Keep lengthening that exhale… feel your heart rate slow… feel your jaw soften, your shoulders drop.
This is not relaxation as a luxury. This is your biology responding to a signal of safety that you are creating. You are doing this. Your body knows how to heal. You’re just reminding it.
Practice Three: Nadi Shodhana — Alternate Nostril Breathing
The Balancer
Each nostril is connected to the opposite hemisphere of the brain. The right nostril activates the sympathetic system — alertness, energy. The left nostril activates the parasympathetic — calm, rest.
When we’re anxious, we often breathe dominantly through the right nostril without even knowing it.
Nadi Shodhana means “channel cleansing.” It alternates the breath between nostrils — literally balancing both hemispheres of the brain and both branches of your nervous system. Studies show it reduces blood pressure, lowers cortisol, and brings profound quietude. It’s like hitting reset on your whole system.
The Hand Position
Bring your right hand up. Rest your index and middle fingers on your forehead, between your brows. Your thumb will close the right nostril. Your ring finger will close the left.
Practice — One Full Round
Close the right nostril with your thumb.
Inhale slowly through the LEFT… 2… 3… 4…
Close both. Hold gently… 2… 3… 4…
Open the right nostril.
Exhale slowly through the RIGHT… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6…
Inhale through the RIGHT… 2… 3… 4…
Close both. Hold… 2… 3… 4…
Open the left.
Exhale through the LEFT… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6…
That is one full round.
Continue at your own pace. Always end the exhale on the opposite side from where you began the inhale. Let the breath be smooth, quiet, unforced. No striving here. Just this gentle back-and-forth — like waves.
— 2 minutes practice —
Notice the quieting of your mind… The breath is doing the work. You just have to show up.
Closing Reflection
Take a moment to just be still.
Notice your body in the chair. The weight of you. The warmth of you.
You just did something profound. You told your nervous system — with your own breath, your own hands, your own intention — that you are safe. That you are capable. That anxiety does not have to run the show.
These three practices —
- Kapalabhati to build your diaphragm and burn off stress hormones
- Box breathing with extended exhale to activate your vagus nerve
- Alternate nostril breathing to balance your whole system
— are tools you can carry everywhere. In your car before a hard conversation. In the bathroom at work. Before bed. In the middle of the night.
Your breath is always with you. And now you know how to use it.
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See you Gaias next time,
Dr. Melanie Carlone
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