Breathing Into the Body: 10 Breathwork Activities That Can Help Ease Anxiety

When we think about managing anxiety, we often jump straight to cognitive tools like reframing thoughts or identifying triggers. But what if we started with the body?

Anxiety isn’t just in the mind. It lives in the body too. For many of us, stress and overwhelm show up physically before we even register it mentally. Some people feel it as a knot in their stomach. Others notice it in their chest, shoulders, or jaw. You might catch yourself clenching, holding your breath, or breathing quickly and shallowly without realizing it. These are all signs that your nervous system is under stress, and your body is trying to keep up.

That’s where breathwork can come in.

The Power of the Breath

Breathwork is a simple, yet powerful tool for calming the nervous system and helping the body shift from a reactive, anxious state to one of ease. In fact, research shows that breath-based practices can help reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, trauma, and even addictive behaviors (Patil & Nivethitha, 2023). Among the many techniques out there, slower, more controlled breathing styles - such as diaphragmatic breathing (belly breathing) - have been shown to be especially helpful in reducing stress.

The beauty of breathwork is that it’s always available to you. It doesn’t require any equipment, training, or special setting. All it asks is your attention.

Noticing Where Anxiety Lives in the Body

Before diving into specific breathing techniques, it can help to pause and notice how anxiety is showing up in your body. Where do you feel it most? Is your jaw tight? Are your shoulders pulled up toward your ears? Is your breath short or stuck high in your chest? Simply noticing these sensations can be a powerful step toward grounding yourself.

From there, breath can be used as a bridge between awareness and regulation, as a gentle way to tell the body, “It’s okay. You’re safe.”

10 Breathwork Techniques to Calm Anxiety

There are many ways to work with breath. Here are nine that are especially helpful for soothing anxiety and reconnecting with your body:

1. Long-Exhale Breathing

One of the most effective ways to activate the parasympathetic nervous system (your body’s calming response) is to focus on extending your exhale. Inhale gently through your nose for a count of 4, hold your breath for 5 and exhale slowly through your mouth for a count of 6 to 8.

Lengthening your exhale sends a signal to your brain that it’s safe to relax. You might notice your shoulders dropping, your heart rate slowing, or your thoughts becoming a little less urgent.

2. Box Breathing (Four-Square Breathing)

Breathe in for 4 counts → hold for 4 → exhale for 4 → hold for 4. This creates a balanced rhythm that can settle both mind and body, often used in high-stress professions.

3. Alternate-Nostril Breathing (Nadi Shodhana)

Using your thumb and ring finger, gently close off one nostril at a time while breathing in through one and out through the other. This balancing practice can center your mind and calm the nervous system.

4. Diaphragmatic (Belly) Breathing

Place one hand on your belly and the other on your chest. As you breathe in, allow your belly to rise. This deep, full breath sends more oxygen into the body and activates your relaxation response.

5. Resonance (Coherent) Breathing

Breathe at a steady pace - for example, 5 seconds in, 5 seconds out. This rhythmic breath helps regulate the heartbeat and supports emotional stability.

6. Pursed-Lip Breathing

Inhale through your nose, then exhale slowly through pursed lips (as if blowing out a candle or straw). This method can slow breathing and increase your sense of control.

7. Humming Bee (Bhramari) Breath

Inhale deeply, then exhale with a steady hum — like a bee buzzing. The vibration helps release mental tension and promotes inner calm.

8. Cyclic Sighing

Take a deep inhale, followed by a second shorter sip of air, then release both with a long, audible sigh. Research shows this technique may be particularly effective at reducing anxiety.

9. Lion’s Breath (Simhasana)

This expressive breath helps release tension from the face, jaw, and throat. These are places where anxiety often hides. It’s energizing and cathartic, especially if you’ve been holding things in. It can be used by adult, but is also super helpful with kids, because they tend to find it entertaining.

How to do it:

• Inhale deeply through your nose.
• As you exhale, open your mouth wide, stick out your tongue, and let out a strong “haaa” sound from the belly.
• At the same time, stretch your face wide and gaze slightly upward or toward your third eye.

Lion’s Breath may feel a little silly at first, but that playfulness is part of what makes it powerful. It invites you to shake off tension, move energy, and reconnect with your breath in a freeing way. Click here for a video demonstration of lion breath by Dr. Jamie Marich.

10. Reverse breathing

Especially if you feel like you are out of breath or hyper-ventilating, this type of breathing can help. Instead of taking a long inhale, you take a mini-inhale, almost like half a breath and then exhale for as long as you can. This type of breath can help you catch up your breath and return to a calm state.

Enhancing Your Breathwork Practice

While breathwork alone can be deeply regulating, adding a few supportive elements can amplify the effects — especially if you're feeling stuck or struggling to ground.

• Try standing up. If you tend to do breathwork sitting or lying down, notice what happens when you stand. The shift in posture allows more room for oxygen to flow and can help you move through tension more effectively. Sometimes just changing your position can signal to the body that something new is possible.
• Cool the body, calm the mind. Adding an ice pack to the back of your neck or chewing on an ice cube during breathwork can activate your vagus nerve and bring you back into the present moment. It’s especially useful when anxiety feels sharp, dissociative, or overwhelming.
• Add bilateral beats or calming frequencies. Bilateral sound (alternating tones or beats between the left and right ear) can support nervous system regulation and emotional integration. You can find playlists with bilateral stimulation or healing frequencies on YouTube or Spotify. Try pairing them with your breathwork to deepen the sense of rhythm and flow in your body.

These aren’t rules, just gentle invitations to experiment. Your nervous system will guide you — the key is learning to listen.

Making Breathwork a Practice

Just like any skill, breathwork becomes more effective the more consistently you use it. Try incorporating one of these practices into your morning or evening routine, or use them in real-time when anxiety begins to creep in. They can also be paired with other tools like movement, meditation, or journaling.

If you’re someone who tends to intellectualize or talk yourself out of your feelings, breathwork offers a way to bypass the mind and reconnect with the body. It’s a subtle, grounded way to build internal safety — and over time, it strengthens your ability to self-regulate and respond with more clarity and calm.