Breathe in, breathe out

When you feel tightness build in your chest or have an overwhelming sense of angst, pause and try taking a 4-7-8 Belly Breath: inhale for 4 counts through your nose, hold for 7 counts, exhale through your mouth for 8 counts. Repeat four times. You’ll notice an immediate release of pressure. From here, aim to operate from that little patch of calm

You can activate the PNS in many ways, including relaxation, big exhalations, touching the lips, mindfulness of the body, imagery, balancing your heartbeat, and meditation.

• 2 inhales through the nose (one long until you feel you can do no more, and then a second small one)


• 1 long extended exhale through the mouth


• 1–3 times

“There are as many ways to breathe as there are foods to eat,” said one female instructor who had held her breath for more than eight minutes and once dived below 300 feet. “And each way we breathe will affect our bodies in different ways.” Another diver told me that some methods of breathing will nourish our brains, while others will kill neurons;

The key to optimum breathing, and all the health, endurance, and longevity benefits that come with it, is to practice fewer inhales and exhales in a smaller volume. To breathe, but to breathe less.

When you stimulate the parasympathetic wing of the ANS, calming, soothing, healing ripples spread through your body, brain, and mind.

In the practice of the Ha Breath, the exhalation is longer which helps you bring your nervous system into a parasympathetic state. You will be invited to contract your throat on the exhalation, making the ocean sound “Haaaaaaaa.”

example, take five breaths, inhaling and exhaling a little more fully than usual. This is both energizing and relaxing, activating first the sympathetic system and then the parasympathetic one, back and forth, in a gentle rhythm. Notice how you feel when you’re done. That combination of aliveness and centeredness is the essence of the peak