Ever felt like your nervous system is stuck in overdrive? Like your body is permanently bracing for impact, even when there’s no real threat?
That’s because modern life keeps us in a near-constant state of sympathetic dominance - our fight-or-flight response always ready to fire. The solution? Breathwork.
Breathing isn’t just about oxygen—it’s a direct remote control for your nervous system. With the right techniques, you can shift your body out of stress mode and into a state of deep balance and restoration.
The Science Behind a Nervous System Reset
Your autonomic nervous system (ANS) has two key branches:
• Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) – The accelerator. Triggers fight-or-flight, increases heart rate, and floods your body with stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.
• Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) – The brake. Slows the heart rate, relaxes muscles, and allows digestion, healing, and deep rest.
Modern stressors keep many of us stuck in the SNS, leading to chronic stress, anxiety, insomnia, and even inflammation. But the breath is the bridge between these two systems, and by controlling it, we can shift gears from stress to calm on demand.
How Breathwork Resets the Nervous System
1. Activates the Vagus Nerve – Slow, deep breathing stimulates the vagus nerve, which runs from your brain to your gut. This flips the switch from stress (SNS) to relaxation (PNS), slowing the heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and triggering a deep sense of calm.
2. Balances Oxygen & Carbon Dioxide – Over-breathing (hello, shallow mouth breathing!) disrupts your body’s delicate oxygen-CO2 balance, making you feel lightheaded, anxious, or even panicked. Conscious breathwork restores this balance, optimizing energy production and brain function.
3. Regulates Heart Rate Variability (HRV) – HRV is a key marker of stress resilience. A high HRV (variation in time between heartbeats) means your nervous system is flexible and adaptable. Breathwork improves HRV, strengthening your ability to handle stress.
4. Increases Nitric Oxide (NO) – Nose breathing (especially with slow exhales) increases nitric oxide, a powerful molecule that improves circulation, lowers blood pressure, and enhances oxygen delivery to the brain.
The Breathwork Reset Formula
Try this simple 5-minute nervous system reset:
1. Box Breathing (4-4-4-4) – Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4. Repeat. This balances the ANS and grounds the mind.
2. Extended Exhale (4-8) – Inhale through the nose for 4 seconds, exhale slowly for 8. This deeply activates the parasympathetic response.
Within minutes, your body shifts from survival mode to restoration mode. The more you practice, the more resilient your nervous system becomes.
Final Thought
Your breath is free, always available, and scientifically proven to regulate your nervous system, lower stress, and restore balance. Use it. Master it. And notice how life changes when you’re no longer trapped in fight-or-flight but anchored in deep, steady calm.
MyRecovery Reset - breathwork masterclasses are available online or in-person. I teach 1-1 or group classes.
MyRecovery Reset Retreat Turkey is 27 Sept to 4 Oct 2025 - this is designed to empower you with the tools to reset: anxiety, chronic stress, insomnia, worry, and fear.
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