Hi, my name is Karen Baker. I’m the graduate counseling intern for Crossroad Counseling Associates, supervised by Rick Reynolds. In this video, I will teach you several different diaphragmatic breathing exercises that you can use to emotionally regulate and tone your Vagus Nerve.

Your breath is the first place to connect with your body, stay present, and become more grounded. To quickly recap a previous video, the autonomic nervous system has two parts: the parasympathetic and the sympathetic nervous systems. The sympathetic nervous system triggers the fight, flight, and freeze response when something threatens us or we perceive it as threatening.

The parasympathetic nervous system oversees homeostasis, or what we call rest and digest, basically helping us calm down after we are no longer under threat. Every aspect of the autonomic nervous system functions without us having to consciously tell it to do so.

However, there is one function of the autonomic nervous system that can be consciously controlled, and that is your breath. Deep breathing stimulates the receptors in the neck, gut, and heart, signaling to the brain that it’s time to rest and digest. When you feel anxious, triggered, flooded or, angry, etc., learning to control your breathing can help you get your parasympathetic nervous system online quicker and return to homeostasis.

Now, I’m going to teach you three different breathing exercises for you to practice. I encourage you to follow along with me or pause this video after each breathing exercise and practice on your own.

Number one is 4-7-8 breathing. For this breath, you will inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, and exhale slowly for 8. As you inhale, imagine you’re expanding your chest as if it were a barrel, expanding on the metal hoops that help the barrel keep its shape.

As you inhale, visualize yourself expanding through your whole torso, filling your belly, the front of your chest, the sides of your rib cage, as well as your back. And as you exhale, exhale slowly, depleting first from your belly, then your chest, then your back, and then your shoulders. So, let’s practice together a few times.

Expand your belly, chest, and back as you inhale for four, three, two, one. Hold for seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Exhale slowly for eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Inhale once more, filling your torso like a barrel for four, three, two, one. Hold for seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.

Exhale slowly for eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Once more, expand your belly, chest, back, and shoulders as you inhale for four, three, two, one. Hold for seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Exhale slowly for eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.

Number two is Ocean Breath or Ujjayi breathing. I became a yoga instructor in 2013, and this is where I first learned about Ocean Breath and Ujjayi breathing.

To ocean breathe, inhale through your nose, and exhale through your mouth like you’re fogging up a mirror. Then inhale again through your nose, this time exhaling through your nose like you’re trying to fog up a mirror. That inhale and exhalation through your nose is Ocean Breath.

You should make a deep sigh-like noise in the back of your throat where your Vagus Nerve is. The goal here is to make your breath louder than your thoughts. This deep ocean-like breathing tells the parasympathetic nervous system to slow your heart rate down, bringing your body back to homeostasis. Notice that as you exhale, the oxygen in the back of your throat starts to heat.

We imagine this Ocean Breath warming the oxygen we are drawing into our lungs, heating our core from the inside out.

So, let’s try this together. Inhale deeply through your nose, and exhale through your nose like you’re fogging up a mirror.

Inhale through your nose and imagine expanding your chest and back like a barrel, and exhale through your nose like you’re fogging up a mirror. Last one, inhale deeply through your nose, then exhale through your nose like you’re fogging up a mirror.

Now, I invite you to pause this video here and practice a few more times on your own. Again, I’ll be here when you’re done.

Number three is Alternate Nostril Breathing. This last breath is called Alternate Nostril Breathing. Gently press your right thumb on the right side of your nostril. Inhale slowly and fully through your left nostril. And imagine that breath traveling through the whole left side of your body.

At the top of your breath, use your ring finger, and pinky to close your nostril, simultaneously releasing your thumb and slowly exhaling. Imagine that breath flowing down and out the whole right side of your body. Keeping your pinky and ring finger over the left nostril, inhale through your right, and imagine that breath traveling through the whole right side of your body. Then, simultaneously place your thumb over your right nostril, releasing your ring and pinky finger from the left nostril, and slowly exhale, imagining that breath flowing down and out the whole left side of your body.

In one interview, Hillary Clinton reported that Alternate Nostril Breathing and yoga helped her process the loss of the 2016 election. This is an incredibly impactful and really helpful breathing exercise, as silly as it may feel.

So, let’s practice a few times together. Put your thumb over your right nostril and slowly inhale. Imagine that breath traveling through the whole left side of your body. Place your ring and pinky finger over your left nostril, releasing your thumb, and slowly exhale out your right nostril, emptying out all of your breath.

Keeping your pinky and ring finger where they are, inhale through your right nostril, imagining that breath traveling through the whole right side of your body. Thumb over your right nostril, release your pinky and ring finger, and slowly empty all of your breath. Once more, thumb over your right nostril, slowly inhale. Imagine that breath traveling through the whole left side of your body, ring, and pinky finger over your left nostril.

Release your thumb and slowly exhale out your right. Keep your pinky and ring finger where they are, and inhale through your right nostril. Imagine that breath traveling through the whole right side of your body. Thumb over your right nostril, release your ring and pinky finger, and exhale slowly, emptying out all of your breath.

Once more, I invite you to pause this video here and practice a few times on your own. I’ll be here when you’re done.

A few reminders before this video comes to an end. Practice these breathing exercises at times when you don’t feel flooded or overwhelmed. This is how we tone our vagus nerve and slow ourselves down to recognize when we become flooded or triggered.

Additionally, practice for as long or as short as you need. Whether that is five breaths in the car before work, ten breaths when picking your kid up from school, before your next Zoom meeting, or just sitting in traffic.

I won’t give you a specific amount of time or breaths to practice. It is your practice, and you have the agency to decide what is best for you.

Be well and keep breathing and I’ll see you in the next video.