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How to let go – of anxiety, overwhelm, and other distress

A note to the reader: “Take a Deep Breath With Me” is a series devoted to cultivating a routine grounding breathwork practice. Through a deep, conscious breath (or a series of them, for that matter), we guide ourselves into deeper grounding, presence, and clarity. Through the breath we detach from life’s chaos that keeps us wound up in unskillful action; we let go of stress, anxiety, and overwhelm; oh, and so much more!

You can receive weekly guidance and expanded teachings by following along on Substack.

If you are new to the series, simply keep reading on down below. If you’ve been following along in this series, then you’ll have started to get the hang of things by now. Regardless, I invite you to once more read through the practice, go within, and step into practice once again.

In addition to the teaching below focused on letting go of that which no longer serves, know that today’s offering includes a guided audio recording. You can get that accompanying audio here.

sun light passing through green leafed tree
Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

Take a deep breath with me?

Take a moment to read through the following instructions. Complete the practice, then continue reading for further teaching.

Practice

Take a deep, ease-filled breath. Allow this breath to go all the way down into your belly… your abdomen… Can you breathe all the way down to your root…???

Take several more breaths, just like this.

Allow your breath to guide you inward. Perhaps with each breath, you go a little deeper in. Or else, maybe there is one place in your body that really calls to you for deep breath today (your lungs, for example). As you breathe, be willing to listen to those internal cues that guide your awareness to where it best serves within today.

When you are ready, ask yourself:

  • what is present, here and now, in this moment?
  • what sensations, what emotions, what insights, what energies are present, living within in this moment?

Take some time to rest your attention here. Keep breathing to help you maintain focus. When you are ready, allow your breath to guide you back up and out, breathing fully into your whole body. Take your time to orient yourself in the room that you are in before returning to your day.


The power to let go and move forward

How much do you carry around, weighing you down and clouding your mind and preventing you from moving forward into where you best deserve to go?

How much do you hold onto that you could lay to rest, if only you chose to release those stories with a big exhale?

The power of the exhale

You hold with you, at any one moment, the power of choice to let go.

What are you holding onto that is no longer serving you? What thoughts, what beliefs, what patterns held within?

Now, I am not saying that this is always easy nor automatic. Often, change takes time (although, in my experience, sometimes that change is immediate!).

Still, what I know is that we all hold within us a conscious willpower that allows us to focus on that which we want to call in; the other half being a conscious willpower to let go of that which is weighing us down, becoming a mental/physical/emotional burden.

It all begins with your exhale – the part of your breath that allows you to release.

Just as your muscles and other tissues build up carbon dioxide that needs to be expelled, so do we build up beliefs and thought patterns and so many other energetic imprints that we need to let go of.

We let go as we exhale.

Try it out. Breathe a nice, full, gentle inhale. Then, exhale it out. Big, full release. Just let it go.

As you take more breaths like this (focusing on that big, full exhale), you may bring to mind anything that you hold that you know you are done with. Let it combine with your exhale as you let it all go.

There is actual science to this

It is through the breath that we link the conscious and unconscious parts of self. When we breathe slow, conscious breaths, we connect the conscious parts of self (your awareness, your intention, your will) to those deeper, programmed parts of self that we are often unconscious to. This includes all of those programmed parts of self that run the show and often keep you stuck in old patterns.

When we exhale, we tap into the part of the parasympathetic nervous system that slows you down, connects you into life, and detaches you from the wheel that we are all caught up in to varying degrees.

When we exhale, we detach from that wheel, we slow down time, we attune to a more skillful rhythm, and we create space for the intention to shed what no longer serves.

But we don’t just exhale. We inhale and exhale in cycle. As we inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, in a conscious and skillful pattern, we smooth out the flow of all the important parts of your nervous system (and, in turn, how you feel, act, and experience the world)

  • the sympathetic (movement and direction oriented part of your nervous system)
  • the parasympathetic (the connection seeking, inward turning part of your nervous system that takes care of your internal needs)

When we take deep, conscious breaths in full cycle, we smooth out the whole system.

As we shift our focus to the exhale, we deepen into that part of self that releases the need to push forward; we settle into deeper presence; and, as we combine our intention to let go, we help ourselves to shed that which no longer serves.

Try it out once more

Once again, I invite you to settle into your seat as you take a handful of slow, deep breaths.

Start to shift your focus to longer, fuller exhales. Inhale with ease, exhale deeply and fully. Take care not to push too far with your exhale. This should feel good and grounding and certainly not stressful.

Bring to mind any internal patterns (e.g., stresses, anxieties, thought patters, behaviors) that you know are not serving you and your life. With your intention link the knowing that you are letting go of these patterns to your exhale.

I recommend doing this for 8-12 breaths. You will know when you are complete. Let the process be complete for today.

If you need to return to the practice tomorrow, feel free to do so. Again, we have to recognize that some things take time.

You may also wish to expand this practice, for example with a yoga class that links your breath to your movement. Know that there are many different ways to play with your breath. This post is here to invite you into practice with the basics so that you can deepen and expand your practice as you move forward.

Know that I guide you through this in my new We Are The Forest: Walking an Embodied Path of Collective Healing Ebook

Get the Ebook


Below you will find a guided audio version for this practice. If you are not yet a paid subscriber and wish to deepen into practice through more direction than just the written word, I invite you to try it out today.