Breathe Less, Feel More
Instead of trying to control your breath…
Let your breath guide your body.
Let the ribs expand.
Let the body respond.
This creates change at a subtle level—what we might call the soma.
And subtle changes, practiced consistently, create meaningful results.
At first glance breathing seems so simple.
You Inhale.
You Exhale.
You Repeat.
But there is far more going and every breath we take can influencing our health either negatively or positively.
Breathing is subtle and very hard to really notice, but the way you breathe has a direct influence on how you feel, how you move, and how your body & mind function. Even a subtle change can create a massive shift.
The challenging part for many people is putting away any idea that we know how to breathe, you must unlearn what you know and approach with a beginners mind. Curiosity, awareness, perception, these are necessary skills that are further cultivated by practicing breathing,
Breath Is More Than Air
Breathing is not just about supplying the body with oxygen.
It’s an entire system that influences:
Your physical body (structure and movement)
Your Energy (life force ~prana)
Your chemistry (oxygen and carbon dioxide balance balance Ph)
Your nervous system (stress and regulation)
Your Mind (focus and clarity)
Every breath reflects your current state.
And over time, the way you breathe can either support your system—or slowly work against it.
The Problem: Too Much Breathing
Most people don’t realize they are over-breathing. This is so hard to witness and change, but it starts with that, witnessing the pattern and knowing that it can be improved… indefinitely.
It is so easy to over breathe, it happens all day as many of our 20-30 thousand breaths re unconscious and part of an unconditioned habit. In fact, over breathing can be as simple as a yawn or any mouth breath.
It doesn’t necessarily mean faster or heavy breathing (which is absolutely overbreathing), it just means that we are taking more in than our metabolic demands, essentially— more volume than needed.
This can lead to:
Increased tension & pain
Reduced efficiency
Nervous system imbalance
Increased inflammation
More air is not always better.
In many cases, it’s the opposite.
The Goal: Less, But Better
Breath reeducation isn’t about forcing technique. I must strain this: You cannot force a change! Consistency, patience, persistence and positivity are the foundation which rests upon the bedrock of curiosity and awareness.
It’s about slowly refining the system.
Two key things begin to change (that are not nose breathing and diaphragmatic breathing):
Your breathing becomes slower: the ideal rate is 6 breaths per minute
Your breathing becomes quieter: ideally no sound or very minimal
Less effort.
Less excess.
More efficiency.
A Simple Way to Begin
One way to explore this is by slowing your breath down.
Try:
Inhale for about 5–6 seconds
Exhale for about 5–6 seconds
Keep it soft.
Keep it quiet.
Let the breath feel smooth, like a wave, gently transitioning between inhale and exhale and exhale into inhale.
Nothing forced, just rolling like a wave, smooth in and out, you’re letting go, and surrendering any bracing.
Bringing Awareness to the Breath
You can also introduce a light ujjayi breath—a gentle narrowing in the throat. It creates a light sound within and is usually practiced during the exhale, but can be done on the inhale as well.
This can:
Slow the breath naturally
Reduce excess air
Improve awareness
Help the diaphragm engage more effectively
Used lightly, it becomes a tool for sensing—not controlling.
Important tip with this practice: make your ujjayi breath subtle and quiet. No one around you should hear you, the sound is internal. It is also called “ocean’s breath” since the sound is like the smooth waves of the ocean on the beach. Imagine that while practicing your breathing and you will feel everything slowing down~ body, breath and mind.
Let the Body Follow
Instead of trying to control your breath, which, again, is very hard to do when your awareness is on your breathing, surrender to the breath…
Let your breath guide your body.
Let the ribs expand.
Let the body respond.
Allow the breath.
This creates change at a subtle level—what we call in yoga the pranamaya kosha.
And subtle changes, practiced consistently, create meaningful + lasting results.
Final Thought
Better breathing isn’t about doing more.
It’s about doing less—more intentionally.
Breathe less.
Feel more.
And always…
Stay consistent, patient, persistent and positive.
Breath Basics: Why Less is More.
Breathing is something we do all day…
But rarely something we pay attention to.
Most people think better breathing means taking deeper breaths.
In reality, it often means the opposite.
Less breath.
Slower breath.
Quieter breath.
Your breathing is influenced by your body, your stress, and your habits—and over time, it can either support your health or slowly work against it.
Breath Is Movement
Breath is not just something you do—it’s something that moves you.
Every motion in your body is influenced by your breathing. Your ribs expand, your spine responds, your tissues subtly shift with every inhale and exhale. Breath is the body’s internal rhythm.
When breathing is restricted, movement becomes restricted.
When breathing is smooth, movement becomes fluid.
If you want to move better, it starts with how you breathe.
Breathing Is More Complex Than It Seems
At first glance, breathing looks simple: inhale, exhale, repeat.
But underneath that simplicity is a complex system influenced by:
Biochemistry (CO₂ tolerance, oxygen delivery)
Biomechanics (ribs, diaphragm, posture)
Psychosocial factors (stress, habits, environment)
Every breath reflects your internal state.
And over time, poor breathing patterns can reinforce tension, stress, and inefficiency in the body.
The Problem: Too Much Breath
One of the most common issues is over-breathing.
Not necessarily faster—but more volume than the body actually needs.
This can lead to:
Increased tension
Reduced efficiency
Dysregulated nervous system
The solution is not to take deeper breaths.
The solution is to take more appropriate breaths.
The Goal: Reduce Rate and Volume
Breath reeducation isn’t about forcing technique.
It’s about refining the system.
Two key variables:
Respiration rate (how fast you breathe)
Respiratory volume (how much air you move)
When both begin to decrease—naturally and without strain—the system becomes more efficient.
A Simple Exploration
Try this:
Count how many breaths you take in one minute
Then shift your breathing to:
Inhale: 5.5 seconds
Exhale: 5.5 seconds
Don’t force it.
Don’t make it big.
Let the breath become quieter.
Let the body move with it.
Let the Breath Move the Body
Instead of controlling your breath…
Allow your breath to guide movement from within.
This creates change at a subtle level of the body—what we might call the soma.
And subtle changes, over time, create profound results.
Final Thought
Less breath.
Less effort.
More awareness.
That’s where real change begins.
Why Your Shoulders Are Tight
Breath and somatic movements for shoulder relief.
Most people try to fix tight shoulders by stretching them.
But tightness is often a response—not the root problem.
When your breathing is restricted and your nervous system is under constant low-level stress, your shoulders take on extra load.
Stretching may give temporary relief, but it doesn’t last—because the source of the tension is in the nervous system, not just the muscles.
In many cases, overstretching can actually make things worse, leaving tissues more sensitive and reactive.
A more effective approach is to gradually reintroduce movement and awareness.
Slowing down and observing how you move helps reconnect the mind and body, allowing normal function to return.
Simple, gentle movements—like arm swings combined with breath—can help restore glide in the tissues and reduce unnecessary tension.
It’s important to work within your current range of motion, rather than forcing it, so the body can rebuild mobility and hydration over time.
Breathing is the key. When the breath becomes more natural and less restricted, the shoulders and ribs can finally relax—and the tension is less likely to return.
If you want to explore this further, you can start with these practices:
Living in Fight-or-Flight
For decades I lived in nonstop go mode — unable to slow down, unable to feel, trapped in fight-or-flight. Through somatic awareness, breathwork, and yoga therapy, I began to unravel these patterns and rebuild safety from the inside out.
When “Go Mode” Becomes a Way of Life
For the longest time, I lived in constant go mode.
I couldn’t slow down — not mentally, not physically — no matter how loudly my body cried out. I had just come out of a brutal motorcycle accident, and instead of rehab or any real recovery, I went straight back to work. No rest. No therapy. No pause. Just back into the chaos of restaurant life as if nothing had happened. I did as I always did, bury it. I was in pain, so what, keep going, you have work to do. I never recovered.
Something had happened.
A lot had happened.
I never healed after the motorcycle crash.
I never healed after cancer.
I never healed after years of pushing, grinding, and living under stress.
I just went back to life as if survival was the only path forward. And in many ways, it was — but not in the way I needed.
The Slow Descent
Deep down, I was in pain.
My body was deteriorating, and I didn’t even realize it. I tried to push through it — physically, mentally, emotionally — but my system was slowly collapsing under the weight of unresolved trauma.
I dissociated from my body because it hurt too much to feel it.
The subtle signals were there all along, warning me, begging me to stop, to rest, to listen — but I had no awareness of them. My mind was noisy. My breath was tight. My body was bracing in ways I couldn’t perceive.
To sleep, I drank.
To get through work, I drank.
Numbing became easier than feeling.
Everything became daunting.
Everything became a battle.
I tried every exercise routine, every diet, every “wellness strategy” I could find, hoping something would fix me. But my stomach kept getting worse. My energy dropped. My body felt heavy, toxic and exhausted. My mind never settled. My back pain was endless. And the tension… the tension became my baseline.
I looked healthy enough from the outside.
I ate “healthy” (or so I believed). I “exercised” (and greatly over did it).
But inside, I was hurting.
Inside, I was slowly shutting down. My candle was burning out.
Years of this — bracing, gripping, pushing, overriding — created deeper patterns I couldn’t see. My thinking, my breathing, my posture, my digestion… everything was shaped by stress. Everything was shaped by fear.
The Turning Point
It wasn’t until I found SomaYoga that something shifted.
Something cracked open inside me.
For the first time, I felt like I had found something that could actually help me — something that made sense, something that wasn’t about forcing or fixing, but about listening.
Slowly, through yoga, somatics, and breathwork, my body began to open. My mind began to lighten. A sense of ease — something I hadn’t felt in decades — began to return.
But healing isn’t a straight line.
Some days I would feel major breakthroughs.
Other days, I would fall backwards into old patterns.
Healing is a challenge.
Coming out of twenty years of pain and suffering doesn’t happen overnight.
It happens in waves.
It happens in spirals.
It happens through repetition and patience.
It has taken me years — years of practice, awareness, stumbling, learning, and trying again — to begin unwinding the deepest layers of tension and holding in my body. And honestly, I’m still unwinding. I’m still learning.
The Paradox of Awareness
As I became more aware, everything became more complex.
People think awareness makes things easier — but it doesn’t.
It reveals the truth. And the truth, is challenging to face.
It reveals the subtle bracing, the unconscious habits, the hidden fear, the ways we’ve been moving through life on autopilot.
The more we observe something, the more refined it becomes, thus more complex.
The inner world is no exception.
When you truly dive in — when you feel deeply, honestly, without numbing or distracting — things get confusing before they get clear. The somatic landscape is layered, intelligent, mysterious. And when you start paying attention, you realize just how much you’ve missed.
But this is where the real journey begins.
This is where healing shifts from “fixing” to “experiencing.”
From controlling to sensing.
From striving to allowing.
This is where you learn to get out of the way of the mind and perceive from the deeper, quieter place within — the observer.
Breaking the Spell of Fight-or-Flight
Living in fight-or-flight had been my normal for so long that I didn’t even know there was another way to live. I was always tense, always vigilant, always bracing for something — even when nothing was wrong.
To heal, I had to break the spell.
The spell of stress.
The spell of memory.
The spell of trauma that had been shaping my every breath and movement.
And to break it, I had to practice one thing:
Safety.
Creating it.
Feeling it.
Returning to it.
Again and again.
When the body feels safe, it can surrender.
When the body feels safe, it can soften.
When the body feels safe, it can heal.
This is the work.
This is the path.
This is the journey I’m still on.
And this is the journey I now help others walk — slowly, gently, with awareness and compassion — out of fight-or-flight and back into their lives.