Calm your racing mind with these simple breaths

Podcast

24 Dec

Written By Caria Watt

EPISODE 8

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The world is spinning—deadlines, notifications, expectations, and all those voices that tug at your energy every which way. But you’ve chosen stillness today. You’re here with me, in this soothing corner of the internet.

Let’s peel back the surface and look at something you might’ve missed: your breath... and the quiet science of calm that comes each time you breathe deeply.

The power behind conscious breaths

We spend our lives breathing unconsciously with many of us surviving on autopilot. Breathing with awareness can be an anchor, like a your reset button, guiding you through a storm, even through chaos.

“Your breath can be an anchor, a reset switch, a steady hand guiding you through the chaos. It tethers you, keeps you present, and frees you–even when you barely notice it.”

Let’s strip away the pressure, the performance, the constant need to keep up. Just for a moment, land here with me. Let’s get truly curious about what happens when you really breathe.

“Take a deep breath” has become a tired cliché, especially during stressful times.

But I invite you to see breathing as an anchor. Whether this is the first time you’ve paid attention to your breath or the thousandth time. Let’s get honest and curious and learn how your breath can be your compass.

When life gets loud or complicated, remember: your next steady breath can bring you back to your own circle of stillness.

If even a flicker of calm finds you here, trust me—there’s more. I share more indepth reminders with my community in my newsletter Rhythm.

What happens when you breathe deeply

After decades of yoga and mindfulness trends, people still ask: “Why breathe deeply? What good is it?”

I get it. There have been days when I was so stressed that even trying to take a deep breath felt nearly impossible.

A few years ago, I was sitting in a hospital, anxious and exhausted. My heart was pounding. My hands were ice-cold. Thoughts raced to every worst-case scenario. I just wanted one small moment of calm. The nurses kept saying, “just breathe you need to remain calm,” but if it were that simple, why wasn’t I already calm?

The truth I was going through a break up and had contracted pneumonia. My lungs hurt, my heart was racing, and the added concern from the nurses only made me more anxious. Deep breathing could have helped—but my body simply couldn’t respond the way it normally would.

From a holistic and mind-body perspective, pneumonia is often linked to emotional and energetic patterns connected to the lungs and breath. While these interpretations aren’t scientifically proven, they offer another lens on the experience:

Grief and Emotional Suppression: In Traditional Chinese Medicine, the lungs are associated with grief. Pneumonia can reflect unresolved grief or emotional suppression accumulated over years, creating what some frameworks call “spiritual congestion” in the lungs.
Feeling Overwhelmed or Suffocated: Metaphysically, pneumonia may indicate being emotionally overburdened or suffocated—by relationships, environments, or self-imposed pressures—a deep inner cry for rest and space.
Fear and Resistance to Change: Pneumonia can also represent difficulty letting go, fear of change, or anxiety around endings, even on subtle emotional levels.
Communication Blockage: Since lungs are linked to expression and communication, suppressed emotions or unspoken truths can manifest in the body, sometimes affecting breathing or creating physical vulnerability.

What changed that day wasn’t a miracle—it was curiosity. Once I recovered, I made a vow to understand how deep breathing affects the body and mind—and how it can truly settle stress when the body is able.

The science behind the breathe

Since the moment you took your first breath, your body has been shaped by how you breathe. It’s not just air in, air out—there’s a hidden ally quietly working with every inhale and exhale: your diaphragm.

This dome-shaped muscle sits just under your ribs. Most of us ignore it—until a yoga teacher or singing coach reminds us to “breathe from the belly.” But your diaphragm is your gateway to calm.

Shallow chest breathing signals danger. Your body interprets it as stress, even if the “threat” is just a full inbox. Belly breathing, on the other hand, activates a deep sense of ease across your physical and emotional systems.

Fight or Flight vs Rest and Digest

When your breathing is high and shallow—chest only, shoulders tight—your sympathetic nervous system lights up. The classic “fight or flight” response. Great if you’re escaping a wild animal. Less useful when you’re stressed over deadlines or daily pressures.

When you breathe slowly and deeply—letting your belly rise—you trigger your parasympathetic system: rest, digest, heal. Your inner sanctuary activates. Creativity returns. Your body remembers: you are safe.

The secret messenger is the vagus nerve

Here’s where it gets fascinating, the vagus nerve is the longest nerve in your body, connecting your brain, chest, and belly. Slow exhalation signals it to slow your heart, calm your mind, and turn your immune system on. Your breath is literally talking to your body.

Feel it not just knowing it

I recently worked with a client—let’s call her Jane—who buzzed with nervous energy. She was convinced she was “just an anxious person.” At first, she resisted breathwork. So we got playful: she lay down, placed a book on her belly, and watched it rise and fall.

After just a few breaths, she started laughing uncontrollably, then crying from the laughter. Her energy softened. Her voice changed. Her face relaxed.

She looked at me and asked, “Does science really back this up?”

Studies show that slow, deep breathing increases heart rate variability, lowers cortisol, reduces blood pressure, and improves emotional regulation—a physiological anchor for calm in the midst of stress.

“I don’t want you to just know about deep breathing; I want you to feel it. Your breath is always ready to help you.”

Deep breathing is an ancient reset

Researchers have proven that just 60 seconds of slow, intentional belly breathing shifts your body and mind. What begins to happen?

Blood pressure gently drops
Heart rate becomes steady
Blood flow shifts away from panic and toward healing, digestion, creative thinking
Cortisol (your main stress hormone) calms down
Anxiety loses its grip

All because you remembered: Wait, I can just breathe here.

Breathing to remain calm through the chaos

Learning to use your breath isn’t about perfect, peaceful days. It’s about real life, in real moments—when you need it most.

Below are some anchors to help you:

Morning Clarity: At sunrise, before the day rushes in, clutch your coffee or tea and take three slow breaths. Let clarity set the tone for your whole day.
Pre-Meeting Nerves: Right before a big meeting, your heart races. Take a belly breath or two. Feel your feet on the ground. Remind your nervous system: “I am steady. I am grounded.”
Family or Roommate Tension: When someone frays your last nerve, pause. Let one thoughtful breath reset not just you, but the entire energy of the room.
Midnight Restlessness: When anxiety keeps you up, try three mindful breaths. Remind yourself: “Night is for rest.”
Before A Creative Session: Breathe in gently before you start your art, writing, or heart-felt conversation. Let each breath be a cue to move from doing to creating.

You don’t need an app, a gadget, or an audience. Your breath is with you, everywhere, all the time. Every age, every crisis, every burst of joy.

“Real calm can’t be gifted by others. It only happens when you return to your breath—for yourself.”

When breathing deeply doesn’t fix it

Maybe you’re tried this and sometimes it doesn’t quite work. Society has taught us how to push feelings down and chase productivity at the expense of our mental wellbeing . It can be easy to feel defeated.

There’s no shame in finding it hard—just remember, you can begin again, any time.

Olympic athletes often close their eyes, take a slow breath, and focus before leaping into action. They have learned to master their nervous systems.

Artists, may hover over blank canvases taking long exhales, softening the mind so inspiration can flow.

Parents with overwhelmed kids who are crying can use the breath, not to stifle emotion, but to gently set the tone for their children to calm down.

And you—right here reading—can choose one breath over one snap reaction.

Because your breath is your anchor. Your personal medicine. A boundary and a protection, no matter what chaos swirls around you.

“When you choose—even for a moment—to breathe consciously, you tap into your own resilience and your power to recalibrate again and again.”

The quality of your breath becomes the quality of your presence. Calm isn’t handed down. It’s a daily practice, bravely reclaimed—even if that’s just three deep breaths whenever you remember.

That, to me, is a sacred rebellion—in a culture obsessed with speeding up, you honor the art of slowing down.

Even if you do nothing more than three deep breaths, you’re deepening your mastery. This one thoughtful thing shows kindness to your body.

Ready to go deeper?

Did this time together spark even a gentle shift? A little more lightness, a glimmer of hope, a softening of the day’s weight? Hold onto that. Let it echo into the rest of your day.

You are not your circumstances. Not your business. Not your stories. You are the one who can bring yourself back, again and again, to the truth and peace inside.

Thank you for meeting me here, in honesty and curiosity. Trust the quiet power of the simplest breathing exercise. No need to walk this path alone, or rush it. You deserve space and healing on your own terms.

“The world needs exactly who you are.”

If you want more stories, science, and soulful reminders about living with more energy and calm, subscribe to Rhythm, my newsletter. It’s a safe learning space—no spam, no pressure—just nourishment for your soul.