25/08/2025
5 reasons to hold your breath
You may have noticed that when you’re following a guided meditation, or taking part in any healing practice, you’ll be asked to use your breath as the means to take you into a relaxed state. But why are you often asked to hold your breath between an inhale and exhale?
Breath holding creates a state of calm
The key reason for holding the breath is to create a state of calm in the autonomous nervous system.
What does breath holding do?1.
It interrupts the natural rhythm of breathing and this pause helps silence the mental chatter in your brain.
2. When you hold your breath, CO2 builds up in your blood. This relaxes the blood vessels and lowers blood pressure. Emotionally it strengthens your ability to stay calm under pressure.
3. It sharpens your focus and helps you to cultivate a sense of calm and control over emotions.
4. It enhances your stress resilience, reduces anxiety and you’re more likely to respond to pressure in a calmer way,
5. It encourages you to breathe more slowly and deeply when you’re not meditating. This strengthens your respiratory system, as well as bringing more oxygen into the body.
Don’t hold your breath for too long
Only hold your breath for as long as is comfortable. If you force yourself to hold it for longer, you create tension, which is the opposite of becoming more relaxed.
My breathing technique
I use a 4-4-6 breath pattern to begin my daily meditation, or before I work with energy healing.
Inhale through nose – count to 4
Hold the breath – count to 4
Exhale through mouth – count to 6
Repeat 3 times.
Obviously, you can repeat it more times, and at first you may need to until you become used to the method. You’ll also find that others recommend a 4-7-8, whilst some prefer 4-4-4-4, aka Box breathing. You choose what suits you best.
Image: John Hain at Pixabay
