Breath of Life

Denise Heberlein

MA, LPC

8/26/2025

"Let go of the battle. Breathe quietly and let it be. Let your body relax and your heart soften. Open to whatever you experience without fighting," - Jack Kornfield.

When God created Adam and Eve, what was the first thing he did to give them life? God breathed into them, and they became living beings. What is the first thing babies do when they are born? Babies take a huge breath and cry. Breathing is a calming yet straightforward activity that soothes our brains and bodies. Something as simple as breathing can help calm our nervous system.

When we feel a threat, there is an automatic reaction within our body. The simple version of what happens is we have a physiological response; our heart rate goes up, our blood pressure goes up, our pulse goes up, and our breathing becomes quick and shallow. Our Amygdala perks up and hijacks the blood and oxygen from the Frontal Cortex, our cognitive and executive functioning part of our brain. It does so to prepare us to flee, fight, freeze, or fawn. In some instances, we do not need the Amygdala to be in control; we are safe but experiencing a stressful or anxiety-producing moment.

We have two choices in that moment: we can stay in emotional dysregulation, or we can calm our system down by breathing.

To bring our brains back to the rational part of our brain, we do this by breathing. The blood and oxygen are released from the Amygdala and are rerouted back to the Cortex. It takes about 20 minutes for the entire system to calm down. Deep breathing can take many forms. The key is to breathe in through your nose for a set period, such as 4 seconds. Next, we hold our breath for 4 seconds. Lastly, we breathe out through our mouths like blowing out a candle. Take a resting breath in between the deep breaths. Repeat until you notice your system is calm.

Once your system is regulated, you can use the front part of your brain to choose what you need to do in that moment. 

Take a moment every day to practice this method of breathing to prepare yourself to breathe during stressful moments. Do this because when that moment happens, we are not thinking with our rational minds, but with our survival instincts. 

I have attached two pages with bible verses that can be used when breath is needed to calm our bodies HERE.

But there is a spirit within people, the breath of the Almighty within them, that makes them intelligent. -Job 32:8