Breathing Puts the Brakes on Stress

by | Jan 29, 2026 | Uncategorized

There is so much going on in the world and in our lives as this year launches. It can feel overwhelming and induce worry about the world scene. You may feel like you want to put your head in the sand and hope it all goes away, but that is not realistic either. No matter what is going on in the world, we must keep engaging in our own world.

It’s important to have strategies that support our resilience. The first step is to become aware when we are feeling charged by things we can’t control. We can lose a lot of energy stewing about things we can’t change or act on.

Discerning the things we can control and what we can take responsibility for is an essential strategy in this era where there is so much noise coming at us every day. Being aware of what we choose to focus on is energy-conserving and regulates how we can put our focus on the parts of our life we are responsible for. 

Self-responsibility is a key factor for resilience.

It’s important to recognize what is ours to do and when to set a boundary or a bottom line about where we choose not to place our energy and focus. This is often easier said than done and takes practice to consistently communicate our boundaries and bottom lines.

When we lose our focus, and we are over the top with an emotional or mental trigger and full of judgment, blame, or overwhelm, we simply have to breathe.

Humans are programmed with a natural, resilient stress response that kicks in with slow, deep breaths into our belly. Deep breathing is what puts the brakes on the stress response to slow down the revved-up stress hormones that swirl around when we are impacted by stress. Deep breathing is how we access the parasympathetic or “rest and digest” stress response.

If we add counting during our deep breaths, we can short-circuit the inner dialogue that often perpetuates our negative stress patterns. This simple technique comes from Andrew Weil, MD, from the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine. It’s called the 4-7-8 breath. It’s impossible to keep the inner dialogue going if you are counting at the same time as breathing, so this technique feels like a reboot for our focus and energy reserves.

The 4-7-8 technique:

Take deep breaths into your lower belly, below your belly button.

As you inhale a slow deep breath, count to 4
Hold your breath in your lower belly and count to 7
Slowly exhale your breath to a count of 8
Repeat this cycle 3-4 times or until you feel a reboot of focus and energy

Eyes can be open or closed- open if you are doing this practice while driving!

You can find more Stress Mastery tools and practices in Sara’s book “The Courage to Shine. How to Feel Confident Outside Your Comfort Zone” available on Amazon and Audible.
Click here for a free download of the e-book “How to Grow From Your Stress”