Anxiety: Finding Relief Through Breath Work and Body-Based Practices

Aug 22

Anxiety can feel overwhelming, unpredictable, and at times, all-consuming. It may show up as racing thoughts, tension in the body, difficulty sleeping, or a constant sense of unease. When you’re stuck in this state, it can feel hard to know where to start, or even to believe that relief is possible.

At Lumina Counseling, we understand how deeply anxiety can affect your quality of life. While talk therapy and mental tools are powerful, healing doesn’t only happen in the mind. The body holds tension, fear, and stress too. That’s why integrating body based practices and breath work can be a profound way to calm your nervous system, reconnect with yourself, and start to feel more grounded.

Anxiety and the Mind-Body Connection

Anxiety is not just “in your head.” It lives in your body, in your clenched jaw, tight shoulders, shallow breath, or racing heart. It’s your nervous system reacting to perceived danger, even when you're not under direct threat.

For some, anxiety might be constant, a low hum of restlessness and worry. For others, it shows up in waves during panic attacks or periods of intense stress. Either way, anxiety can interfere with focus, sleep, relationships, and your overall sense of well-being.

What’s important to know is that anxiety is not a personal failure or flaw. It’s a deeply human response that’s wired into our biology. However, just as anxiety is rooted in the body, body based practices and breath work can be part of the solution.

When the body feels safe, the mind follows.

At Lumina Counseling, we often recommend incorporating these somatic tools alongside therapy. When you create a sense of calm in your body, you send a message to your brain: “I’m okay. I’m safe.” And from that place, healing and clarity become more possible.

Anxiety Relief Through Breath Work and Body-Based Tools

When you're in the grip of anxiety, your breath becomes shallow. Your heart rate may spike, and your muscles tighten. Breath work allows you to gently reverse that process.

Intentional breathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system, the system responsible for rest and relaxation. By consciously slowing your breath, you can begin to calm your body and reduce the physiological symptoms of anxiety.

Some simple breathing techniques you can try include:

Box breathing: Inhale for 4 counts, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4. Repeat for a few cycles.
Extended exhale: Inhale for 4 counts, exhale for 6–8. This signals safety to your nervous system and helps to lower your heart rate.
Hand-on-heart breathing: Place your hand on your chest, close your eyes, and breathe slowly. Feel the rise and fall of your breath.

These small moments of pause can act as powerful coping techniques for anxiety, especially when used consistently.

Breath work is also a gateway to other body based practices like grounding exercises, movement, and sensory regulation. When you engage the body in healing, you create new pathways to reduce stress and reconnect with the present moment.

How Body-Based Practices Help Soothe Anxiety

Body based practices are techniques that center on moving, sensing, or attending to the body as a way of calming the mind. They don’t require you to analyze or explain your anxiety. Instead, they give you tools to physically shift your state.

These practices can include:

Progressive muscle relaxation: Slowly tense and release different muscle groups to discharge stored tension.
Walking meditation: Bring awareness to each step, the rhythm of your breath, and the contact of your feet with the ground.
Gentle stretching or yoga: Lengthening the spine and opening the chest can reduce the physical symptoms of anxiety.
Cold water on the wrists or face: A quick way to “reset” the nervous system and bring awareness back to the present.

When you're feeling overwhelmed, body based practices help anchor you in the now. Rather than spiraling in anxious thoughts, you begin to feel what is true in this moment: your breath, your body, your safety.

For many clients at Lumina Counseling, incorporating somatic techniques into their routine has brought new levels of relief and resilience, not as a replacement for therapy, but as a complement.

Coping Techniques for Anxiety That Build Resilience

Managing anxiety isn't about eliminating every symptom, it’s about building your internal capacity to navigate stress with more ease. The more you practice coping techniques for anxiety, the more accessible calm becomes, even in difficult moments.

Here are a few body-oriented strategies to add to your toolkit:

Grounding through the five senses
This technique roots you in your body and environment, helping pull focus away from anxious thoughts.
Look around and name:

5 things you can see
4 things you can touch
3 things you can hear
2 things you can smell
1 thing you can taste

Movement breaks
Shake out your limbs, stretch your spine, or do a few squats. Physical movement helps discharge anxious energy stored in the body.
Create a calm space
Use lighting, texture, sound, and scent to create a soothing environment that tells your body it’s safe.
Connect with the breath regularly
Build a short daily breath work routine, even 3 minutes can change your nervous system over time.

Incorporating these coping techniques for anxiety can help you shift out of survival mode and into a more balanced, regulated state. With regular practice, your body learns: I can feel anxious and still be okay.

Working With the Body to Build Long-Term Resilience

While many of us are taught to “think” our way out of anxiety, true healing often starts in the body. By learning to listen to and care for your physical self, you give yourself a new kind of emotional resilience.

Resilience isn’t about being unaffected by stress, it’s about recovering more easily when stress arises. Breath work and body based practices help increase that recovery window, allowing you to return to a place of safety faster and with more confidence.

When paired with individual therapy, this approach can be especially powerful. Therapy provides space to explore thought patterns, past experiences, and beliefs that fuel anxiety, while body-based tools offer real-time relief and support.

At Lumina Counseling, we help individuals understand the unique patterns of their anxiety and craft a personalized toolkit for managing it. Together, we explore how nervous system regulation, self-compassion, and somatic tools can support your long-term healing.

You don’t have to figure this out alone. With guidance, practice, and patience, it’s possible to create a more peaceful, steady relationship with yourself.

Body Based Practices for Everyday Life

Sometimes people ask, “When do I use these tools?” The answer: Any time you notice your anxiety beginning to rise.

Before a difficult meeting
After a triggering conversation
When your thoughts won’t slow down
As part of your morning or evening routine

The more regularly you engage in body based practices, the more naturally your body begins to shift from stress to calm. Over time, your nervous system becomes less reactive and more resilient.

And remember, it's not about doing it perfectly. It's about gently showing up for yourself in small ways, over and over again.

Body Scans: A Grounding Practice for Calming Anxiety

One of the most accessible and effective body based practices for managing anxiety is the body scan. It’s a mindfulness technique that invites you to gently tune into your physical sensations, from head to toe, bringing your awareness into the present moment.

When you're living with anxiety, your mind often gets stuck in future worries or looping thoughts. The body scan helps anchor your attention, offering a calm, grounded alternative to racing thoughts. This practice encourages a shift from mental overdrive to embodied awareness, exactly what your nervous system needs during moments of feeling overwhelmed.

Body scans are also incredibly validating. They allow you to notice where tension or discomfort shows up in your body without judgment. Over time, this builds a sense of connection and safety within, which is essential for regulating anxiety.

How to Practice a Body Scan:

Find a quiet space where you can sit or lie down comfortably.
Close your eyes if that feels okay, and bring your attention to your breath, no need to change it, just notice.
Start at the top of your head, slowly moving your attention downward, part by part: your forehead, eyes, jaw, neck, shoulders, arms, chest, and so on.
As you move through each area, pause to observe: Is there tension? Numbness? Tingling? Relaxation? Simply notice without trying to fix or change anything.
If your mind wanders (which it will), gently guide it back to the body part you were focusing on.
End the practice by taking a few deep breaths and gently opening your eyes.

Even just five to ten minutes of this mindfulness-based body scan can be a powerful coping technique for anxiety. When practiced regularly, it helps strengthen your ability to stay present, regulate stress, and cultivate a more compassionate relationship with your body.

You’re Not Alone: Tools, Support, and Next Steps

Anxiety may feel isolating, but you’re not alone, and you’re not powerless. Through the practice of breath work and body based practices, it’s possible to reduce anxiety and feel more present in your daily life.

If you’re ready to explore deeper healing, individual therapy can help you understand your anxiety on a personal level. Together, we can identify what triggers your stress, what calms your body, and what helps you feel safe again.

At Lumina Counseling, we’re here to support you with compassionate, evidence-based care. Whether you’re new to therapy or seeking new tools to add to your routine, we’ll meet you exactly where you are.

You deserve relief. You deserve support. And you deserve to feel more at ease in your body and mind.

If you’d like to learn more or get started, reach out to schedule a free consultation. Let’s build your healing toolkit, one breath at a time.