Breath: Belly breathing is one of my all time favourite things to do each morning, in moments of stress and anytime I feel like I need to slow down. Have you ever looked at how a new born baby breathes? It’s not through their upper body and shoulders like most of us now, it’s through their belly. Instinctually we were all built to take full deep inhales and exhales through our belly. Expanding and contracting. Taking and releasing. I first learned Qi Gong Breathing through an amazing teacher and healer who first taught me to slow down and breathe in a very very long time. 

Qi Gong Breathing utilizes the basic force of life, the breath, for relaxation and enhancing our body’s focus on the reproductive organs. Through this practice you are literally breathing life into and through your female organs! 

Sit in a comfortable cross legged position on the floor, or alternatively you can choose to stand with two feet grounded into the earth. Put the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth and try to slow your breathing down. It can feel a little weird at first, especially if you aren’t used to sitting or standing quietly but I promise you’ll have something to focus on soon enough. 

Breathe deeply in through your nose. Try to think about bringing your breath all the way from your nose down the center of your body all the way to your belly button. Try to feel your tummy blowing up with air. It can feel a little constricting at first – I had a really hard time with it. If you’re struggling one thing that helped me was actually lying on my back with my knees up, feet on the floor. Put one hand on your belly and as you inhale through your nose feel your belly rise. This can be a really awesome way to physically feel what is going on instead of visualizing it which can sometimes be tough! 

At the end of the inhalation (whether you’re on the floor, sitting or standing) when you’ve got a full belly, begin exhaling. During the exhale try to focus the energy and the breath traveling up your back midline over your head and coming back down through your nose. This will sort of help you to create a visual of the way the breath travels. 

I think for me it’s the fact that you are actually visualizing the breath and really focusing on it that calms me down. It’s a tool I use daily and to be honest I find myself doing it without even thinking now. Start with 5-10 breath cycles in the morning or before bed and see how you feel. The more often you do it the easier it will become but be patient with yourself. On some of my worst days I find it can take me 10 cycles just to get my belly to expand. It’s really hard when you’re starting from a place of tension and stress to calm yourself down so the trick will be to see if you can almost get to know yourself so well that you can work on calming yourself down and breathing before you get into the stressful situation. 

Working with your breath will help you to recognize more often those moments that you are actually holding  your breath. I know for myself in moments of stress when I’m at work I all of a sudden check in and realize I haven’t taken a full breath in I don’t know how long. That idea of holding my breath creates tension in the middle of my chest that I can physically and mentally feel throughout my body. It’s almost as if I’m holding my breath and not breathing deeply and properly to protect myself.  If we really want to change the way we are thinking about our hormones, fertility or getting pregnant we have to first work through our body. We must locate the resistance, the stress, the tightest areas and coax our body back to balance.