“Breathing is the bridge between mind and body, the connection between consciousness and unconsciousness, the movement of spirit in matter. Breath is the key to health and wellness, a function we can learn to regulate and develop in order to improve our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.” ~ Dr. Andrew Weil

Conscious breathing can be beneficial for survivors of narcissistic abuse. It offers a simple but incredibly effective self-help option for several issues related to narcissistic abuse, including stress, physical and emotional pain, complex PTSD, and anxiety attacks to name but a few.

Breathing is something we do every day, but how often do we consciously appreciate the process? Unfortunately, for most of us, the answer is not often enough! And when you’re dealing with the stress and overwhelm that goes along with narcissistic abuse and recovery, you’re more likely to breathe in a shallower fashion, which will cause other issues for you. But conscious breathing offers one way you can start to relieve your stress and overcome your overwhelm in recovery. So let’s talk about it.

What is Conscious Breathing?

Conscious breathing is a powerful way you can pattern-interrupt your stress and overwhelm in narcissistic abuse recovery, not to mention an incredibly useful method for maintaining your well-being. Luckily, anyone can learn the technique and use it regularly to strengthen both mental and physical health. It’s easy! One pioneer in conscious breathing is Wim Hof, who shares scientific research that explains why this works, along with his own methods, on his website. Basically, conscious breathing is becoming aware of how you take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide from your body. You can use this technique anywhere and anytime. There are different types of conscious breathing methods, but they all have similar aspects.

What are the benefits of conscious breathing in narcissistic abuse recovery?

We are going to focus on how conscious breathing can calm you down in the hard times during narcissistic abuse recovery. You can also use conscious breathing for various reasons, such as yoga and meditation, to focus on an activity or task at hand, to calm oneself down in moments of distress/frustration/anger, and for good health.

Breathing effectively can make us feel more alive than we’ve ever felt before. It’s an automatic reflex that we take completely for granted, but it can prove extremely beneficial in all areas of our lives when used in the right way. Conscious breathing can bring you a natural high, which increases your positivity.  Your relationships with other people, moods and tolerance levels, physical well-being, psychological wellbeing, and general happiness can all be benefited through conscious breathing.

• Conscious breathing develops the relationship between our mind and our body.
• It reduces stress, anxiety, anger, and depression.
• It improves our posture, coordination, and physical well-being
• It connects us with the natural environment and everything that is happening around us, the air we breathe

Mental benefits of conscious breathing in narcissistic abuse recovery

•  Conscious breathing can decrease stress and give you inner peace. In addition, it can help you focus during difficult moments.
• It can reduce fear, worry, and anxiety. It can help you deal with daily conflicts and issues.
• Conscious breathing can help your mind by giving it enough oxygen to focus and strengthen your concentration. In addition, it can have a positive impact on memory and test results, such as exams in school.

Conscious breathing has physical benefits too.

Conscious breathing makes a positive impact on your overall health:

• Practicing conscious breathing regularly can strengthen lung function and reduce asthma. It may not be able to reverse all damage or issues, but it can make a difference.
• Conscious breathing can also positively affect the cardiovascular system. This is because your body needs a constant flow of oxygen to function properly. By getting more oxygen, circulation and blood flow improves.
• Conscious breathing forces you to breathe through your nose. Breathing through the nose is healthier. In addition, it can make your mouth less dry. A dry mouth can cause tooth decay and affect the overall health of the tongue.
•  You might even reduce or eliminate snoring because, when you snore, you’re breathing through your open mouth. Even your relationships may improve with a decrease in snoring!
•  Conscious breathing can enhance your sleep and give you energy.
• Conscious breathing can also affect your weight. For example, deep breathing can reduce snoring, which can affect the hunger hormones. When you snore, you don’t get enough rest, so the hunger hormones increase and cause weight gain.

How Do You Use Conscious Breathing in Narcissistic Abuse Recovery?

So how do you do it? Well, let me teach you a bit more about this powerful health strategy.

How to practice conscious breathing

Conscious breathing requires you to focus on how you breathe. It makes you think about the process and regulate it. Conscious breathing forces you to live in the moment and enjoy it.

• You can become more aware of the process by putting your hand on your stomach. Relax and breathe in deeply through your nose. As you breathe in, your abdomen will rise. Then, pause and exhale gently. You can feel your abdomen go back down as you exhale.
•  You can even practice conscious breathing using various rhythms and patterns.
• Try conscious breathing in a quiet room or area. Avoid interruptions from phones or other devices.
• Combining meditation with conscious breathing makes the technique even more effective.

Conscious breathing is a teachable process that is easy to learn. It can have a positive influence on many aspects of your life.

Get help with narcissistic abuse recovery right now.

• The QueenBeeing SPANily, Official – We consider this the best narcissistic abuse recovery support group on the web. It offers several subgroups and features a vigilant, compassionate admin team full of trained coaches and survivors, supporting more than 12k members. SPAN is an acronym created by Angie Atkinson that stands for Support for People Affected by Narcissistic abuse in toxic relationships.
• Other Narcissistic Abuse Recovery Support Groups – We also have separate groups for each stage in your narcissistic abuse recovery and some for those who have moved past recovery and are evolving into the next stage of their own life. Survivors have unique and individual needs, even when they’ve moved on – so we’re still here for you.
• One-on-One Narcissistic Abuse Recovery Coaching – If you prefer to get more personalized support in your recovery, you might like to schedule a session with one of our coaches to plan and execute your own narcissistic abuse recovery plan.
• Find a Narcissistic Abuse Recovery Therapist – If you’re looking for a therapist for narcissistic abuse recovery, either because you cannot afford coaching and want to use your health insurance or because you have additional issues you need to address that do not fall within the realm of coaching, you will want to find the right therapist for you – and as far as we’re concerned, that therapist must understand what you’ve been through. This page offers assistance to help you do exactly that.
• Where Are You in Recovery? You might not be sure exactly where you fit in and what level of recovery you’ve achieved. If that’s the case, you’ll want to check out this self-assessment to help you determine exactly where you fall in the stages of recovery from narcissistic abuse. Once you finish and submit the assessment, you will be given resources for your own situation, along with recommendations of which groups to join.
• Which Narcissistic Abuse Recovery Program is Right for You? If you aren’t sure which program you want to utilize to facilitate your recovery from narcissistic abuse, this self-assessment will help you decide.

Best Expert Resources on Conscious Breathing

Read these books from the experts on conscious breathing for more information.

• The Wim Hof Method: Activate Your Full Human Potential
• Conscious Breathing: Discover the Power of Your Breath
• Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art Hardcover
• Conscious Breathing: How Shamanic Breathwork Can Transform Your Life

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Angela Atkinson

Angela Atkinson is a certified trauma counselor and the author of more than 20 books on narcissism, narcissistic abuse recovery, and related topics. A recognized expert on narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder who has studied and written extensively on narcissistic personality disorder and narcissistic abuse in toxic relationships since 2006, she has a popular narcissistic abuse recovery YouTube channel. Atkinson was inspired to begin her work as a result of having survived toxic relationships of her own.

Atkinson offers trauma-informed narcissistic abuse recovery coaching and has certifications in trauma counseling, life coaching, level 2 therapeutic model, CBT coaching, integrative wellness coaching, and NLP. She is a certified trauma support coach and certified family trauma professional. She also has a professional PTSD counseling certification. Her mission is to help those who have experienced the emotional and mental devastation that comes with narcissistic abuse in these incredibly toxic relationships to (re)discover their true selves, stop the gaslighting and manipulation, and move forward into their genuine desires – into a life that is exactly what they choose for themselves.

Along with her solution-focused life coaching experience, Atkinson’s previous career in journalism and research helps her to offer both accurate and understandable information for survivors of abuse in a simple-to-understand way that helps to increase awareness in the narcissistic abuse recovery community. Atkinson founded QueenBeeing.com Narcissistic Abuse Recovery Support, the SPANily Narcissistic Abuse Recovery Support Groups and the Life Makeover Academy.

She offers individual and group coaching for victims and survivors of narcissistic abuse here at QueenBeeing.com and at NarcissisticAbuseRecovery.Online.