Day 17
Building Your Respira Nervous System Health Toolkit
Your Respira Nervous System Health Toolkit is designed to support your ongoing breathwork journey and help you integrate breathwork into daily life as a sustainable habit for long-term nervous system health.
Today We Will Learn:
- How to personalise your Respira Breathwork Toolkit for nervous system regulation.
- How to integrate breathwork into daily life effortlessly.
- The science-backed benefits of three extended practices: Breath of Fire, Coherent Breathing, and 4-7-8 Breathing.
Respira Breathwork Library
Your Respira Toolkit is designed to support your ongoing breathwork practice by giving you access to a personalised library of nervous system regulation exercises.
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After you press SUBMIT at the end of today’s session, the Breathwork Library will unlock in your Respira Toolkit Dashboard.
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All breathwork practices introduced in this course will be available for ongoing practice.
Building Your Breathwork Library Favourites
By favouriting breathwork exercises that resonate with you, they will be saved to your Favourites in the Respira Dashboard Toolkit, serving as a personalised, easy-access resource for nervous system regulation and conscious coping.
Whether you’re looking for a calming, downregulating breath to shift out of an activated state, an energising, upregulating practice to overcome shutdown, or a balancing, vagal-toning technique to build resilience, your customised Respira Toolkit allows you to create a self-regulation system tailored to your nervous system needs.
In-The-Moment Nervous System Support
By now, you have Mapped Your Nervous System, recognising your signals and understanding what nervous system state you are in.
Now, it’s time to match breathwork practices to your needs. Use the Respira Breathwork Library Tags to navigate UpRegulate, DownRegulate, and VagalTone exercises.
Respira Breathwork Tag System
To make selecting the right breathwork exercise easy, use the TAG SYSTEM to navigate breathwork practices:
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UpRegulate (for shutdown states) → Select energising breathwork exercises.
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DownRegulate (for activated states) → Select calming breathwork exercises.
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VagalTone (for balance & adaptability) → Select vagal toning breathwork exercises to build resilience.
Selecting the right breathwork at the right time helps reinforce nervous system flexibility and long-term adaptability.
Finding Your Daily Breathwork Moments
To build consistency, link breathwork to existing routines
Morning: Energising practices (Breath of Fire).
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Midday Reset: Balancing practices (Coherent Breathing, Box Breathing for focus)
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Evening Wind-Down: DownRegulate - Use 4-7-8 Breathing for deep relaxation.
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Before Stressful Situations: Pre-meeting, pre-social interaction, or before a high-stakes moment.
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During Transitions: While commuting, waiting for coffee to brew, or in the shower. Check in with yourself—what do you feel like you need in the moment? Select an exercise accordingly.
Overcoming Common Barriers to Breathwork Practice
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“I don’t have time” - Start with 2 minutes, even a short practice has benefits.
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“I forget” - Link breathwork to an existing habit (after brushing teeth, before meals).
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“I don’t notice immediate results” - Benefits accumulate over time, track progress to see shifts.
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“I fell off track” - Restart gently, every breath is a fresh beginning.
Progress is non-linear, returning to your practice is what matters. Progress over perfection!
Day 17 Breathwork
Extended Practices
Today, explore three extended practices to refine your personal breathwork routine.
Reflect inwards, and Select one exercise for now based on how you are feeling. Return to the others based on when you feel they would benefit your current Nervous System State.
Scientific Benefits of Extended Breathwork Practices
Breath of Fire
Morning energy boost
UpRegulates SNS (sympathetic activation)
Improves HRV, stabilises emotions, reduces anxiety (Lehrer & Gevirtz, 2014).
Coherent Breathing
Midday focus & balanceMorning energy boost
Midday focus & balance
Improves HRV, stabilises emotions, reduces anxiety (Lehrer & Gevirtz, 2014).
4-7-8 Breathing
Evening relaxation
DownRegulates SNS, activates PNS
Lowers cortisol, slows heart rate, promotes sleep (Brown & Gerbarg, 2005).
Key Takeaways
- Routine breathwork strengthens the nervous system, increasing adaptability and reducing stress responses.
- Identifying personal triggers and glimmers helps tailor breathwork practices to your needs.
- The Respira Toolkit provides easy access to your favourite breathwork techniques.
- Scheduling and tracking breathwork practice helps integrate it as a long-term habit.