Course description

Your breathing changes with how you feel: held while you read a difficult email, quick and high before a meeting, a big sigh at the end of a long afternoon. This beginner's course teaches simple, gentle breathing techniques you can use to settle, rest and lift your energy, with plain, non-spiritual explanations of how breathing works.

It's a full course, not a quick tour. There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons, each with steps, a worked example, answers to common questions and a short task. You follow Kerry, a contact centre team leader in Sunderland with mild asthma, from the email that made her notice she was holding her breath in January to the personal toolkit card she wrote in September. Every section has a practice pack with a worksheet, example answers and a cheat sheet, plus extras such as a safety card, a breathing diagram, a noticing log spreadsheet, pacing shapes, a box breathing square and cue cards.

What you'll learn

• Getting started safely: what breathing techniques can and can't do, who should check with a GP, nurse or midwife first, the signs to stop, why this course keeps everything gentle, and a simple breathing check-in.
• How breathing works: your lungs and airways, the diaphragm, nose and mouth breathing, common breathing patterns, and how posture gives your breath room.
• Noticing your breath: the five-breath check, where you feel your breath, your own calm and busy counts, spotting stress breathing, and a two-week noticing log.
• Slow breathing and longer out-breaths: slow, steady breathing based on the NHS breathing exercise, finding your own comfortable pace, extended-exhale breathing, pacing shapes and a practice routine.
• Box breathing and the physiological sigh: box breathing with soft pauses or none, gentler versions, the double breath in and long breath out, and choosing a technique for the moment you're in.
• Breathing for sleep and rest: an evening wind-down, a gentle routine in bed, what to do when you wake in the night, daytime rest breaks, and night-time signs that need a GP.
• Presentations and difficult moments: what pressure does to your breath and voice, a short routine before a presentation or interview, breathing while you speak, difficult calls, and settling afterwards.
• Movement and energy: breathing while walking, breathing out on the effort, gentle energising breathing, the afternoon slump, and breathlessness that's expected or needs checking.
• Work and on the go: reset points in the working day, journeys as a passenger (and why never while driving), queues and waiting rooms, discreet techniques and everyday cues.
• Your daily practice and toolkit: a daily practice that lasts, starting again when it slips, and your personal breathing toolkit as the final project.

Who it's for

Adults who want simple, practical tools for everyday stress, rest and energy, with no experience needed. Every technique is gentle and stays in your control: the course doesn't teach fast or forceful breathing, long breath-holds or cold water. Breathing techniques are a self-help skill, not a treatment for any medical or mental health condition. If you're pregnant, or have a heart or lung condition such as asthma or COPD, epilepsy or panic disorder, check with your GP, nurse, midwife or specialist team before you start. Every person in the course is fictional.

What will I learn?

• Explain in plain words how your lungs, airways and diaphragm work, and when nose or mouth breathing suits you
• Know who should check with a GP, nurse or midwife first, the signs to stop, and when breathlessness needs a GP or 999
• Notice your own breathing patterns without changing them, and keep a two-week breath noticing log
• Use slow breathing, extended-exhale breathing and pacing shapes at a pace that’s comfortable for you
• Use box breathing with soft pauses or none, and the physiological sigh, and choose a technique for the moment you’re in
• Use gentle breathing to wind down, settle in bed and rest, and to steady yourself before presentations and difficult conversations
• Breathe well while walking and lifting, lift a flat afternoon gently, and use discreet techniques at work and on the go
• Build a daily practice that lasts, restart when it slips, and write your own personal breathing toolkit

Frequently asked questions