1189: Calming Anxiety Through Breath - Inspired By James Nestor
The Anxiety Coaches Podcast
Gina Ryan
4.6 • 1.9K Ratings
🗓️ 29 October 2025
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In today's episode, Gina discusses the calming power of the breath, particularly as she has been inspired by James Nestor's recent book: Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. The reasons why the breath is so important are discussed, as well as the science behind why calm breathing can be so helpful. The emotional and spiritual sides of breathing are touched upon then practical steps on how to use the breath to improve your experience of peace and calm are covered. Listen in and become a master of your breath today!
Related Episodes You Might Enjoy
If you’d like to continue exploring how breath and the body work together to calm anxiety, check out these episodes from The Anxiety Coaches Podcast:
Episode #1095 – Using Your Breath to Calm the Mind and Body
Tools and practices to help you use breath for immediate calm and stress relief.
Episode #1138 – Understanding the Sensitized Nervous System
Learn more about how the nervous system reacts to stress and anxiety — and what you can do to reset it.
Both episodes offer practical strategies to support your nervous system, reduce anxiety, and reconnect with a natural sense of calm. You can listen to them anywhere you access podcasts, or visit
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Quote:
Breathing is the greatest secret of longevity. How you breathe determines how you feel, how you age, and even how you die.
-James Nestor
Chapters
0:26 Welcome to the Breath Journey
3:42 Exploring the Power of Breath
9:07 The Science of Calm Breathing
14:12 Breath as Self-Compassion
16:06 Practical Steps for Healthier Breathing
17:21 Closing Thoughts and Reflections
Summary
In this episode of the Anxiety Coaches Podcast, I delve into the profound impact of our breath on anxiety and emotional regulation. As I explore the significance of breath, I highlight it as a fundamental, yet often overlooked, tool for achieving a state of tranquility and balance within our bodies and minds. Drawing inspiration from James Nestor's enlightening book, "Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art," I emphasize how the way we breathe can dramatically influence our overall well-being.
Throughout the discussion, I unpack the automatic nature of breathing and how our typical patterns can betray us, especially in moments of anxiety. When we are overwhelmed, it's common for our breathing to become shallow and rapid, sending distress signals to our brain and maintaining a state of hyperarousal. I reflect on my own journey of discovering the benefits of long, slow exhalations and conscious breathing, which not only transformed my personal anxiety management but also allowed me to assist others in making similar changes.
I stress the importance of breathing through the nose, as highlighted by Nestor, reclaiming what he describes as the "lost art of breathing." I detail the physiological benefits of proper nasal breathing — it calms the nervous system and activates the parasympathetic response, ensuring that our bodies can transition to rest and digest mode. Practical exercises are woven throughout the episode, allowing listeners to engage with their breath in real time, guiding them away from stress and towards a newfound sense of safety.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the anxiety coaches podcast, a relaxing and informative show where we explore anxiety, panic, and PTSD, sharing how you can overcome them for life. |
| 0:23.1 | Aloha. |
| 0:24.2 | Welcome back to the Anxiety Coaches podcast. |
| 0:27.6 | I'm your host and coach, Gina Ryan, and I am so happy to be with you again today |
| 0:34.0 | as together we can consider the many ways to bring your mind and body back to its |
| 0:40.5 | natural peace and calm. In today's episode, we're exploring something that's always with us, |
| 0:48.7 | our breath. It's the simplest, most natural tool for calming your nervous system, for easing your anxiety, |
| 0:56.8 | and returning to balance. The breath is involved in like I was talking about in our last |
| 1:02.7 | episode with humming or chanting. That all involves the breath. But maybe there are many things |
| 1:09.4 | you can do if you are not even chanting or humming or singing |
| 1:15.5 | or using your breath in those ways. You can still use your breath to calm. Now I talk about it |
| 1:22.6 | all the time. We always talk about having the longer, slower exhalation. But sometimes I harp on things because |
| 1:31.7 | they're so important. And I try to come at them from a lot of different directions, because we all will get |
| 1:38.9 | our aha moments from different places at different times. So here we are talking about breath yet again. |
| 1:47.9 | But it's because it's so important. And we want to be able to use the most natural tool that we have |
| 1:55.7 | for calming our nervous system, easing anxiety and returning to balance. So I was very inspired by James Nestor's |
| 2:05.3 | wonderful book, Breath, The New Science of a Lost Art. I will have more information about other |
| 2:14.3 | episodes for calming your breath or using your breath so that maybe if this one |
| 2:20.1 | doesn't quite do it or if this one just piques your interest and you want to listen to more, |
| 2:25.3 | you can listen to a couple other episodes that I have. But I also would highly suggest that you |
| 2:31.2 | look into James Nestor's book, Breath, The New Science of a Lost |
| 2:36.4 | Art. And so today I'm going to share how the ways we breathe affects our mind and our mood |
... |
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