How Your Breath Can Help You Feel Clearer and Lighter This Spring
TL;DR
Spring can leave you feeling a little heavier or less clear than usual.
Your breath offers a simple, immediate way to shift how you feel:
Deep belly breathing → to settle and unwind
Kapalabhati → to clear and energise
Ujjayi → to steady your energy during the day
Even a few conscious breaths can make a noticeable difference.
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3 simple breathing practices you can use throughout the day
You’ve probably noticed that spring can bring a certain heaviness — not just in the body, but in how we feel during the day.
A bit slower in the morning, a little foggy in the head, not quite as clear or light as we’d like to be.
(If you’re curious why this happens, I explore this in more detail in my post on Kapha and the spring season.)
And if you’ve been following along with my recent blog posts, you’ll know that we’ve already explored how food and yoga practice can support this shift.
But there’s another piece that’s often overlooked — and it’s something you always have with you: your breath.
The way you breathe has a direct effect on your energy, your focus, and how settled or unsettled your system feels.
In this post, I want to share three simple breathing practices you can return to throughout the day — to feel clearer, lighter, and more like yourself again.
If you’ve been exploring this from different angles — food, movement, and now breath — you’ll start to notice how they work together.
My three favourite Breathing Techniques for Spring
Deep Belly Breathing — to settle and gently warm the body
Deep belly breathing is very accessible. Everyone can practise it at any place and at any given time.
Breathing deeply into our belly or abdomen is the first part of the three-part breathing, forming the foundation for all pranayama techniques.
The best way to start breathing into your belly is to lie on the floor (or in bed) with your knees bent.
In the beginning, it is helpful to place the hands around the navel to become aware of the rhythm of the breath with its rise and fall of in- and outbreath.
As we breathe in, our abdominal wall rises away from the spine; as we breathe out, it slowly relaxes back down towards the spine.
Once we have established a good rhythm and breathing into the abdomen feels effortless, we can lengthen the in- and outbreath; counting is a great tool. We can count the natural length of the breath and start slowing the breath a little for a longer count. For example, if your natural count of the inbreath is three, try lengthening it to four. The same applies to the outbreath.
When this rhythm is established, we can focus on the natural pauses after the inbreath and after the outbreath.
Although it might feel like an ongoing and in-and-out, in fact, though, the rhythm is:
inhale – little pause - exhale – little pause.
Try this short audio-guided breath:
The more relaxed you are, the longer the pauses. When you feel stressed, they get shorter and more rushed. Do you notice the rhythm?
Eventually, you can pause your breath a little on either side to come to a rhythm of, for example
inhale count four, pause count four, exhale count four, pause count four and so forth.
The benefits of deep abdominal breathing
It strengthens the muscles involved.
Deep breathing elicits the relaxation response, switching our nervous system from stress mode to rest and digest mode. This makes it the number one tool for tackling stress. It is free, and you can use it everywhere and whenever needed.
When we pause after the inbreath, the gas exchange, which provides the cells with oxygen and removes waste from the cells back into the bloodstream to eventually be exhaled, is improved.
As we come into rest and digest mode, our digestion improves, resulting in more nourishment for the body and its tissues. We also feel less hungry and snack less.
Our energy levels improve, and we feel less tired. Tiredness, as you might have experienced yourself, can also lead to snacking.
Aren’t these benefits compelling? The simplicity and accessibility of deep abdominal breathing leave us with no excuses; why not integrate it into our daily lives?
If you are already familiar with deep belly breathing, apply the same to the 3-part or 9-part breath.
The powerful Kapalabhati – skull shining.
Kapalabhati means “skull shining” — and that’s exactly what it does.
It helps clear the sinuses and nasal passages, leaving your head feeling lighter and clearer, which makes it a particularly useful cleansing breath during spring.
Already in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a classical Hatha Yoga text, Kapalabhati is described as one of the six cleansing techniques, known as kriyas.
These are not simply breathing exercises, but practices designed to clear and prepare the body — creating the conditions for other breathing practices to become more effective.
The text notes that Kapalabhati helps counter the effects of excess Kapha.
In that sense, this isn’t a new idea. Yoga has long used simple, practical techniques like this to support the body in finding balance again.
How to practise Kapalabhati?
This can feel a little unusual at first, as Kapalabhati works with an active outbreath and a passive inbreath.
The exhale is short and sharp — as if you were blowing your nose — with the abdominal muscles strongly contracting to push the air out through the nose.
As the abdominal muscles release, the inhale happens automatically. Air flows back in without you needing to actively breathe in.
A helpful image here is opening something vacuum-packed — as soon as the seal is released, air rushes in on its own.
And this is often the part that takes a little getting used to. We’re so accustomed to controlling the breath that it can feel unfamiliar to let the inhale happen by itself.
But over time, a sense of trust develops — and with it, the breath becomes more effortless and rhythmic.
Because the abdominal muscles are actively involved, this practice also helps strengthen them. At first, they may tire quickly, but with regular practice, both strength and ease develop.
This, in turn, can support digestion and help create a lighter, clearer feeling in the body.
Can everyone practise Kapalabhati?
Like many breathing practices, Kapalabhati isn’t suitable for everyone in its full form.
It’s best to avoid or adapt the practice if you have conditions such as high or low blood pressure, heart issues, hernia, gastric ulcers, epilepsy, vertigo, migraines, or if you’ve had recent abdominal surgery.
If you’re unsure, it’s always a good idea to check with a qualified teacher or simply stay with a gentler version of the breath.
The good news is that there are softer variations and preparatory practices that most people can explore safely — and these already offer many of the benefits.
If you’d like to try a guided version, you can follow this short 10-minute tutorial to get started:
🌱Feeling a bit low on energy — or not quite as clear as you’d like?
You can download my free guide:
My5 Quick Ayurvedic Fixes to Move from Scattered to Steady.
If you’re wondering where to start, this is a simple and supportive place.
Ujjayi Breathing — to steady and guide your energy during the day
Ujjayi breathing is sometimes called the ocean breath because of the soft, steady sound it creates in the back of the throat.
I often describe it as gently voicing a “ha” — as if you were lightly misting a mirror — but with the mouth closed. The breath stays smooth and even, with a quiet, rhythmic sound.
This is the breath we’ve been exploring in class recently. And what’s interesting is that it’s not just for your time on the mat.
You can use Ujjayi at any point during the day — especially when things start to feel a little rushed, scattered, or mentally busy.
The steady sound of the breath gives you something to come back to. It helps you stay present, slows the pace slightly, and brings a sense of quiet focus.
In movement, it keeps you connected to your body. In stillness, it helps you settle.
You might notice that when your breath becomes uneven or strained, it’s often a sign that you’re pushing a little too far or moving too quickly. In that way, Ujjayi becomes a guide — gently showing you when to ease off and come back to a more sustainable rhythm.
Like all breathing practices, it takes a little time to feel natural. But once it does, it becomes something you can return to again and again — not just in practice, but in everyday moments.
If you’d like to explore this, a simple way to begin is with the mouth open.
Try gently as if you were fogging up a mirror — you’ll notice the soft “ha” sound forming in the throat with the in- and outbreath.
Once that feels familiar, you can close the mouth and keep the same shape and sensation in the throat, allowing the breath to move in and out through the nose, with a much quieter sound.
It doesn’t need to be perfect — just enough to begin noticing the effect of the breath.
Even a few breaths like this can begin to shift how you feel.
Final Thoughts
This may have felt like quite a bit to take in — so let’s keep it simple.
Spring can leave us feeling a little heavier, slower, or less clear than usual. And while food and movement both play their part, the breath offers a more immediate way to shift how we feel.
The three practices we’ve explored each support you in a slightly different way:
Deep belly breathing helps you settle and unwind, especially when the day has felt busy or full.
Kapalabhati brings lightness and clarity, helping to clear that foggy or sluggish feeling.
Ujjayi gives you something steady to return to — a way to stay present and gently regulate your energy throughout the day.
You don’t need to do all of them, and you don’t need to get them perfect. Even a few conscious breaths can begin to shift your energy and bring you back to yourself.
Over time, these small moments add up — not through effort, but through consistency.
Start with one — and notice what changes.
If this resonates with you, this is something we explore more deeply in my When Rest Isn’t Enough — Rebuild Your Daily Rhythm workshop.
It’s not about adding more techniques, but about understanding how your day is structured — and how small, consistent shifts can help your body recognise when it’s time to be active and when it’s time to settle.
The breath is one part of that — but the real change comes from how everything fits together.
You can find the details here.
FAQs
When is the best time to practise these breathing techniques?
Morning is ideal for more energising practices like Kapalabhati, while gentler breathing can be used at any time — especially when you need to reset during the day or unwind in the evening.
Do I need to practise all three?
Not at all. Start with one that feels accessible and notice how your body responds.
How long should I practise for?
Even a few minutes can be enough. Consistency matters more than duration.
Is Ujjayi only for yoga practice?
No — it can be used throughout the day, especially in moments when you feel rushed or mentally busy.
