A Breathing Technique to Reset Stress and Reconnect with Your Core
Life pulls at you from every direction and in the midst of it all, it’s easy for your body to stay stuck in “go mode.” Without even realizing it, you may find yourself holding your breath, clenching your jaw, or tensing your shoulders.
These subtle shifts are part of your body’s natural stress response - an ancient system designed to keep you safe. But when that system stays switched on, it can leave you feeling anxious, tense, and disconnected.
The good news? You have more control than you think.
One of the simplest, most powerful ways to signal safety back to your nervous system, and reconnect with your core, is through your breath.
In this blog, I’ll show you a calming breathing exercise you can use anytime, anywhere, to regulate your stress response and gently bring your body back into a place of ease and support.
Why “Just Relax” Doesn’t Work
You’ve probably heard it before: “Just take a deep breath.”
It sounds helpful, but when your nervous system is already overloaded, vague advice like this often falls flat. Your body might be stuck in high alert, and no amount of well-meaning reminders to "relax" can override that without real support.
The truth is, your nervous system doesn’t respond to ideas - it responds to input.
What actually works is specific, intentional movement and breath. You need something repeatable and grounded - a practice your body can recognize as safe. One that tells your system: It’s okay to let go.
And that’s where structured breathing becomes a powerful tool. Not just any breathing - but a specific pattern that signals safety, restores balance, and helps your body shift out of stress and into healing.
What Stress Really Does to Your Body
When your nervous system stays in a sympathetic (fight-or-flight) state for too long, your body shifts into protection mode, and it doesn’t just affect how you feel. It changes how your body functions.
Here’s what happens beneath the surface:
Your muscles begin to tense as a default, especially in the jaw, neck, shoulders, abdomen, hips, and pelvic floor. This tension isn’t random - it’s your body trying to create stability when it doesn’t feel safe.
Your breathing becomes shallow and chest-driven. When the diaphragm can’t move fully, your brain continues to receive signals that something is wrong, even when you’re no longer in danger.
Most importantly, your core system stops coordinating properly. The diaphragm, deep abdominals, and pelvic floor are designed to move together with every breath. Under chronic stress, that rhythm breaks down.
When this coordination is lost, your organs no longer receive the support they need to stay in their optimal position. Instead of being gently lifted from above and supported from below, they shift downward.
As the organs drop, they receive less blood flow, lymphatic drainage, and nerve input ... and function begins to suffer. This is where many symptoms start to appear, including poor digestion, bloating, urinary urgency or frequency, hormonal disruption, pelvic pressure, and pain.
All of this creates a loop: stress alters your breathing and core muscle function, disrupted core function affects organ support and circulation, and those physical symptoms send even more stress signals back to your nervous system.
Over time, this tight, braced, always-on-edge state can start to feel like your “normal.”
But it isn’t.
Your body isn’t designed to live in constant protection. She’s designed for coordination, movement, and adaptability. And with the right kind of input (intentional breathing that trigger calming reflexes and restores safety) your system can begin to unwind and reorganize itself again.
A Simple Reset: The Breath Your Nervous System Actually Needs
You don’t need a 20-minute meditation, a quiet room, or the “perfect moment” to regulate your nervous system. You just need a breath your body will recognize.
When stress hits, your breath is the first to change - becoming shallow, fast, and tight. That tells your nervous system to stay on high alert. But with the right input, you can reverse that response in under a minute.
This is where we begin:
The Nervous System Reset: A Physiological Sigh
This two-step breath is one of the fastest, most effective ways to downshift from stress and bring your body back to center. And it takes less than a minute.
The 2-Step Physiological Sigh:
1. Inhale through your nose - then sip in just a little more air at the top.
This double inhale expands your lungs and helps release excess carbon dioxide.
2. Exhale slowly and fully through your mouth.
Imagine fogging up a mirror - long, soft, and complete.
That’s one cycle. Repeat just 2–3 times to reset your system.
What This Does:
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Lowers your heart rate
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Relaxes the diaphragm
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Signals to your brain: you are safe
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Restores calm and coordination in your deep core
Want to feel it work? Place one hand on your heart or belly and try it right now. Stay present with each exhale, and let your body begin to soften.
This is how we interrupt the stress cycle. This is how we rebuild from safety, not force.
What Happens Next: Core + Pelvic Floor Awakening
As your breath slows and your nervous system begins to downshift, something deeper happens too: your core begins to wake up.
The diaphragm, pelvic floor, and deep abdominal wall are all part of one integrated system. When your body is under stress, this system becomes tense, disconnected, and uncoordinated. But when you breathe in a way that restores safety, these muscles begin to move together again - naturally, reflexively, without force.
And that’s when you start to feel the shift:
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A drop in shoulder tension
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A softer jaw and less chest tightness
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Fewer racing thoughts
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A grounded, more centered feeling in your body
You may even notice subtle releases or gentle engagement in your pelvic floor and low abs, like your body is remembering how to support you again. That’s not in your head. That’s your core, coming back online. This is the starting point of true core recovery: not from squeezing harder, but from restoring connection and coordination where it matters most.
When to Use This Breath and Why it Matters
This isn’t just a tool for high-stress moments. It’s a daily practice to keep your nervous system steady before it spikes, so you’re not constantly cycling between tension and burnout. Like brushing your teeth or moving your body, this breath becomes more powerful the more consistently you use it.
Here are a few powerful moments to weave it in:
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Before a stressful event: Sitting in the car before a family gathering, a medical appointment, or a tough conversation.
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When you feel it rising: That moment you catch your jaw clenching, your shoulders creeping up, or irritability bubbling over.
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Before bed: To signal to your body that it’s time to exhale and rest.
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During daily transitions: After school pickup, before dinner prep, or anytime things feels chaotic.
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Just because: Even when you’re not “stressed,” to train your body to stay grounded and calm.
With repetition, your body learns that calm is safe… and tension isn’t the default. This is how regulation becomes your new baseline. Not just something you reach for in crisis - but a state you live in, lead from, and return to with ease.
Why This Simple Breathing Tool Works
Most women I work with have tried all kinds of stress-relief strategies - apps, meditations, self-care routines - but few things feel realistic when you're already overwhelmed.
This simple breathing practice works because:
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It takes less than two minutes
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You can do it anywhere, no quiet room or special equipment required
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It works directly with your body’s subconscious stress response
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You feel the effects almost immediately
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And with consistency, it helps your system return to calm faster - and stay there longer
Here’s why: Breathing is one of the only systems in your body that functions both automatically and intentionally. You don’t have to think about it - but when you do, it changes everything. Your breath becomes a direct line of communication between your body and your brain. When you slow your breath, let it come from your diaphragm, and create rhythm, you activate your parasympathetic nervous system (the one responsible for rest, digestion, healing, and hormonal regulation.)
This tells your brain: You are safe. You can let go.
And that message creates real, physical change:
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Your diaphragm begins to move more fully
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Your pelvic floor stops clenching and starts responding
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Your deep abdominals re-engage to support your spine and posture
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Digestion improves, bloating eases
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Your bladder calms, and urgency begins to resolve
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Pain softens as tension releases
You no longer have to “hold it all together.” Your core starts doing that for you - the way it was always meant to. The result? You feel calmer. More connected. More like yourself again.
This is the First Step, Not the Only Step
This simple breath reset is powerful - but it’s just the beginning.
Breath is the entry point, the invitation for your body to come out of protection mode and start healing. But if you’ve been living in a state of tension, disconnection, or dysfunction for a while, true restoration takes more than a few deep breaths.
Inside The Core Recovery Method®, I guide you step-by-step beyond stress relief into full-body recalibration. We take the principles of nervous system regulation and integrate them into movement, posture, and daily life.
You’ll learn how to:
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Rebuild core and pelvic floor strength without force or fatigue
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Coordinate breath and pressure for better control and support
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Restore alignment and movement patterns that allow your body to function with ease
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Use techniques like hypopressives and reflexive core training to create real, lasting change
This isn’t about managing symptoms. It’s about retraining your body to move, respond, and support you the way it was always designed to.
The result? A core that activates when it should. A pelvic floor that responds automatically. A body that feels calm, supported, strong - and most importantly, trustworthy again.
What Real Women Are Saying
“This routine became my favorite daily practice. It helps me with bloating, painful periods, my posture and in general I feel healthier and happier.”
“Angie Mueller’s work is a cornerstone for healing. It’s given me my life back and that's a gift beyond compare.”
“This has been the best investment I made in my health! Everyday I feel more and more connected with my body and spirit. Angie has so much knowledge and patience and is truly a great teacher!”
You don’t have to stay stuck in that tight, depleted, always-bracing state. You don’t have to accept that this is “just how it is” now — not after birth, not in motherhood, not ever. Your body is wise. She knows how to heal, how to regulate, and how to feel strong, safe, and supported again. Sometimes, she just needs the right input… and a little guidance to remember what she’s capable of. You can start with something as simple as your breath — and build from there. When you’re ready, I’ll be here to walk with you.
