Hot Chocolate Breathing and Ladder Breathing

The Practice

As much as we love waxing wellness on juicy topics and creative concepts, there is nothing quite like the power of the breath when it comes to resetting, regulation, and relaxation. We can’t practice compassion or build healthy habits if we aren’t able to pause and practice in challenging moments.

The breath is the building block of wellness, and so we wanted to return to our Toolkit roots (regular readers may recall our very first edition involved pinwheels) and introduce two more breathing practices to add to your regulatory repertoire.

The Language

• For younger students (or anyone with a particular appreciation for hot chocolate): Do you love hot chocolate? Me too! Let’s try an activity where we pretend to appreciate a steaming mug of it. Sometimes taking a breath in an imaginative and playful way can help us find a little calm when we need it. First, imagine holding that warm mug between your palms. Raise it to your nose and breathe in that smell of cocoa. Can you feel the steam on your nose? It’s hot! Now breathe out to cool the hot chocolate so it’s ready for your first sip. Let’s try three more hot chocolate breaths at our own pace. How do you feel?

• For older students (or anyone with a particular appreciation for scaffolding): Sometimes the best way to find stability and steadiness when we need it is to align the breath with a counting exercise. For this activity, we’re going to breathe like we are climbing our way up and down a ladder. Start by inhaling for a two-count and exhaling for a two-count—that’s your bottom rung. Now we’ll try inhaling for three and exhaling for three. Then in for four and out for four—you’re climbing higher. Keep going all the way up to six and then back down to two again. It takes a little mental focus to remember what number you are on, but that’s part of the practice. The count gives your busy mind something to anchor to while you pace your breath. Try it out and then let’s check in on how you feel.