3 Deep Breathing Exercises to Retrain Your Limbic System and Reduce Stress
Living with an autoimmune disease or any chronic disease can feel like an exhausting cycle of symptoms, flare-ups, and frustration. If you’ve been searching for lasting relief, it’s time to explore a powerful yet often overlooked tool: limbic system retraining.
The limbic system, the emotional center of the brain, plays a critical role in how our bodies respond to stress, pain, and inflammation. When this system is overactive—due to chronic illness, trauma, or persistent stress—it can keep your body in a state of fight-or-flight, making healing nearly impossible.
Fortunately, there are simple, science-backed exercises that can calm an overactive limbic system, regulate your nervous system, and create an internal environment where your body can heal. Today, we’re diving into three powerful breathwork techniques that tap into neuroplasticity, helping to rewire your brain and reverse autoimmune symptoms.
Why Breathwork for Limbic System Retraining?
Breathing is the only autonomic function we can consciously control, giving us a direct way to influence the nervous system. When done correctly, breathwork can:
Activate the vagus nerve, shifting the body into a parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) state.
Lower inflammation, helping to reduce autoimmune flare-ups.
Regulate the HPA axis, balancing stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.
Increase oxygenation, supporting cellular repair and energy levels.
Improve heart rate variability (HRV), a key marker of nervous system resilience and health.
Below, we’ll cover three breathwork exercises that rewire the limbic system, shifting you out of the “go, go, go” mode and into a state of calm where healing becomes possible.
What are good breathing exercises?
Any intentional deep breathing exercises will be beneficial for your overall wellbeing and stress levels, as conscious breathing helps switch your body from fight-or-flight mode into rest-and-digest.
However, for people managing chronic conditions, certain breathing exercises can help with limbic system retraining. From activating the vagus nerve to lower inflammation box to resetting an overactive limbic system these practices are powerful yet simple tools that you can use everyday. Want to give it a try? Here's exactly where and how to start.
1. Belly Breathing aka Diaphragmatic Breathing
Most people with chronic illness breathe shallowly from their upper chest, reinforcing a stress response. Diaphragmatic breathing encourages deep, slow breathing that stimulates the vagus nerve and signals safety to your brain.
How to Practice:
Sit or lie down comfortably.
Place one hand on your chest and the other on your belly.
Inhale deeply through your nose, feeling your belly rise while keeping your chest still.
Exhale slowly through your mouth, feeling your belly fall.
Breathe slowly and deeply for 5 minutes or until you feel a sense of calm.
Why It Works: This technique increases oxygen exchange, lowers stress hormones, and interrupts the chronic fight-or-flight response and helps you feel more relaxed.
Once you make this a regular practice you can play around with practicing breathing with your diaphragm throughout your day and not just while sitting in a chair - try taking slow, deep breaths while waiting in line at the grocery store, driving, at work, or while reading.
2. Box Breathing for Nervous System Resilience
Box breathing is a structured breathing technique that helps regulate the autonomic nervous system and retrain the brain’s stress response. Used by Navy SEALs to stay calm under pressure, it’s equally effective for calming an overactive limbic system.
How to Practice:
Inhale through your nose for 4 seconds.
Hold your breath for 4 seconds.
Exhale slowly through your mouth for 4 seconds.
Hold again for 4 seconds.
Repeat for 5-10 cycles.
Why It Works: Holding the breath at the top and bottom retrains the brain to tolerate shifts in oxygen and CO2, enhancing nervous system flexibility and reducing stress reactivity.
Note that there are helpful visual youtube videos that walk you through this practice.
3. Breath Holds for Resetting the Limbic System
Holding the breath, when done safely, triggers a recalibration of the nervous system by briefly increasing CO2 levels, which enhances oxygen delivery to the brain and tissues.
How to Practice:
Inhale deeply and slowly through your nose and exhale fully.
Once you empty your lungs hold your breath at the bottom of the exhale for as long as is comfortable.
Inhale deeply again and hold for a few seconds before exhaling naturally.
Repeat for 3-5 rounds.
Why It Works: Breath holds help break maladaptive breathing patterns, retrain the brain’s response to stress, and increase overall oxygen efficiency in the body.
Putting It All Together: Your Daily Limbic Breathing Practice
To see lasting improvements, consistency is key. Try incorporating these techniques into your daily routine:
Morning: Start your day with diaphragmatic belly breathing to set a calm, balanced tone.
Midday: Use box breathing during moments of stress or fatigue to reset your nervous system.
Evening: Before bed, practice breath holds to release stored tension and promote deep relaxation.
With just 10-15 minutes a day, these techniques can help rewire your limbic system, regulate your nervous system, and support autoimmune healing and recovery.
Seems like too much to start with? Start with just one of these practices daily.
How can deep breathing exercises help with stress?
When you're constantly stressed, your body stays inflamed and your symptoms often get worse. Taking just a few minutes each day focusing on your breath isn't just a temporary fix—it actually helps retrain your brain to stay calmer overall.
Deep breathing helps with stress by switching your body from high-alert mode to calm mode. It costs nothing, requires no special equipment, and you can do it anywhere. Why not give it a try?
Especially, if you're struggling with any chronic health issues, adding 10 minutes of breathwork to your daily routine is one of the easiest but most effective things you can do to help your body heal.
Final Thoughts: The Power of Breath to Heal
Autoimmune diseases thrive in a body stuck in a chronic stress state. Breathwork offers a simple yet profoundly effective way to communicate safety to your brain, reduce inflammation, and retrain your limbic system for healing.
By practicing diaphragmatic belly breathing, box breathing, and breath holds, you can take an active role in rewiring your brain, calming your nervous system, and ultimately transforming your health.
Your breath is your one of your greatest tool. Use it wisely, and watch as your body begins to heal.
P.S. check out our podcast with Kevin Connelly to take a deeper dive into breathwork.