Mindfulness can come in many packages: it can be meditation, restorative yoga, reflection in a quite space. It can be a lot more than that too, such as cooking your favourite meal, reading a book, going for a walk, or even knitting.

Mindfulness, like everything else in the world, is not one size fits all, which means you shouldn’t feel like the only way to achieve mindfulness to reduce stress, anxiety, or anything else in your life – for your chronic illness or not – is how we think mindfulness is through classic meditation.

Dealing with pain, symptoms, stress and anxiety from your chronic illness day in and day out can create a lot of added, unneeded stress on our bodies and minds, and we all know stress reduction through lifestyle changes, such as incorporating mindfulness practices can help. But as we said, mindfulness can look like a lot of different things for each person, but also depending on the stress or anxiety you are currently experiencing.

For more traditional mindfulness practices, such as breathwork and meditation, may not be for everyone, and can sometimes be inaccessible to you depending on where you are and your situation. It may also be something that simply doesn’t work for you.

What is always accessible to us, no matter where we are or what we are doing or feeling, is our breath, which can be part of mindfulness practices. Also, mindfulness should feel natural and bring you peace: not forced and uncomfortable. Breath work can be these things for many of us, and there are different types of breath work we can try and do depending on how we feel.

Breath work refers to deep, diaphragmatic breathing or belly breathing, which research suggests may trigger relaxation responses in the body. Breath work encompasses a range of breathing exercises designed to enhance physical, spiritual, and mental health, all which can help with our stress, pain, and anxiety.

Box Breathing

Box breathing is when you breathe in, hold, breathe out, and hold your breath to the same count of time. Usually, it is done in counts of four with nose breathing: breathe in for 4 seconds; hold for 4 seconds; breathe out for 4 seconds; hold for 4 seconds; repeat. You can do box breathing for as many rounds as you want or need. Doing at least 3 rounds can help ring awareness to your breath and how you are feeling, and slow down your thoughts and pain as you focus on the breathing and counts.

Staggered Breathing

One of our favourite breathwork techniques, staggered breathing is when your breath in, hold, and breath out slightly change in time. Typically, you add a few seconds onto your count with each step to the breath: breathe in through your nose for 6 seconds; hold your breath for 8 seconds; slowly breathe out through your mouth for 10 seconds; repeat. We like to do this in rounds of 2 or 3, then repeating a few normal breath-cycles after.

Alternate-Nostril Yoga Breathing (ANYB)

The name of this Hindu practice can be translated as “channel purifying,” and it’s a gentle exercise that is not as discreet as the other breathing techniques, but is good when you can use your hands for your breathwork. This technique involves breathing through one nostril at a time, while manually closing the other nostril, to facilitate alternate breathing and airflow: using your left thumb, gently close your left nostril; breathe in through the right nostril; move your thumb from your left nostril to your right while holding your breath; breathe out through your left nostril; repeat. We like to do this technique for a few rounds. Always make sure you can breathe clearly through each nostril before attempting.