Feeling Trapped in Your Body? How Breathwork Can Reconnect You to Safety

🧠 When Your Body Doesn’t Feel Like Home

For many people with MS, the body becomes a source of distress instead of comfort. You might feel like you're living in a vessel that betrays you—tingling, stiffening, collapsing, or confusing you at every turn. This can lead to a growing emotional distance from your own physical self.

You may recognize this disconnection if you’ve ever thought:

“I don’t feel safe in my own body.”

“I can’t trust my body to cooperate.”

“It’s like I’m floating outside myself.”

“I just want to escape how I feel.”

This is not just in your head. It’s a nervous system response to trauma and chronic illness—and it’s something breathwork can begin to gently unwind.

Want to try Breathwork? Click here.

😰 MS, Trauma, and the Fight-or-Flight Trap

Multiple Sclerosis doesn’t only damage the nerves—it can also overwhelm the nervous system. Chronic inflammation, unpredictability, pain, and medical trauma all feed into the fight-or-flight response. Over time, your body may stay stuck in survival mode.

This leads to:

Anxiety and panic attacks
Muscle tension and shallow breathing
Emotional numbness or shutdown
Feeling “outside” your body or ungrounded
A constant background sense of danger

In trauma terms, this is known as dysregulation—your nervous system gets trapped in overdrive or collapse. And you begin to lose access to a felt sense of safety.

Breathwork offers a way to slowly bring the nervous system back into balance and restore that missing connection.

🌬️ Why the Breath Is the Bridge Back to Your Body

Breath is the only bodily function that’s both automatic and under your control. That makes it a perfect tool for calming a stressed nervous system and creating a sense of safety within.

When you breathe consciously, you:

Activate the vagus nerve, which regulates stress response
Shift from “fight-or-flight” to “rest-and-digest”
Increase interoception (your ability to feel inside your body)
Re-establish a sense of presence and embodiment
Gently reconnect with yourself without needing to “fix” everything

It’s not about bypassing symptoms—it’s about finding calm and clarity within them.

🔁 What It Feels Like to Reconnect Through Breath

When you're trapped in your body, breathwork helps you feel like:

Your body is a safe space, not a battleground
You can pause overwhelming emotions before they hijack you
You can ground yourself when MS symptoms spiral
You can stay with yourself—even in hard moments

People often report feeling:

Softer muscles
A relaxed jaw and shoulders
Slower heart rate
Clearer thinking
A moment of peace—even when nothing else changed

These small shifts are huge victories in a nervous system that’s been on high alert.

Want to try Breathwork? Click here.

🔬 The Science Behind Breathwork and Body Awareness

Conscious breathing enhances body connection through:

🧠 Interoceptive Awareness

This is your ability to sense internal states—like your heartbeat, hunger, or tension. Breathwork increases interoception, helping you feel your body from the inside out.

🔄 Polyvagal Regulation

The polyvagal theory explains how different states of the nervous system affect emotion and safety. Breathwork stimulates the ventral vagal state, which fosters calm, connection, and trust.

🧘 Neuroplasticity and Self-Regulation

With consistent practice, breathwork rewires your stress response, teaching your brain and body how to return to safety more easily.

🧘 Breathwork Techniques to Reconnect with Your Body

1. Hand-on-Heart Breathing

Use for: Grounding during emotional overwhelm

Place one hand on your heart and one on your belly

Breathe in through your nose for 4 counts

Exhale gently through your mouth for 6–8 counts

Feel the warmth of your hands and rise/fall of breath

💡 Tip: Whisper “I am safe” with each exhale.

2. Three-Part Breath (Dirga Pranayama)

Use for: Feeling your whole body again

Inhale into the belly…
…then expand the ribs…
…then lift the chest
Exhale slowly, reversing the order
Do this for 3–5 minutes, lying down or seated

💡 Imagine filling a glass of water from bottom to top, then pouring it out again.

3. Anchor Breath

Use for: Returning to the present moment

Choose a consistent rhythm (e.g., inhale 5, exhale 5)
Keep your attention on the breath like an anchor
When the mind wanders, gently bring it back

💡 Pair with visualization—imagine each inhale rooting you deeper.

4. Ocean Breath (Ujjayi)

Use for: Reclaiming a sense of strength and control

Inhale through the nose
Slightly constrict the throat and exhale with a soft “haaa” sound
It should sound like ocean waves or Darth Vader
Continue for 2–3 minutes

💡 This breath strengthens focus and soothes the nervous system.

5. Humming Breath (Bhramari)

Use for: Calming inner agitation

Inhale deeply
Exhale while humming like a bee
Feel the vibration in your throat and chest
Repeat for 5–10 rounds

💡 Vibration soothes the vagus nerve and clears mental fog.

📅 A Simple Breath-Based Reconnection Routine

☀️ Morning (5 minutes)

3 rounds of Three-Part Breath

Whisper: “I choose to return to my body.”

🕛 Midday Pause (3 minutes)

Anchor Breath while seated or lying down

Use tactile support: place a warm object or pillow on your belly

🌙 Before Bed (5 minutes)

Hand-on-Heart Breathing

End with a humming breath to calm racing thoughts

🧱 Building a Safe Inner Space: What Breathwork Can Teach You

Breathwork teaches your body:

“I can feel things without falling apart.”

“I can slow down without losing control.”

“I am not just symptoms—I am a whole person.”

The more often you connect with the breath, the more your nervous system learns that it's safe to be in your body, even when things feel hard.

This doesn’t mean you love every sensation—but you don’t run from them either. You build capacity to be with what is—and that’s real healing.

⚠️ Gentle Warnings for Trauma and MS

If you have a trauma history or dissociation, start slow:

Avoid breath holds or very rapid breathing
Stay present with physical sensations—don’t force anything
If emotions arise, pause and ground (touch, sound, or movement)
Consider working with a trauma-informed therapist or breath coach

Your goal is connection, not intensity. Want to try online therapy? Click here.

🗣️ Real Experiences: Reclaiming Safety Through Breath

“MS used to make me feel like a prisoner in my own body. Breathwork gave me a way to feel present again, even when symptoms flare.”
—Jasmin, 34, PPMS

“When I’m panicking, I hum on the exhale and it brings me down. It’s weirdly magical how something so simple can make me feel grounded.”
—Luc, 38, RRMS

“I used to dissociate every time I had a bladder issue. Now I do hand-on-heart breathing and tell myself: 'I am still here. I am okay.' It helps.”
—Lina, 41, SPMS

💞 You Are Not Broken—You Are Healing

If you feel disconnected from your body, please know this:
You’re not weak. You’re not overreacting.
You’re having a very real response to a difficult experience.

And healing doesn’t always come in big leaps. Sometimes, it comes in a single breath.

Every time you breathe consciously, you are: