As a breath coach, I compiled a list of my very favorite breathing quotes to inspire, motivate, and remind you to take time each day to S.T.O.P and B.O.P or Breathe On Purpose.
Top 50 Breathing Quotes
Breathing is the first thing we do when we are born and the last thing we do before we die, yet most of us pay little attention to it throughout our lives.
Breathing is something we do automatically, but it is also a convenient tool to build healthy self-care habits early in life. Low and slow belly breathing is an excellent way to interrupt the stress cycle and help yourself and your kids feel calm, reduce anxiety, and release physical stress effects on the body.
The breath is always with us, it is the most effective calming tool, and it’s free!
Breathing Quotes For Health
- What has to be taught first, is the breath. ~Confucius
2. If I had to limit my advice on healthier living to just one tip, it would be to simply learn how to breathe correctly. ~Dr. Andrew Weil
3. No matter what we eat, how much we exercise, how resilient our genes are, how skinny or young or wise we are-none of it will matter unless we’re breathing correctly. ~Breath, by James Nestor
4. Nearly every physical problem is accompanied by a disturbance of breathing. But which comes first? ~Hans Weller M.D.
5. Breathing affects your respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological, gastrointestinal, muscular, and psychic systems, and also has a general effect on your sleep, memory, ability to concentrate, and your energy levels. ~Donna Farhi
6. Our breathing is a fragile vessel that carries us from birth to death. ~Dr. Frederick Leboyer
7. Ninety percent of metabolic oxygen comes from breathing. Ten percent comes from food. ~Gabriel Cousens, M.D.
8. Physical and emotional states can be altered by changing the breathing pattern. ~Wilhem Reich
9. Improper breathing is a common cause of ill health. ~Andrew Weil, M.D.
10. Your shoulder muscles can restrict your breathing. Your chest muscles can restrict your breathing. Your ankle muscles can restrict your breathing. ~Michael Grant White
Breathing Quotes For Mindfulness and Awareness
11. Fear is excitement without the breath. ~Fritz Perls, M.D.
12. Your breath is your best friend. ~Professor Ramchandra Gandhi
13. What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself. ~Abraham Maslow
14. Your breathing determines whether you are at your best or whether you are at a disadvantage. ~Carla H. Speads
15. Without full awareness of breathing, there can be no development of meditative stability and understanding. ~Thich Nhat Hanh
16. Shallow breathers poison themselves. ~Paul Bragg
17. Remember to breathe. It is, after all, the secret of life. ~Gregory Maguire
18. Just a single thought is capable of changing the breathing pattern. ~Isle Middendorf
Breathing Quotes From Stress to Calm
19. Stress is basically a disconnection from the earth, a forgetting of the breath. Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important. Just lie down. ~Natalie Goldberg
20. Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky, conscious breathing is my anchor. ~Thich Nhat Hanh
21. Genius is the ability to reduce the complicated to the simple. ~C.W. Ceran
22. I strongly suspect that all children engage in “advanced” breathing/healing practices, only to forget them as the habits of age literally take the breath away. ~Michael Sky
23. True breathing is like a flower blooming. If we hold our breath, the bud never opens. ~Chungliang Al Huan
24. Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure. ~Oprah Winfrey
25. Breathing is the greatest pleasure in life. ~Giovanni Papini
26. Breathe deeply, until sweet air extinguishes the burn of fear in your lungs and every breath is a beautiful refusal to become anything less than infinite. ~D. Antoinette Foy
27. Inhale the future, exhale the past. ~Author Unknown
Breathing Living a Healthy Life
28. The secret of life is right under your nose! ~Dan Brule
29. The trick to life is to just keep breathing. ~Johnny Lung
30. When the breath is unsteady, all is unsteady; when the breath is still; all is still. Control the breath carefully. Inhalation gives strength and a controlled body; retention gives steadiness of mind and longevity; exhalation purifies body and spirit. ~Goraksasathakam
31. Learn how to exhale, the inhale will take care of itself. ~Carla Melucci Ardito
32. Only those who know how to breathe will survive. ~Pundit Acharya
33. If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You have another chance. ~Andrea Boydston
Deep Breathing Quotes
34. Deep breathing brings deep thinking and shallow breathing brings shallow thinking. ~Elsie Lincoln Benedict
35. Learn how to exhale, the inhale will take care of itself. ~Carla Melucci Ardito
36. When the mind is agitated, change the pattern of the breath. ~Patanjali, Yoga Sutras
37. You’re alive and breathing. That’s a fine reason to celebrate. ~Johnny Lung
38. If you really want ‘wellness’, you need to go back to basics & make sure the foundation of your health-your breathing-is good. ~Belisa Vranich
39. When you hold the breath, you hold the soul. ~B.K.S. Iyengar
40. Breath is the finest gift of nature. Be grateful for this wonderful gift. ~Amit Ray
41. Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths. ~Etty Hillesum
42. Breathing control gives man strength, vitality, inspiration, and magic powers. ~Zhuangzi
43. The nose is for breathing, the mouth is for eating. ~Proverb
44. When you own your breath, nobody can steal your peace. ~Author Unknown
45. Whatever is going to happen in life will happen. Just be thankful to be alive — to be breathing. ~Johnny Lung
46. Do not be afraid that joy will make the pain worse; it is needed like the air we breathe. ~Goran Persson
47. Your body’s main source of energy is oxygen. Period. ~Belisa Vranich
48. All learning is remembering. ~Plato
49. The wisest one-word sentence? Breathe. ~Terri Guillemets
50. Just breathe. ~Author Unknown
Which one of these breathing quotes inspired you?
Take a moment to choose a breath quote that resonated with you and use it as a motivator to ignite a breathing routine in your home. Looking for more inspiration? Here are additional breathing quotes from Good Reads.
Breathe on purpose for as little as 5-minutes a day to calm the nervous system, boost energy, strengthen the immune system and improve health.
Low and slow belly breathing offers many breathwork benefits, and with daily practice, you and your children will have the inner resources to naturally manage stress and anxiety.
If you are looking for additional resources on how breathing can help reduce stress and anxiety, be sure to grab my FREE E-book packed with tips and strategies to help kids self-soothe and feel in control of their minds and bodies.
With practice, these skills will become automatic equipping kids with tools to thrive in a noisy world.
Thanks for reading!
Breathe well,
🧡 Stephanie Esser | Owner at Balancing Elephants | BE Buddy® (watch video)
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