Tired, Wired, Maybe Both at Once?
The fact your calendar’s full doesn’t mean your tank has to be empty
Late summer into early fall (I think it’s called “shoulder season” but I think of as “fallish”) has a specific once-a-year optimism to it: new routines, sharp pencils, maybe even that satisfying click of a brand-new planner. But by early October, the shine tends to fade. Schedules feel heavier, inboxes overflow, and fatigue sneaks in earlier than we’d like.
This is when burnout starts lapping at your edges. Not the dramatic collapse kind, but the slow erosion – the feeling that your reserves are lower than your demands.
Here’s the good news: resilience isn’t about pushing harder or getting used to carrying more. It’s about rhythm. And the simplest rhythm you can use to build resilience is your breath.
Routine Feeling Heavy? You’re Not Imagining It
As the seasons shift, so do our bodies. Shorter days affect sleep cycles, energy levels, and mood. Add in school logistics, work projects ramping up, and earlier sunsets, and our nervous systems are under more pressure to adapt.
The solution is regulation. We need to slow down the internal chatter, interrupt stress cycles, and restore ourselves before we break.
Your breath can help because it’s a two-way line to your nervous system. By breathing in specific ways, you can trigger your body’s natural “safety” signal, shifting yourself out of fight or flight and into a calmer, more resourceful state.
My Most-Used Breathwork Technique
Resonant breathing makes both you calmer and more resilient, and it’s the breathwork pattern I use most often.
This is an even-paced technique where you’re inhaling and exhaling at five to six breaths per minute. That means you’re spending 10-12 seconds on each breath, inhaling and exhaling for 5-6 seconds each. It’s a much slower pace than most people breathe in everyday life.
Why is it called resonant breathing, or coherent breathing? What’s in resonance (coherence)? What’s happening here is that your heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate all sync up. It feels good physically and it has some powerful effects.
Resonant breathing literally shifts your body into R&R mode. It also increases your heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of your body’s ability to handle stress. Higher HRV → more resilience.
Basically, this breath practice trains your nervous system to bounce back faster, so daily stressors don’t feel like such a drain.
Easy to Do Anytime, Anywhere
This is a very easy technique, even if you’re just starting out.
Get comfortable. You don’t need a mat or a quiet room – your desk chair will do. Hell, you can do it standing in line at the grocery store if you feel like it. (Now you know my secret.)
Inhale through your nose for a count of 5. Keep it smooth, not forced.
Exhale through your nose for a count of 5. Aim for a steady, relaxed release.
Repeat for 3–5 minutes. Work up to 10–15 minutes if you want deeper effects. A little breathwork does a lot, but more does more :)
That’s it. No rules to remember, no complicated patterns. Just steady, balanced breathing.
And it’s super versatile. Try it…
In the morning to set your tone for the day.
Between meetings or in the car to reset your focus and calm tension.
At night to unwind and prepare your body for deeper sleep.
Even 3 minutes can be enough to change how you feel in the moment. And the more you practice, the more resilient your nervous system becomes over time. It’s kind of like brushing your teeth – a small habit that feels good in the moment and keeps things from seriously deteriorating over the long haul.
Because realistically, fall will always bring busier schedules and shorter days. But with this practice, your body can meet those changes with steadiness instead of strain.
Last Gasp
Speaking of steadiness, I’m exploring a new way to put breathwork right at your fingertips. Imagine a simple tool where you type in how you’re feeling and instantly get a 3-minute breathing exercise to reset.
It’s gonna be breathwork GPT, and I’d be so grateful for your input before I build it out.
👉 Answer just four questions to help me get started.
Thanks in advance!
“The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived.” — Robert Jordan
Love resonant breathing! I do a lot of reading, and I've noticed my breathing tends to be really shallow and mostly through my mouth. However, when I use the resonant method, it makes the whole experience significantly better and more enjoyable.