Novel & Cerita Breathing Styles

I breathed. In through the nose, out slow, the way I had been doing it for five years whenever things got loud and I needed my hands steady. The same technique I had used on the kitchen floor and at windows in the dark and in corridors outside his office and on a roof in the cold. I knew how to do this. I had been training for this without knowing it. Slow. In through the nose, out slow. The same way I had breathed through forty minutes of a headache three nights ago. The same technique I had been using for five years when things got loud and I needed my hands steady.

“I understand, Sir.” He loosened it again. “Better.” He rose. “Stand.” She stood. He touched the side of her neck where the collar lay. His thumb found her pulse and rested on it. “Rule five,” he said. “When I count, your breath obeys the numbers. In for four. Hold for two. Out for six. If I change the pace, you follow. If I stop, you hold. You do not anticipate. You wait.” “Yes, Sir.” He counted. She obeyed. At three cycles, her shoulders dropped a fraction. At six, the tightness in her chest eased. At nine, she felt the strange calm of being carried.

He looked calm and steady. "Your breathing is way too fast," Axel noted. He took a slow, deep breath in through his nose to demonstrate. "You are working yourself into a panic attack. I need you to match my breathing. We are going to inhale for four seconds, and we are going to exhale for four seconds." I wanted to argue because my mind was racing with terrible scenarios, but Axel maintained his steady eye contact. He inhaled again. I forced myself to follow his lead. I drew a shaky breath into my tight lungs.

“Breath. Body. Boundary. Tonight we practice until you can hold yourself steady when the pull comes.” “What pull?” “You already know,” he said. We kept walking until the house lights were gone. The woods felt bigger than they had yesterday — not darker, just closer, like they’d leaned in. “Breath first,” Kai said. “In through the nose. Out through the mouth. Longer on the out.” The first breath caught halfway. The second scraped. By the sixth, my chest loosened and the hum softened. “Good,” he said. “Body next. Touch wrist, collarbone, sternum. Name what you feel.”

-Skylar- Suddenly, the pain stopped and everything around me looked completely different. Not in the sense that I was in a new environment, the way I was seeing everything was different. It was like I had a new pair of eyes; everything was much sharper. My nose filled with the most beautiful scent, cinnamon, my nose followed the scent, landing on Aspen. I looked at him, only to see him looking at me with complete and utter shock. I tried to get out some words, wanting to ask what was wrong, but nothing came out apart from a howl. Why was I howling?

Kael stood in the center. “Stand straight,” he said. Ariana adjusted her posture. “Breathe.” She followed his instructions. Slow in. Hold. Slow out. Again. Again. **** At first, it felt useless. Just breathing. But slowly her body calmed. Her heart slowed. The pain became less sharp. *** “Close your eyes,” Kael said. She obeyed. “Listen.” She focused. The wind. Leaves. Her heartbeat. **** “Now feel,” Kael said.

I sat cross-legged on the rock, mimicking his posture. "Close your eyes. Breathe in slowly through your nose, counting to four. Hold for four counts. Then exhale through your mouth for four counts. The rhythm helps quiet your mind and opens channels for your power to flow." We practiced the breathing for what felt like hours. Every time my mind wandered—which was constantly—Hayden gently redirected my focus back to my breath. "Good. Now, whilst maintaining that breathing pattern, I want you to reach out with your wolf senses. Can you feel the life around us? The trees, the grass, the fish in the river? Everything living has an energy signature. Learn to sense it."