Sound Breathing Novels & Stories

“Everything is fine.” I didn’t even realize I wasn’t breathing until he pointed it out. “Lisa, baby,” he murmurs, his tone filled with gentle reassurance. “You need to stay with me. Just listen to my voice, okay? Breathe. Breathe for me.” He takes a deep breath, demonstrating for me, and I find myself mirroring his movements. Slowly but surely, my breathing steadies. The tightness in my chest loosens, and I can finally inhale deeply on my own.

He asks me to sit cross-legged, and my hands spread on my knees. "Now I want you to close your eyes, I'm going to try something with you," he asks me, and I do, "breath calmly, inhale," he says, "now exhale. Try to inhale, hold the air for a second and then exhale. Repeat until I tell you to stop." I take breaths and wait. I listen to all the sounds in the gym, even the breeze moving the tree limbs outside. The buzzing of a bee, the song of birds, some animal that I do not know.

I heard James' distant voice screaming out to me. He carried me in his arms and gently set me down to rest my back up against the wall. “Aurelia, I'm here for you. I just need you to breathe” I gasped for air, no air was going in and out of my lungs “Look at me, breathe in through your nose, and exhale through your mouth.” He took my hand in his, rubbing them gently “follow my move, breathe with me please” I inhaled after he did and followed his breathing, we breath together slowly till I was able to breath on my own like a normal human.

"Match my breathing, in and out, follow me." He took a deep breath in while holding my face so I had to look at him. I tried to copy him while breathing in but it felt wrong and too hard. He breathed out slowly while I attempted to match him again. "That's it," he encouraged while taking another breath. "In through your nose, out through your mouth." We breathed together while gradually the panic started to fade. The bond between us glowed warm in my chest while Zeke was pushing calm at me through the connection. It helped while my racing heart slowed down and the tunnel stopped spinning.

Rena In, out. In, out. I focus on my breathing. Six counts in through my nose. Six counts out through my mouth. Again and again. "Keep it steady," I whisper to myself, my voice barely audible in the darkness. "Just keep breathing." When I concentrate on counting my breaths, the pounding of my heart slows down. The tight feeling in my chest loosens a little. For a few precious moments, I can almost forget where I am. Then another contraction grips me, and fear floods back like a tidal wave.

"Feel the power inside you. It's there, buzzing just beneath your skin." "It's terrifying." "Power always is but fear makes you lose control. So we breathe through it." My thumbs press gently at the base of her neck. "In through your nose, slow, hold for three counts, out through your mouth." She tries and it's shaky at first. "Again. Find the rhythm." She breathes once, twice, three times. The glow around her hands dims slightly. "Good. You're already learning." "It doesn't feel like learning. It feels like drowning."

Those contractions transmitted to his ears like a low-frequency vibration. Her breathing became increasingly rapid, with shorter intervals between each breath. Air flowed in and out of her nostrils and lips simultaneously, creating a rhythmic “ha—ha—ha—” sound. With each “ha,” a stream of hot air was expelled onto her chest, causing a strand of hair at the edge of her silk shirt collar to flutter.

He just shifted so I was cradled against him—chest to chest, one hand rubbing slow circles on my back, the other cradling the back of my head like I was something precious and breakable. “Breathe with me,” he murmured. “In through your nose… hold… out through your mouth. That’s it. Again. You’re not there. You’re here. With me. In bed. Dry. Safe.” I tried. Failed the first time—hiccuping sob instead of breath. He didn’t flinch. Just kept the rhythm, voice low and even. “In… hold… out.” Second time better. Third time my lungs started cooperating. His heartbeat thumped steady under my ear—slow, sure, nothing like the frantic racing in my own chest. I focused on it like a lifeline.

“Close your eyes.” I did. The world turned inward instantly. And inside me, everything was loud. Keiran’s voice begging. Beverly’s laughter. The word freak. Ronan’s mouth on mine. Ronan’s promise. My own voice screaming leave until my throat burned. My breath caught. My mother’s voice cut through the noise like a blade through fog. “Breathe in for four. Hold for two. Out for six.” I tried. In… two… three… four. Hold. Out… slowly. My lungs shook.

“Stop fighting me and breathe.” But I couldn’t stop fighting. I couldn’t let him see me like this. I couldn’t risk him asking questions I didn’t know how to answer. I pushed against him again, weaker this time. “Please, I just need to…” “Breathe.” His voice dropped lower, that commanding tone that had pulled me back from panic attacks before. “In through your nose. Now.” My body obeyed before my mind could protest. Air trickled in shakily. “Good. Hold it. Count to four with me. One. Two. Three. Four.”