Why You Hold Your Breath When You’re About to Take Up Space (And How to Stop) — A Yoga Nidra Journey from Silence to Sovereign Power

Have you ever noticed what happens in your body right before you speak up in a meeting? Before you ask for what you truly want? Before you hit publish, launch the thing, or simply allow yourself to be more fully seen?If you pay close attention, you'll find it — a subtle disappearing act. The breath goes quiet. The shoulders creep up. The belly tightens, just a little. And then you either push through feeling contracted, or you pull back altogether.This is the pattern I see again and again in the women I work with. And I want to talk about what it actually is — and what to do about it.It's Not a Mindset Problem. It's a Nervous System Pattern.We've been told that confidence is something we think our way into. That if we just reframe our beliefs or repeat enough affirmations, we'll feel ready to take up space.But the body doesn't work that way.That micro-contraction — the held breath, the tightened belly — is an old protective response. It was learned, often very early on, when being seen felt unsafe. When wanting too much felt dangerous. When your aliveness was too big for the room.The nervous system is simply doing its job. Keeping you small to keep you safe.The beautiful news? Your body already holds the key to release it.In the work I share through my Substack and Ecstatic Abundance Academy, we call this Pillar 1: The Awakening Body — the understanding that breathwork and somatic practices are direct gateways to self-trust. When you come home to your body, something shifts that no amount of mindset work can replicate.