The Breath of Spring: How Seasonal Change Shapes Your Nervous System

As winter softens into spring here in the northern hemisphere, something subtle yet powerful begins to shift, not just in nature, but within your body.

Longer days, warmer air, brighter colours and sensory stimulation, including the return of light, don't simply change your environment; they recalibrate your internal rhythms. And one of the first places this transition shows up is in your breath.

At The Source, we see breath not just as a function, but as a language and a way of communicating with your body and mind. Your breath is a language that reflects how your nervous system is adapting in real time.

The Body in Transition

Spring is often associated with renewal, energy, and movement. It's an awakening of sorts. But biologically, it's also a period of adjustment.

As daylight increases, your circadian rhythm, the internal clock that regulates sleep, hormones, and energy, begins to shift. This change can influence melatonin production and alter sleep patterns, sometimes leaving you feeling both energised and slightly unsettled at the same time.

Seasonal changes, especially the transition into spring, can also subtly influence your ultradian rhythms, the natural cycles that occur throughout the day in 90-120 minute intervals governing energy, focus, and recovery. As daylight increases and environmental stimulation rises, these internal rhythms can become slightly compressed or more irregular, often leading to bursts of heightened energy followed by deeper dips in fatigue. Research in chronobiology suggests that shifts in light exposure and circadian alignment can cascade down to affect ultradian patterns, meaning your capacity for sustained attention, rest, and even breathing rhythms may fluctuate more noticeably during this time. Tuning into your breath can help stabilise these cycles, offering a gentle anchor as your body recalibrates to the pace of spring.

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Fresh Start Breathwork with Jesse

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In other words, that mix of restlessness, motivation, and unpredictability you might feel this time of year? It's not in your head, it's in your biology. And there's a way to support yourself.

Your Breath: The Bridge Between Body and Mind

Breathing is one of the few systems in the body that is both automatic and consciously controllable. It's regulated by complex interactions between the brain, nervous system, and respiratory organs, with key rhythm-generating centres located in the brainstem.

This dual control is what makes breath so powerful.

Your autonomic nervous system, the system responsible for stress and relaxation, has two main branches:

🔹 The sympathetic ("fight or flight") response
🔹 The parasympathetic ("rest and digest") response

When stress or stimulation increases, your breathing naturally becomes faster and more shallow. When safety and calm are restored, your breath slows and deepens.

Importantly, this relationship works both ways.

Research shows that the rhythm of your breath can directly influence brain activity, neural patterns, and overall nervous system regulation. So as your body navigates the seasonal shift into spring, your breathing patterns may change, sometimes becoming quicker, lighter, or more irregular without you even noticing.

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Pause to Calm with Gray

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Seasonal Breathwork Practices for Spring

In traditional Ayurvedic wisdom, spring is seen as a time of clearing and renewal, a period to gently shed the heaviness accumulated during winter. As the body transitions out of colder, slower months, certain breathing techniques are recommended to support this natural "cleansing" process, both physically and energetically.

Practices such as Kapalabhati ("skull-shining breath") and Bhastrika ("bellows breath/breath of fire") are more activating forms of pranayama (breathwork). They involve rhythmic, forceful breathing patterns that stimulate circulation, increase respiratory activity, and generate internal heat, qualities that can help counterbalance the sluggishness often carried over from winter. From a scientific perspective, studies show that these more vigorous breathing techniques can temporarily increase heart rate, blood pressure, and overall cardiovascular activation, reflecting a stimulating effect on the nervous system.

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Kapalabhati Explained by Ryan Bean and then Kapalabhati Pranayama by Ryan Bean

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Awakened Breath by Ben Holt

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Over time, consistent practice of pranayama, including techniques like Kapalabhati and Bhastrika, has also been shown to improve key markers of lung function such as forced vital capacity (FVC) and peak expiratory flow. This supports the idea that these practices can enhance respiratory efficiency, making them particularly relevant during seasonal transitions when the body is adapting to something new.

Alongside these, Alternate Nostril Breathing (Nadi Shodhana) offers a more balanced experience for the body. Research suggests that even short sessions of this practice can reduce blood pressure and support improved attention and cognitive performance, indicating a regulating effect on the autonomic nervous system.

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Alternate Nostril Breathing with Ed

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Ayurveda, as a healthcare system, suggests that these practices are most beneficial when done in the morning, between 6am and 10am, a window associated with slower, heavier qualities in the body. While this timing comes from traditional knowledge systems, it aligns with modern chronobiology, which shows that morning practices can help synchronise breathing, energy, and circadian rhythms as the body prepares for the day.

Rather than resisting the changes of the season, these practices invite you to move with them, using your breath as a tool to support both physiological balance and a sense of renewal in spring.

Why Spring Can Feel Both Expansive and Overstimulating

Spring brings more light, more activity, and often more expectation socially, physically, and emotionally.

For your nervous system, this can feel like an increase in input.

You may notice:

🔹 A sense of restlessness or low-level anxiety
🔹 Changes in sleep or energy rhythms
🔹 A tendency toward quicker, upper-chest breathing
🔹 Feeling "wired but tired"

This isn't dysfunction, it's adaptation. If you feel any/all of these symptoms, they are perfectly normal.

Your system is recalibrating from a slower, inward winter pace to a more outward, active state.

Supporting Your Nervous System Through Breath

This is where conscious breathwork becomes essential.

Because breath sits at the intersection of the conscious and unconscious, it gives you a rare opportunity to gently guide your nervous system rather than fight it.

Simple practices, like lengthening your exhale, softening your inhale, or bringing awareness to your diaphragm, can signal safety to the body and support a smoother seasonal transition.

Over time, these patterns don't just calm the moment; they help retrain your baseline.

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Breath Awareness: Nervous System Soothing with Joely

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Coming Back to Source

Spring isn't about forcing yourself into energy or productivity.

It's about learning to move with your body as it changes.

Your breath is already responding to the season. The question is…..are you listening?

At The Source, we help you tune into that relationship. To understand your breath not as something to control, but as something to work with.

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Let go and just be with Jen

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