Я делаю паузу и дышу глубже, так мне легче успокоиться.

Because делать is a transitive verb here, so it takes a direct object.

• делать что? → паузу
• So пауза changes to паузу in the accusative singular.

This is similar to English to take/make a pause or more naturally to pause.

You may also hear:

• сделать паузу = to pause / to make a pause once
• делать паузу = to be making/taking a pause, or to do that as a repeated/ongoing action

In this sentence, делаю паузу means something like I pause / I take a pause.

Russian often expresses this idea with a noun phrase:

• делать паузу
• сделать паузу

This is very natural Russian. It is not a word-for-word copy of English, but it works similarly to expressions like:

• принять решение = to make a decision
• сделать выбор = to make a choice

There is also the verb помолчать or остановиться in some contexts, but they are not exact equivalents:

• помолчать = to be silent for a while
• остановиться = to stop

So делаю паузу specifically means I take a pause.

They are in the present tense because the speaker is describing what they do as a current action or a usual strategy.

• Я делаю паузу и дышу глубже...
  = I pause and breathe more deeply...

In Russian, the present tense can describe:

• what someone is doing right now
• what someone generally does in situations like this

So this sentence can mean either:

• I’m pausing and breathing more deeply right now
• or I pause and breathe more deeply; that helps me calm down

The exact nuance depends on context.

Глубже is the comparative form, meaning more deeply / deeper.

• глубоко = deeply
• глубже = more deeply / deeper

So:

• дышу глубоко = I breathe deeply
• дышу глубже = I breathe more deeply / I breathe deeper

In this sentence, the speaker means they intentionally breathe deeper than usual in order to calm down.

Yes, it is completely correct. In Russian, just as in English, words related to depth are used with breathing.

• глубоко дышать = to breathe deeply
• дышать глубже = to breathe more deeply

So глубже here does not mean physical depth in space. It refers to the manner of breathing.

Here так means this way / like this / in this way.

So:

• так мне легче успокоиться

means roughly:

• this way it’s easier for me to calm down
• that helps me calm down more easily

This is not exactly the same as so meaning therefore, although in English the translation may sound similar.

Compare:

• Я делаю паузу и дышу глубже. Так мне легче успокоиться.
  = I pause and breathe more deeply. This way it’s easier for me to calm down.

So так points back to the method just mentioned.

Because Russian uses the dative in impersonal constructions like мне легко, мне трудно, мне можно, мне нужно.

Here:

• мне легче успокоиться literally means
• to me, it is easier to calm down

This is a very common Russian pattern.

Other examples:

• Мне трудно понять. = It’s hard for me to understand.
• Мне легко читать по-русски. = It’s easy for me to read in Russian.
• Мне лучше уйти. = It would be better for me to leave.

So мне is not an object of успокоиться. It belongs to the whole expression мне легче.

Because Russian often omits the dummy subject it that English requires.

English says:

• It is easier for me to calm down

Russian simply says:

• Мне легче успокоиться

Russian does not need a subject here. This is a normal impersonal construction.

So a more literal structure is:

• To me, easier to calm down

But natural English must add it.

Легче is the comparative form of легко.

• легко = easily / easy
• легче = more easily / easier

So:

• Мне легко успокоиться = It is easy for me to calm down.
• Мне легче успокоиться = It is easier for me to calm down.

The sentence implies comparison, even if it is not stated directly:

• by doing this, it becomes easier than before or easier than otherwise

Because the speaker is talking about reaching a result: to calm down as a completed change of state.

• успокаиваться = to be calming down / to calm down as a process, repeatedly or habitually
• успокоиться = to calm down, to become calm, to achieve calmness

In мне легче успокоиться, the idea is:

• it’s easier for me to manage to calm down

That is why the perfective infinitive is very natural here.

If you used успокаиваться, it would shift the focus more toward the process:

• мне легче успокаиваться = it is easier for me to be calming myself down / to calm myself down in general as a process

That is possible in some contexts, but успокоиться is more natural here.

Both can relate to calming down, but they are structured differently.

• успокоиться = to calm down
• успокоить себя = to calm oneself

In many situations, успокоиться is the more natural choice when talking about your own state.

So:

• мне легче успокоиться = it’s easier for me to calm down

If you say:

• мне легче успокоить себя that sounds more explicitly like to calm myself by deliberate effort.

Both are possible, but успокоиться is simpler and more idiomatic here.

Because there are two clauses:

• Я делаю паузу и дышу глубже
• так мне легче успокоиться

The comma separates them. The second clause explains the effect of the first one.

Russian punctuation often uses a comma before a linking word like так when it introduces the result or explanation of the previous clause.

You can think of it as:

• I pause and breathe more deeply, and this way it’s easier for me to calm down.

Yes. That would also be correct.

Compare:

• Так мне легче успокоиться.
• Мне так легче успокоиться.

Both mean roughly the same thing, but the emphasis changes a little.

• Так мне легче успокоиться emphasizes this way
• Мне так легче успокоиться sounds slightly more neutral, with more focus on for me

Russian word order is flexible, and speakers often move words around for emphasis or flow.

Yes, that is also correct.

Compare:

• Я делаю паузу и дышу глубже
• Я делаю паузу и глубже дышу

Both are natural. The difference is mainly emphasis:

• дышу глубже = neutral
• глубже дышу = slightly stronger emphasis on more deeply

Russian often uses word order to highlight the most important part of the message.

Yes, but the meaning would change because of aspect.

• делаю паузу = I am taking a pause / I take a pause
• сделаю паузу = I will take a pause / I’ll pause

So if the speaker is describing what they are doing now or usually do, делаю fits better.

If they are announcing an upcoming action, сделаю would work:

• Я сделаю паузу и подышу глубже.
  = I’ll pause and breathe more deeply.

Notice that with сделаю, you would also often use подышу rather than дышу, because both actions are then presented as future single actions.

Yes, it is natural and easy to understand.

It sounds like something a person might say when talking about a self-calming technique or a coping habit.

Very close alternatives could be:

• Я делаю паузу и дышу глубже — так мне легче успокоиться.
• Я делаю паузу и глубоко дышу, так мне легче успокоиться.
• Я делаю паузу и начинаю дышать глубже, так мне легче успокоиться.

But the original sentence is perfectly normal.