Breathing is,
Perhaps,
The most common way to promote relaxation.
Taking a few moments to focus on your breathing,
To the exclusion of all other thoughts,
Helps to calm mind,
Body,
And spirit.
By focusing solely on your breathing,
You allow distracting thoughts to leave the conscious mind.
In essence,
Clearing the mind of thoughts is very similar to deleting unwanted emails,
Thus allowing more room to concentrate on what's really important in your life,
That which really deserves attention.
In a normal resting state,
The average person breathes about 14-18 breath cycles per minute.
Under stress,
This can increase to nearly 30 breath cycles per minute.
Yet,
In a deep,
Relaxed state,
It's not uncommon to have as few as 4-6 breath cycles in the same period.
The breathing style which produces the greatest relaxation response is that which allows the stomach to expand,
Rather than the upper chest.
This is actually how you breathe when you are comfortably asleep.
Take a few moments to breathe,
And specifically focus your attention on your abdominal area,
And,
If any distracting thoughts come to your attention,
Simply allow these to fade away as you exhale.
Sometimes,
Combining visualization with breathing can augment the relaxation response even further.
The dolphin breath meditation is one such visualization.
Imagine if you will,
That like a dolphin,
You have a hole in the crown of your head with which to breathe,
Although you will still breathe through your nose or mouth.
Imagine that you are now taking in slow,
Deep breaths through the opening at the top of your head.
As you do this,
Feel the air or energy come in through the top of your head,
Down past your neck and shoulders,
And reside momentarily at the base of your spine.
Then,
When you feel ready,
Very slowly exhale,
Allowing the air to move back out through the dolphin spout,
The opening situated at the top of your head.
As you slowly exhale,
Feel a deep sense of inner peace reside throughout your body.
Once again,
Using all your concentration,
Focus your attention on the opening at the top of your head.
Now,
Slowly breathe air in through this opening,
Comfortably slow,
Comfortably deep.
As you inhale,
Feel the air move down into your lungs,
Yet allow it to continue further down,
Deep into your abdominal region.
When you feel ready,
Slowly exhale,
Allowing the air to move comfortably from your abdominal region up through the top of your head.
Now,
Take three slow,
Deep dolphin breaths,
And each time you exhale,
Feel a deep sense of relaxation,
All throughout your body.
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Just as you imagined a hole in the top of your head.
Now,
Imagine that at the sole of each foot,
There is also a hole in which to breathe through.
As you create this image,
Take a slow,
Deep breath,
And through your mind's eye,
Visualize air coming in through the soles of each foot.
Visualize the air moving in from your feet,
Up through your legs,
Past your knees and waist to where it resides in your abdominal region.
When you feel ready,
Begin to exhale slowly,
And allow the air to move back out the way it came,
Out through the soles of your feet.
Using all your concentration,
Again,
Focus your attention on the openings at the bottom of your feet,
And once again,
Breathe in air through these openings,
Comfortably slow and comfortably deep.
As before,
Feel the air move up your legs,
And into your abdominal region,
As your lungs fill with air.
Then,
When you feel ready,
Exhale,
Allowing the air to move slowly from your abdominal region,
Back through your legs,
And out the soles of your feet.
Once again,
Please take three slow,
Deep breaths,
This time through the soles of your feet,
And each time you exhale,
Feel a deep sense of relaxation,
All throughout your body.
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale.
Now,
With your concentration skills fully attentive,
With your mind focused on the openings of both the top of your head and the soles of your feet,
Use your imagination to inhale air through both your head and your feet.
As you do this,
Slowly allow the passage of air entering from both head and feet,
To move toward the center of your body,
Where it resides in the abdominal region,
Until you exhale.
Then,
When you feel ready,
Slowly exhale,
And direct the air which came in through the top of your head,
To exit through the dolphin hole,
While at the same time,
Directing the air which entered through the soles of your feet,
To leave from this point of entry as well.
Once you have tried this,
Repeat this combined breath again,
Three times,
And with each exhalation,
Notice how relaxed your body has become.
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale.
When you're done,
Allow this image to fade from your mind,
But retain this sense of deep relaxation.
This visualization experience has instilled throughout your mind,
Body,
And spirit.
Now,
Take one final slow deep breath,
And this time,
Feel the air come into your nose or mouth,
Down into your lungs,
And allow your stomach to extend out,
And then deflate as you begin to exhale.
And with each breath now,
Return your thoughts back to normal breathing,
And feel a deep sense of calm with each exhalation.
Now,
When you feel ready,
Allow your eyes to open slowly to a soft gaze in front of you,
And bring your awareness back to the room where you find yourself.
If you want,
Stretch your arms and shoulders,
And as you bring yourself back to the awareness of this room,
You feel fully energized,
Recharged,
And revitalized,
And ready to accomplish whatever tasks await you ahead.
