Extended Exhale: A Short Breathwork Practice

Nine minutes of extended exhale breathwork. Sit, lie down, or stand, whichever lets you settle.
The whole practice rests on one idea: making the exhale longer than the inhale, and staying with it.
Nothing to set up beyond getting comfortable. A blanket helps if you tend to get cold when you're still.
If the pace ever feels like too much, come back to your normal breathing and rejoin whenever you're ready. If you're pregnant or have a heart or respiratory condition, check with your doctor before doing paced breathing.
Music: Soothing Calm Piano Background by Petrushkasound.

Transcript

Coming to a comfortable position. Either sitting tall on the mat or on the chair with your feet flat on the ground. Just take a few moments to. . . Get settled, Comfortable, Make sure your shoulders are soft down your back. Your spine is tall. And just bring your awareness to your breath. Notice how you're breathing today. Notice if Your breath is fast or slow, Deep or shallow, Quiet or loud. Without trying to change it. Notice if you're breathing through the nose, The mouth, Or both. Notice if you're breathing into the chest. Or all the way down to your belly. Taking a few moments to relax. Just arrive and notice. How you feel. Allow your body to soften and settle. Whatever posture you've picked for your breath work today. You can soften your gaze or close your eyes if that feels comfortable. Allow your jaw to soften, The tongue to fall away from the roof of the mouth. Take a deep breath in through your nose. Open your mouth and slowly and quietly sigh it out. Let it go. Two more like that. Deep inhale through the nose. Sigh it out, Exhale, Let it go. And one more deep exhale. And full and complete exhale, Sigh it out. Now continue breathing deeply in and out of your nose if that feels comfortable and see if you can send your breath all the way down to your belly. So if it feels good you can bring your hands on your belly and just feel Your belly rise as you breathe in. And then soften as you breathe out. And then slowly we're going to start to count the inhales to count to four. And then see if we can exhale just a little bit longer. So maybe counting to the count of six. So I'm going to count the first few. And you don't have to follow my count, But you can count quietly in your head. Go as fast or slow as it feels comfortable for you. So starting to inhale for 1, 2. I'm slow And exhale for six. Why? Cheers. Inhale 1. Two. Three. Exhale six. Bye. Or more. Breathe. Cheers. Inhale for one. Cheers. 4…. . Exhale for 6…. . 7…. Bye. Forward. Too. Continue like that. And you can count quietly in your head. Inhaling or count to four. And exhaling for six. Just lengthening your exhales just a little bit longer. Maybe you notice that you can lengthen your exhales a little bit longer, Maybe going to the count of 7 or 8. You can just try it out. How it feels in your body. Whatever you decide make sure that This is not forced and you're still breathing comfortably. Body is still soft. And if at any point you realize that Breathing like this is uncomfortable. Let's come back to deep, Long breaths in and out of your nose. Continue like that for a few more breaths. Inhaling for a count of four. And exhaling for longer. When you're finished your next round. Take a deep breath in through your nose. Open your mouth, Quietly sigh it out, Let it go. Bring your hands by your side. And reach your arms all the way up, Palms touch overhead. As you exhale, Bring your hands to your heart, Bow your head to your hands and thank yourself for spending this time with me. For yourself, For your breath, And for your practice. Thumbs to your third eye, The space between your eyebrows. May your thoughts be kind. Thumbs to your lips, May your words be caring, And thumbs to your heart center. Filled with love and gratitude. Thank you for practicing with me today. Namaste.