Beginning With Breath

In this short breath work practice, we will connect to our breath with a foundational technique called Box Breathing or Square Breathing. In this technique, we inhale for a count of four, hold at the top of the inhale for four, exhale for four, and then hold for four. This is a great practice to integrate into your daily routine as it activates the parasympathetic nervous system and helps us start the day (or reset anytime throughout the day) from a centered, relaxed, and calm space. Happy practicing.

Music by NaturesEye

Transcript

Thank you so much for joining me for this short guided breath work practice. In this session we'll connect to our breath through box breathing. So in box breathing we breathe in four parts. We inhale through the nose for a count of four, Hold at the top of the inhale for a count of four, Exhale for four, And then hold at the bottom of the exhale for four. This type of breath work helps us to center, Get clear, Get focused, And even energizes us. It also activates the parasympathetic nervous system so we start the day from a centered calm and relaxed place. If this type of breath or breath work is new for you the holds may be a little challenging and that's okay just stick with it if you can. I invite you to find a position that feels comfortable and that can be lying in bed sitting up or even standing if you want to add a grounding element to this practice. You can bring your eyes to a close turning inward if that feels okay otherwise you can simply soften and lower the gaze. You can also bring one hand to heart and the other hand to belly just allowing yourself to settle into this moment and into this practice. We'll start with three deep breaths before moving into our box breathing inhaling fully through the nose and exhaling to sigh it out through the mouth inhale fully exhale to let it go and final time deepest breath you've taken all day and exhale to let it go now we'll move into our box breathing inhaling through the nose two three four holding at the top two three four exhaling through the nose two three four and holding at the bottom two three four inhaling two three four hold two three four exhale two three four and hold two three four keep going inhale two three four hold two three four exhale two three four and hold two three four you have the rhythm keep going inhale inhale hold exhale and hold inhale body rises hold exhale body softens and relax hold inhale hold exhale and hold inhale deep belly breath hold relax the face relax the jaw exhale and hold inhale hold exhale hold keep going with the count inhale hold exhale hold and hold four more times inhale hold exhale exhale and hold final round inhale hold inhale hold exhale hold as we begin to release the count we can return to the natural pace and rhythm of our breath taking a moment to see how you feel noticing the body and the mind bringing your awareness to any sensations or feelings that may arise not looking to change or alter them in any way just simply noticing what is maybe you feel a sense of calm or ease or peace maybe you feel like you have a little more energy and you're ready to move into the rest of your day beginning to slowly come back to the body maybe inviting in some gentle movement wiggling the fingers and the toes circling the neck the wrists the ankles maybe sending the arms up and overhead and taking a big stretch just moving in whatever way feels good and in your own time beginning to gently blink the eyes open noticing the space that you're in noticing your surroundings and simply coming back to awareness and that's it you're done this practice is here for you to come back to every morning or whenever you need a quick reset I thank you so much for practicing with me please let me know how you feel in the comment section and I hope you have a beautiful rest of your day until next time be well