Hi there.
Welcome back to Insight Timer.
I'm Stephen and I'll be your guide for this meditation.
Equal measure breathing is a practice that we can do to help ourselves find calm,
To relax.
When we notice our breath and we notice the pattern of our breath and we bring a little bit more intention to it,
Evening out the inhale and the exhale,
It can support us to have a different experience in our bodies.
So I'd like to invite you to perhaps place a hand on your chest and a hand on your belly.
First just noticing how you're breathing.
If you can,
Close your mouth and start to breathe in through your nose.
First counting,
Noticing the length of the inhale and the exhale.
And then starting from four,
Counting down,
Inhaling three,
Two,
One,
And exhaling the same amount of time.
Four,
Three,
Two,
And one.
Continue breathing in through the nose and out through the nose.
Counting four in,
Two,
One,
And four out,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale four,
And exhale.
Inhale,
And exhale.
Start to follow your own pattern,
Inhaling and exhaling.
Now you may notice that these don't have to be seconds.
You can count in your own time,
In your own rhythm.
The goal here is to try to establish balance between the inhale and the exhale.
That may mean slowing down the exhale,
Taking a longer out breath than you normally do.
If it feels longer and strained,
That's great to notice.
Perhaps as you continue this practice over time,
You'll notice how it shifts as well,
How your comfort of the inhale and the exhale shift.
I'll continue guiding you for another minute,
And as I guide,
Notice if you want to adopt a different pace.
Inhale four,
And exhale four.
Inhale,
And exhale.
Inhale,
And exhale.
Inhale,
Inhale one last time following my count,
And exhale.
Now that you've had the experience of practicing equal measure or Samavritti breathing,
Notice the effect that it has on your physical and physiological state.
Do you feel more alert,
More calm?
Do you feel lighter,
Heavier?
What can you notice that your practice of bringing some consciousness and your awareness to your breath has brought to you?
Having acknowledged what you've created through your breath,
You might consider as you move into the rest of your day,
When you become aware of your breathing,
What kind of shift would you like to support yourself to make to notice your feelings and to use your breath to support you to feel at your best.
Thanks for practicing with me.
Take care,
And hope to practice with you again very soon.
