Kindly Soothing Breath

This is a practice focusing on whole-body breathing as a way to soothe the body, mind and heart. It's a great way to reduce stress and bring about more ease. The movement of breathing in the whole body can be used to soothe any areas of discomfort and to give us strength and courage to meet whatever we experience.

Transcript

A soothing breathing space meditation.

You can do the sitting,

Lying or standing,

It's completely up to you.

To begin with,

Let's take a few deeper breaths.

And on the out-breath,

Allowing the breathing to flow all the way out of the body.

And then the next in-breath to quite naturally flow in again.

Do this a few times,

Making sure that you really let go on the out-breath.

You allow the out-breath to flow all the way out.

And every time you release the out-breath,

Seeing if you can release the weight of the body down into gravity,

Down into the feet,

Into the bottom.

So your body is completely held and supported.

And allowing the breathing to find its own natural rhythm.

And seeing if we can allow the breathing to drop very deep in the body.

Allowing the belly to swell on the in-breath,

Subside on the out-breath.

What's happening in the back of the body as you breathe?

Maybe there's a broadening and an opening on the in-breath and a subsiding on the out-breath.

Looking for softness in the body,

Letting the face be soft,

Shoulders soft,

Hands soft,

Belly soft,

Back soft,

Buttocks soft,

Legs,

Feet,

Toes soft.

So this is quality of the body being breathed and the body being supported and held by gravity.

Making breathing and gravity your friends is instantly soothing.

Calms down the nervous system.

If you've got racing thoughts,

Seeing if you can invite your awareness out of your head and down into your belly,

Down into your body.

And feeling the rhythm of breathing.

Seeing if we can get a sense with the whole body expanding a little bit in all directions on the in-breath and subsiding a little bit in all directions on the out-breath.

So we're resting inside the rhythm of breathing,

Letting the breathing be natural,

Do whatever it feels it needs to do.

But if we particularly allow the out-breath to go all the way out then this will calm down the nervous system.

And let the in-breath take care of itself.

And if you've got tension in the body,

Pain,

Agitation,

Seeing if you can greet this with kindliness,

With understanding,

With sympathy,

It's how things are right now.

And allow these feelings to be soothed by the breath.

Seeing if you can have the attitude towards yourself that you would naturally have towards a loved one who is experiencing what you're experiencing right now.

Be careful not to force or strain the breath in any way.

We're just using these moments to calm down,

To rest in gravity,

Rest in breathing however it's showing up for you in your body.

The kindly breath,

The soothing breath,

In and out.

And when you're ready,

Re-engaging with the activities of your day.

But taking breathing and gravity with you as your friends.

So every time you notice you're really getting wound up,

Tense,

Stressed,

Heady,

Agitated,

All these things are completely normal in any situation of stress.

Just noticing that and dropping down into the feet,

Dropping down into breathing,

Again and again.

Reviews

Wonderful meditation … very grounding, soothing, and supportive for continued practice

Sharing gratitude for this!

Lovely meditation. I find it very calming, Thank you.

Thank you for sharing. Short, but sweet and helpful…

Stunning track ❤️ thank you 🙏🏻

Absolutely stunning breathing and gravity are my friends thank you :)

Thank you for this gentle breathing practice, very soothing and relaxing. 🙏

Brings breathing meditation into the body beautifully and gently

That was a really excellent meditation and is another layer I can add onto some of the basic meditations I’ve been learning from Thich Nhat Hanh books!

Best breathing practice ever. Instantly soothing, plus Vidyamala helps us remember we can do that by ourselves, which is truly life-changing. Thank you, Vidyamala ✨

Thanks 🙏❤️ absolutely slowed my mind and my usual speediness 🌹

Lovely breathing meditation 💖
Gentle voice and a soothing pace, with a quick body scan to complete the relaxation 👍🏻
Thank you 🙏 for a delightful break

This was really relaxing and grounding. The only feedback I would give is that it would be helpful to know it has finished, even if people might choose to continue after the track ends.

That was lovely, just what I needed to reconnect with my breath and calm my mind down. Thanks

This really helped soothe me during a difficult time. Beautiful mindfulness meditation ❤️

Thanks so much! This is just what I needed to hear after a difficult day.

I love this short breath meditation. When I am short of time or just need a quick re-centering this is the perfect meditation for it. I always feel relaxed, calm and back in touch with myself and in the moment. Many thanks. 🙏✨

I use this several times during the day to settle myself. Brilliant. Wonderful voice.

Really helpful! Calming and relaxing. Thank you Vidyamala!

What a lovely and wonderful way to connect and make friends with the breath and our place here on the planet and how we are held. Thank you for sharing your words with us. 🙏🏼

Soothing and calming, very nice practice. Thank you 🙏🏻💜