Using The Breath As An Anchor & Extending The Exhale

This guided mindfulness practice is designed to help you use your breath as an anchor to return to the present moment.
We'll begin by simply noticing the breath without trying to change it, learning how to gently bring our attention back whenever the mind wanders. From there, we'll explore extending the exhale using a simple 3-in, 5-out breathing pattern, a technique that can help encourage the nervous system to slow down and settle. This practice isn't about breathing perfectly or forcing yourself to relax.

Instead, it's about building awareness of your breath and developing a practical grounding tool that you can return to throughout your day whenever your mind feels busy, distracted, or overwhelmed. This practice may be helpful if you're experiencing stress, anxiety, overwhelm, racing thoughts, or simply want to build a regular mindfulness practice. It also includes alternative grounding options if focusing on the breath doesn't feel right for you.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this mindfulness exercise today. We're going to be doing some mindfulness of the breath and then later on in the exercise we're going to be doing some breathing which involves extending our exhale. This is really great if we're feeling overwhelmed and we're just wanting to send that signal to our brain to slow down and relax. So before we begin, I really want you to find a position that you're going to feel comfortable in for the next five to 10 minutes that you won't be interrupted. Knowing you can change this at any point as well whether that's seated with a cushion or a blanket or you're on the ground lying down so if you are lying down you might fall asleep so just be mindful of that if that's not your purpose today. And once you're comfortable, I'm going to encourage you right now to either close your eyes or if you prefer just finding a spot to gently rest your gaze on with your eyes open. Knowing you can change this as well. Before we begin, I just wanna send you a reminder as well. The breath is a beautiful anchor, But it can also feel uncomfortable for people. If you're noticing that it's causing distress at all, That's perfectly okay. A lot of people feel that way with the breath. I would actually encourage you to shift it so I wouldn't be focusing on breath if I'm noticing anxiety or panic presenting, Just coming back to sounds or another anchor, Like the way your feet feel floor or just listening to my voice if you want to continue with the meditation without using your breath as an anchor. There's no wrongs or ways to this practice, You know your body best. Yeah, So trust yourself in this space. So let's begin by bringing our attention just to our breath for a moment. How's your breath going today? We don't want to change it just yet. We just want to simply notice what's going on in our breath. Is it feeling shallow? A lot of people were breathing quite shallow throughout the day, So this is very common. Are you noticing it in your chest? The rising full. You noticing the air moving in and out through your nose and mouth and the coolness of the air. Or perhaps your stomach moving in and out with each breath. We're just gonna check in with the breath for the next few seconds. You might have noticed your mind wandering. This is completely normal and it happens to all of us when practicing. The goal here is just to notice, Oh, My mind's gone somewhere. I'm gonna bring it back to my breath. What we're going to do is just choose one area to focus on now for the next few seconds, Whatever was most prominent to you. For me, I'm going to notice the way my nose feels when I breathe in, The air that comes in. If you found you noticed the way your chest feels, Focus on that. I'm just going to notice how the breath is just unconsciously doing its thing without us really intervening. And if the mind's wandered again, Just gently bringing it back. How does it feel to just notice your breath with your full attention? Now for the next part, I'm going to invite you to gently change the rhythm of our breathing. And we're going to be doing this by making our exhale a little longer than our inhale. A longer exhale can send a signal to our nervous system that we're safe, Encouraging the body to slow down and settle. And we're going to be doing this through breathing in through the nose for three. And if it's accessible, Breathing out for a count of five through the mouth. You don't have to follow that strictly. Yeah, If that's not accessible, Do what's right for you. And I'll count us in. So let's just focus on the breath as it is for a few seconds. Okay, I'm just gonna breathe in through the nose. One, Two, Three, And out. One, Two, Three, Four, Five. And in, One, Two, Three, And out. One, Two, Three, Four, Five. And in, One, Two, Three, Four, Five. Two, Three, And out, One, Two, Three. Oh. 5. . . And in. . . 1. . . 2. . . 3. . . And out. . . 1. . . 2. . . 3. . . 4. . . 5. . . And last time. . . 1. . . 2. . . 3. . . And out. . . 1. . . 2. . . 3. . . 4. . . 5. . . Now we're just going to allow breath to return to its natural rhythm, No need to control it anymore, Just notice what's coming up right now in your breath. Take a moment and just see, Is anything shifted in your body? Totally okay if it hasn't either. Sometimes people feel a little bit more settled after doing this breathing. Sometimes they don't. See what's coming up for your body. And you might notice your mind's wandering, Perhaps your mind's taking you to a different planet. Totally okay. When you notice, Just gently bring your attention back to your breath or focusing on a part of the breath, Like the air in your nose or your chest. When you're ready, We're just going to start bringing ourselves back into the present moment. Can we notice some sounds around us? Can we gently maybe wiggle our fingers or toes or have a stretch if that feels good? And when you're ready, Gently open your eyes. Thanking yourself for showing up today and doing a little bit more practice.