Intentional Breathing Practice

Enjoy this breath-based practice designed to bring more intension into your mental, physical, and emotional state. By inviting in something you'd like to cultivate in your life on the inhale, and sending out unneeded thoughts on the exhale, the breath becomes a powerful tool to cultivate whatever you need in the moment. Relaxation, pain-relief, compassion... it's all an inhalation away.

Transcript

This is a meditation designed to help you use your breath to calm and relax your body.

To get started,

Find a comfortable position whether it's sitting,

Lying down,

Standing.

Maybe you close your eyes or maybe you keep them open,

But sensing what it feels like to draw your awareness inside your body.

And as your awareness draws inward,

Starting to notice the movement of your breath.

The movement from inhale to exhale.

And as you get in touch with that rhythm,

Maybe you want to start to add some intention behind the breath.

Thinking of something that you want to bring into your life on the inhale and something you would like to let go of on the exhale.

It could be with every inhale you think I am inhaling calm and with every exhale I am exhaling stress.

Maybe you want to inhale compassion and exhale frustration.

Inhaling loving-kindness,

Exhaling judgment.

If you're noticing any aches or pains in your body,

You could use that intentional breath to maybe let go of some of that stress or tension or pain.

I think I'm inhaling softness.

I am exhaling tension.

Whatever has the most meaning for you in this moment.

And noticing when you put that intention behind your breath how that changes things for you.

Maybe it changes the way the breath is sitting in your body.

Maybe it changes your emotional state.

And as you start to notice these changes you could start to lean into them cultivating whatever inner state serves you at this moment.

And when you're ready to move on with your day you can take that moment to wiggle fingers toes sway side to side give yourself a hug whatever little movements help to kind of seal up this practice inside your body and know that this is always available to you even if it's just for one or two breaths throughout your day adding the intention to your breath of what you'd like to bring into your body and what you'd like to let go of.