Welcome to this belly breathing meditation where we're going to focus our energy and our awareness on deep belly breathing for relaxation and ease.
For this practice,
I encourage you to lie down in a comfortable position.
You might prop your head on a pillow or place a support,
A bolster of some kind under your knees to support your lower back.
Or you might do this practice in a comfortable seated position.
If you choose to do this practice lying down,
You can either have your legs straight or you might bend them at the knee with the soles of the feet on the ground.
Find a position that feels supportive and comfortable for your practice.
If you need to,
You can pause this audio while you find a comfortable seat and then press play when you're ready.
Let's begin.
We're going to start with some belly breathing.
First,
Place your hands lightly on your belly,
Resting your palms gently on your tummy.
The elbows can rest on the ground or if you need some support,
You can place a cushion under each elbow to support the hands on the belly.
Begin to take some deep breaths into your belly,
Inhaling through your nose and exhaling through the mouth,
Sighing it out.
Again,
Inhale through the nose and sigh it out through the mouth.
Once more,
Inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth.
I want you to begin to notice your hands on your belly and as you inhale,
Let your belly expand and lift towards the sky.
And as you exhale,
Notice your belly fall back to the ground.
You might imagine your belly as a balloon,
With every inhale the balloon inflates and expands outwards and upwards to the sky,
And with every exhale the balloon deflates and the belly begins to draw back towards the spine.
Notice how your breath might be slowing down,
Becoming a little longer,
Perhaps.
Inhaling,
Lifting the belly to the sky,
And exhaling,
Letting the belly drop to the ground.
You may notice that your ribs or your chest or other parts of your body might move,
But for this practice we're going to focus our attention on the belly,
With the belly being the main part of the movement.
As we begin to slow the breath to whatever rhythm you find yourself in,
Begin to extend your exhales so that they become a little longer than your inhales.
Still belly breathing if you can,
Breathing in and out through the nose,
And if it's helpful you might breathe in through the nose and exhale through the mouth as if you're exhaling through a straw.
Inhaling through the nose and exhaling out through the mouth with a straw.
Do this for a few rounds and then try returning back to inhaling and exhaling through the nose.
If that doesn't feel helpful,
You can continue inhaling through the nose and exhaling through a straw.
You want to keep your awareness and the focus on breathing through the belly so you can pay attention to however that feels most accessible in your body.
Now that your body has begun to relax,
Try to see if you can let your breath be a little longer,
Maybe inhaling for an extra count and still exhaling for a little longer than your inhale.
With every inhale,
I want you to imagine your diaphragm,
Which sits under your ribs and lungs,
Dropping down into the belly,
Allowing space in the lungs for the air to come in,
Expanding the belly out.
And with every exhale,
The diaphragm lifts up into the lungs,
Squeezing all the air out.
You might imagine this diaphragm giving your organs and your internal tissues a lovely massage as it moves the air in and out of your body,
Naturally rising and falling.
Just allow the belly to be round and full with every inhale,
And then allowing it to create space and flatten with every exhale.
Take five more deep breaths.
When you've finished your fifth breath,
You can let your arms rest gently by your sides and let go of this deeper rhythm of breathing.
Slowly let your breath return back to a natural rhythm and just begin to notice how your body feels.
Notice how the rest of your torso and upper body might be gently moving as you breathe,
Observing your ribs and your chest,
Your back,
Just noticing how they might expand with every inhale and fall away with every exhale.
Not trying to change or judge or analyze,
You're simply noticing.
Notice your back making contact with the floor or the surface that you're lying on,
Maybe taking note of if it feels warm or cold,
Firm or soft,
Noticing how your back gently presses into the ground as you inhale and releases as you exhale,
And then broadening your awareness to the rest of your body,
Noticing any sensations that might be arising or simply anything that you might become aware of.
Notice if your mind begins to narrate,
Analyze,
Judge,
And just gently bringing those thoughts back to awareness and observing the breath.
Anytime the mind wanders away into chatter,
We simply bring our awareness back to the body and back to the breath.
Begin to take some deeper breaths,
Slowly preparing the body to move,
Maybe wiggling the fingers and toes,
Gently stretching any parts of the body that might feel like they need some movement,
And then gently turning on your side and lying in a fetal position,
Resting your head and your face gently on your arm,
Just taking a moment here,
And then with your hands on the ground,
Gently pushing yourself back up to a seated position,
Keeping your eyes closed,
And just take a moment to notice how you might feel,
Maybe noticing how you felt before the practice and how you're feeling now.
Take one more deep inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth with a sigh,
And slowly open your eyes.
Namaste.
