Ratio Breathing

Ratio Breathing is a form of Pranayama (yogic breath control), that can improve focus and concentration while simultaneously relaxing the mind. Dan will provide you with clear and simple instructions on how to practice one iteration of ratio breathing, to cultivate an enjoyable experience known in the field as, "relaxed attentiveness". This is an impactful and soothing practice, allowing you to de stress and embrace a sense of centredness and calm.

Transcript

My name is Dan Guerra.

This stress management practice is known as ratio breathing.

Ratio breathing can be used as a way to calm a very overactive and worried mind.

So get into a comfortable,

Upright seated position.

Let your seat be firmly planted evenly into the chair,

And your feet are flat on the floor.

Imagine your torso is gently lifting out from the pelvis area.

And this allows the body to become long and straight.

So let your chin be parallel to the floor.

Good,

Now if you're comfortable,

Allow your eyes to close.

If it's not comfortable to close your eyes,

Just stare at a small spot anywhere in front of you and focus on that spot.

And just become aware of your body,

Your whole body sitting in the chair.

And just the sensation of your body as it makes contact with the chair and floor.

And just staying with that awareness of the body for a few moments.

Good,

Now shift your awareness from the body and begin to become aware of your breathing.

And just let your breath be comfortable without any strain.

Just simply noticing your normal breathing coming into the body and leaving the body.

Stay with that for a few moments.

Keeping aware of your breath.

Now in the next few moments,

You'll count your breath as it enters the body on the inhale.

You can count it in a way so that the length of your inhalation goes along to a count of four,

Usually about one count per second.

That typically works well.

When you reach the end or the top of your inhalation,

You should reach the number four in your counting.

So begin that process,

Inhale and count to four.

And when you reach the top or the end of your inhale,

Hold the breath for a count of two.

Then release the breath slowly in just a loosely controlled way while counting to six or seven.

And when you reach the end of your exhale breath,

You should arrive at the number six or seven.

And you'll notice that you can exhale a little bit longer than you might have thought.

And then immediately repeat the process.

So inhaling to a count of four,

Holding to a count of two,

And exhaling to a count of six or seven.

Now if counting one count per second feels a little bit too difficult,

You can just speed your counting up a little bit.

Now repeat this process and keep everything the same,

But we'll work toward exhaling to a count of eight.

So inhaling,

Count to four,

Holding for a count of two,

And exhaling to a count of eight.

Continue this process.

This practice has ended.

When practicing ratio breathing,

It's always okay to quicken or slow down the speed of your counting,

Depending on your comfort level and your capacity for breath.

So if you're in a comfortable position,

You can just keep going and keep going.

And then you can just keep going.

And then you can just keep going.

And then you can just keep going.

Now let's move on to practice.

So this is a quick exercise to do.

So if you're in a comfortable position,

Then you can start counting from a count of six.

And then you can just slow down the speed of your counting,

Depending on your comfort level and your capacity for breath.

Reviews

Nice intro to a simple, calming breathing exercise!

Very clear instructions.
The breath centered me. Good start to my day. Ty

Simple yet so effective! I elected to add an additional 2.5 minutes of ratio breathing after you mentioned that the practice had ended. Thank you for your clear guidance!

Thank you Dan 🙏

Thanks so much for this Dan! I notice that when I have too much anxiety my breath “gets stuck” in my chest as I am trying to inhale. Do you have any guidance for what to do? I have to “push” my inhale to continue, which only closes my chest further.

Starting new practice.
Thankyou.

Clear instructions! Great exercise for anxiety. Thank you!

That was good thanks, you have a kind, clear voice, easy listening, well explained

The instructions were clear and precise and easy to follow! Well done!

A very relaxing practice; more high schoolers should be taught this

Great instructions 🙏

Exactly what I needed this morning. Perfect timing.

I love it! I feel a lot more relaxed after this meditation

Short and to the point!

I liked it! Smooth and clear guidance and was easy to follow.

Great short meditation, I’d highly recommend