Welcome to this breathe like practice where we'll focus on the biochemistry of functional breathing.
Start by finding a comfortable position.
You can either sit on a chair,
Maybe taking the lotus position or you can simply lay down on your back.
If sitting,
Imagine a piece of string gently pulling you upward toward the ceiling so that your chin is parallel to the ground and your spine is straight.
Slowly beginning to relax the space in between the eyebrows,
Relaxing the shoulders,
Relaxing the jaw and taking a full body scan and seeing where you can relax even more.
Without changing anything,
Imagine and feel the space between your ribs widening with every breath.
The breath stays through the nose throughout this practice.
You can place one hand on your chest,
One hand on your belly or simply bringing your hands onto your lap.
Slowly observing your breath as it enters and leaves your nose.
Focus on the airflow as it moves in and out of your nose,
Feeling the slightly colder air entering your nose and feel the slightly warmer air leaving the nose.
Bringing all your awareness to the airflow as it enters and leaves the nose.
Use this as an indicator of your concentration,
Of your focus,
For how long can you hold your attention onto your breath before your mind begins to wander.
If you notice the mind wandering a lot,
Simply bring the mind back to the breath.
This practice will help you improve your concentration by continuously bringing you back to your breath.
It is normal for the mind to wander.
As soon as you notice the mind wandering,
Bringing it back to your breath.
You may feel your chest move up and down or you might feel your stomach move in and out.
Slow down the speed of your air as it enters and leaves your nose,
Breathing in a slow and gentle manner.
Breathing should be so light,
So quiet and so still.
Slow down your breathing so that you can hardly feel any air entering and leaving your nostrils.
Your breathing should be so quiet and so slow as if you're hardly breathing at all.
At the top of the inhale,
Bring a feeling of total relaxation to your body and allow a slow,
Soft,
Relaxed breath out.
The air should leave your body slowly and effortlessly.
You might begin to feel a slight air hunger and have that feeling that you'd like to take a deeper breath.
Resist the urge to take a deeper breath for a little bit longer.
Continue to breathe so light as if you're hardly breathing at all.
As you breathe out,
Bring a feeling of relaxation to the body,
Allowing the air to leave the body effortlessly.
A slow breath in and a relaxed breath out.
If you begin to feel a slight air hunger,
That means you're doing the exercise correctly.
Continue to breathe so light that you hardly feel any air coming in and exhaling so slowly,
So lightly.
If you had your finger underneath the nose,
You'd hardly feel the air coming out.
If the air hunger is too strong,
Simply recover the breath and come back to breathing light.
Continue breathing so light as if you're hardly breathing at all.
Just a few more moments,
Breathing so light and slowly coming back to a regular breath.
