Lesson 1
Introduction To The Course - Meet Your Breath
This lesson introduces the breath as the vital bridge between body, mind, and spirit — a function that connects the conscious and unconscious and can be both automatic and consciously directed.
You’ll learn how breath awareness becomes a powerful tool for emotional balance, focus, and meditation. By understanding and mastering your breath, you can calm stress, ease anxiety, improve sleep, and cultivate a deeper sense of presence.
Credit: royalty-free music track courtesy of Kevin MacLeod.
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Lesson 2
Witnessing Your Breath
Here is your first meditation, so find a comfortable seat and enjoy the practice.
When you're done, answer your Soul Question.
About this practice:
In the Tibetan Buddhist meditation tradition we often start by witnessing the breath. This is exactly what your first meditation is about.
Once you have mastered observing your breath with a single pointed focus and witnessing your internal processes, the Buddhist meditation teacher would prompt you to apply the witness approach to your behaviour, your decisions, your reactions, and many other aspects of “YOU” as you know it. This is how you get to know yourself better, without the distortion imposed by judgment.
The deeper meaning in this is to question and challenge your idea of yourself, ultimately leading you to a point where you ask yourself this very important question - our today’s soul question:
WHO AM I?
I want you to find out what you identify with. When you finish your guided meditation, just sit with your eyes closed for a few minutes, and listen. If you feel called, complete the practice by answering the soul question in your journal.
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Lesson 3
Concept And Practice. Apana Breath — Grounding Energy And Letting Go
I hope you are enjoying the course, and I'm ready to introduce you to this Grounding and Letting Go meditation that will be your companion today. So find a comfortable seat and enjoy the practice.
This lesson introduces Apana Breath, a grounding technique that helps calm the nervous system, release tension, and restore balance within minutes.
Rooted in yogic tradition, Apana refers to the downward-moving life force that supports letting go — physically, emotionally, and energetically. By breathing deeply through the nose and exhaling slowly through the mouth, you invite clarity and stability while releasing what no longer serves you.
From a nervous system perspective, extending the exhale signals safety to the brain, easing the body out of stress and into relaxation. Simple yet profound, this practice unites ancient wisdom and modern science to help you feel grounded, safe, and present in your body.
If you can, try to do this practice twice today - preferably once in the morning and once in the evening.
Today you might catch yourself thinking: "wow, that was really easy", especially if you've done programmes like vipassana in the past. That's exactly what I want to remind you about: meditation doesn't have to be demanding or difficult to be effective.
You are doing everything right. Thank yourself for showing up to practice, and keep going. I'm proud of you.
When you're done, answer your Soul Question.
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Lesson 4
Balancing Energy And Emotions With Yogic Breath
Today's meditation focuses on a technique called Full Yogic Breath (also called 3 Part Breath) that activates the parasympathetic nervous system, balancing energy, emotions, and instilling a deep sense of calm. So find a comfortable seat OR enjoy this practice lying down.
As yesterday, don't get too attached to the idea of mastering it right away if it's new to you - just give it a try and see what happens.
Replace expectation with curiosity and openness.
When I first started working with this technique, it felt rather new to my body, so I would repeat it a few times until the body remembered what to do and I didn't have to think about the next step.
So, if you have the time, do it twice today.
Much love,
Elena
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Lesson 5
Concept And Practice. Counting Breaths To Balance The Nervous System
This lesson focuses on Counting Breaths — a simple yet powerful practice that cultivates presence through rhythm and balance.
By matching the length of your inhalations and exhalations, you create a steady, calming flow that anchors your attention and harmonizes the nervous system.
The gentle act of counting gives the mind a clear point of focus, helping you stay present and centered even as thoughts arise. From a scientific perspective, rhythmic breathing supports emotional regulation, focus, and coherence between heart, breath, and brain. This steady rhythm offers your body a sense of safety and predictability, allowing both mind and nervous system to settle into calm awareness.
Just like yesterday, try to do this practice twice today: preferably once in the morning and once in the evening. If you're busy, do it at least once.
If you are new to this type of practice, it may feel like it's totally impossible to make your breaths this long! Please don't get discouraged, and instead, just try it. If counting to 4 is the maximum that you can keep up with right now, just pause the recording and do it a few times instead of forcing the breath by pushing yourself to the limit. If you generally enjoy this technique, you may want to come back to it on a regular basis, and I am sure you will at one point discover that counting to 5 is manageable, and then perhaps you'll be able to lengthen the breaths even more.
Remember, these instructions are not absolute, so feel free to adjust the length to what is right for you at this point in your practice.
And one more thing: we often think of focus as intense concentration. I know I used to. Until one day I realised that I started to get headaches after my meditation practice. I wasn't sure what I was doing wrong: I felt I was just doing my best to stay focused. I asked my teacher if this was a normal thing to experience. To which she smiled, and said: "Maybe you should try less hard. You can still focus while staying soft".
So remember, focus doesn't have to have this intense, aggressive or forced quality. Meditation teaches us a more sustainable and compassionate approach to focus. After the experience I just shared with you, I started to call it "soft focus".
When you're done with your guided meditation today, spend a few more quiet minutes creating a feeling of soft focus in your body. Choose to stay with your breath as the centre of your softly focused attention or any other sensation in your body.
I'm proud of you for showing up to practice. Keep going.
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Lesson 6
Slow Down Your Breath And Your Mind
Today’s meditation introduces a simple yet powerful breathing technique — one used not only by meditation teachers but also by psychologists and psychotherapists — to help calm a busy mind, reduce stress, anxiety, and overwhelm.
In our fast-paced world, it’s easy to equate success with constant achievement, efficiency, and speed. But just as much as we need to perform and deliver results, we also need to slow down. This practice supports the balance of your nervous system, helping regulate the sympathetic and parasympathetic states, so you can avoid the draining effects of long-term stress and feel more grounded.
From my experience, this meditation is especially soothing for most practitioners. Let my guidance wash over you — take in as much or as little as feels right — and allow yourself to re-balance your energy, calm your mind, or even prepare for restful sleep if your thoughts are racing. If you have the time, try doing it twice today for an even deeper sense of calm.
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Lesson 7
Progressive Full Body Relaxation
Today’s meditation focuses on helping you let go of tensions in your physical body.
If you ever paid close attention to how your body feels when you are stressed, anxious or having difficulty switching off and falling asleep, you may have noticed that one thing these situations have in common is physical tension.
It can be general or very localised, but it's almost always there.
When it's hard to just switch off the mind and put all the thoughts on hold for a while, it might be a lot easier to start by addressing the physical tensions. This guided meditation will help you do exactly that.
Think of this practice as a preparation for when you really need to be able to let go of the thoughts spinning through your head and to drop into your body.
The best part is, you can enjoy today's session on your back. So get comfy and enjoy this practice.
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Lesson 8
Mantra
Congratulations on committing to your practice, prioritizing your well-being, and dedicating your attention to these sessions. Your consistency and care for your mental health are something to truly celebrate.
Today, I’m introducing one of my personal favorites: So Hum meditation.
This practice combines a gentle breathing technique with a mantra.
Mantras are healing sounds and vibrations passed down from ancient spiritual traditions. Mantras realign and balance your body’s energies, help release stuck emotions, and allow you to process and let go of experiences with ease.
A mantra always has a meaning, which can be fascinating to explore if you’re a curious soul. But even without understanding its meaning, a mantra is still profoundly healing — its sound and vibration act as medicine for your mind and body. You can repeat it internally, sing it, or simply meditate to it.
There are thousands of mantras to choose from, and in some traditions, a specific mantra is given to a meditation student to help them reach their highest potential and overcome obstacles. Mantras give your mind a focus, reducing distractions, worries, or unhelpful interpretations of circumstances.
So Hum is a simple mantra that perfectly integrates with the rhythm of your breath. It is often one of the first mantras introduced to meditation students, and it remains beloved by experienced practitioners. It literally translates as “I am that” — with “that” often interpreted as everything there is. This mantra comes from a Vedic tradition, and many scholars agree that it represents the universal energy we are all part of.
Practicing this mantra nourishes a feeling of oneness, protection, safety, and calm. Let this meditation help you reconnect with yourself internally and with the world around you. Allow it to bring deep peace, a sense of being held and supported, and the profound reassurance that you are loved by the universe itself.
I'm SO proud of you for having completed this 7-day programme with me!
If you enjoyed this journey with me, go ahead and leave a comment and share your experience. It would mean so much to hear from you.
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