Hello and welcome.
It's Faye here and I'm here to guide you through an extended 4-7-8 breathing practice to help you invite in a little more calm and peace.
We'll breathe in through the nose for a count of four,
Hold for a count of seven,
And then exhale out through the mouth as if you're blowing out a candle for a count of eight.
I'll do most of the counting but if this pace isn't right or feels good for you,
Try a two,
Four,
Five breathing pattern and begin to build your breathing practice from there.
Let's start by first finding a comfortable seat.
You may be seated in a chair,
The floor,
The couch,
Or anywhere you feel comfortable.
You want to be able to find a position that allows you to have a long and spacious spine to help you take nice and long full breaths in and out.
We'll take three regular breaths together first to help us settle in.
Take a big generous inhale in through the nose filling all the way up and then through an open mouth exhale and release letting everything go.
Two more times just like this.
Big rich full inhale in through the nose and out through the mouth exhale signing it all out.
Last time making it the best one yet.
Take a big full breath in through the nose and this time as you exhale allow the eyes to soften down and away from the screen or fully close if they aren't already.
Now bring your attention to the different parts of your face.
Without judgment simply acknowledge how it is feeling.
Are you clenching your jaw?
If so,
Can you try to loosen and relax the jaw?
It can be helpful to gently part the lips as your face naturally relaxes and maybe the tongue gently rests on the roof of your mouth.
Next bring your attention to the space right between the eyebrows and see if you can make this place just 1% more relaxed.
The primary focus of this practice is to help you feel more calm by activating your body's natural relaxation response through this 4-7-8 breathing.
If you'd like to set a secondary intention or purpose for this practice go ahead and do so now.
An intention can be one word or a short phrase.
It can be the reason you chose to do this practice or you can use it as a compass for the way in which you'd like to feel.
A few examples of an intention may be peace,
Trust,
Self-compassion,
Acceptance,
Rest,
Letting go.
There are many other intentions that you can choose but for this practice go ahead and choose one that feels right for you and allow the others to drift from your mind.
Focus your mind on this secondary intention allowing a moment to breathe in that intention and to breathe out that intention.
Maybe you say the intention aloud or maybe you say it to yourself.
Allow the secondary intention to rest in the background and we'll return back to it at the end of this practice.
If your mind wanders to any other thoughts keep in mind this is the brain simply doing what it does.
Acknowledge that your mind is wandering and return back to your breath.
You can do this as many times as you need and there's nothing in this practice that you can do wrong as long as you are here and breathing.
We'll begin a few rounds of guided 4-7-8 breathing and then I'll give you space to do a few rounds on your own.
If at any point you feel discomfort please return back to a breath that feels natural to you and now we'll take a slow and even inhale in through the nose for four,
Three,
Two,
One and hold for seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One and then exhale out through the mouth for eight,
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Again inhale for four,
Three,
Two,
One and hold for seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One and exhale through the mouth for eight,
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale for three,
Two,
One and hold for seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One and then exhale out through the mouth for eight,
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale for four,
Three,
Two,
One and hold for seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One and exhale for eight,
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
And one.
Inhale for four,
Three,
Two,
One and hold for seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One and exhale for eight,
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Now move into a couple of rounds at your own pace and remember when your mind begins to wander to any other thoughts,
Gently acknowledge your thinking mind and return back to your breath.
This is part of the meditation practice and it may also help to improve your focus and concentration by returning back to the breath back to the present moment.
So continue this breath at your own pace.
If you haven't already,
Allow your breathing to return back to normal.
Acknowledge how the mind is feeling right now and what about the body?
Do you feel more calm or at ease?
Maybe you feel more peace?
If nothing else,
Perhaps you feel more present even if it was for a short period of time.
If you set a secondary intention,
Call that to mind.
Your intention or purpose that you brought to mind showed up for a reason and whether you realize it or not,
This short focused practice has helped you get closer to that intention.
Bring one hand or both hands up to the heart space,
One on top of the other or maybe in prayer together at the heart.
Take a moment to breathe in the intention knowing that you have already taken the first step towards it and as you breathe out,
Feel confident that you know how to continue living the intention that you set for yourself.
Thank yourself for the time and energy you dedicated to this practice and for simply showing up here.
Be proud of the work that you put in right now and remember that you can return to this practice as many times as you like.
Let's take three full breaths together to close this practice.
Take a generous inhale in through the nose filling all the way up and through an open mouth exhale and release letting everything go.
Take another big rich full inhale in through the nose and exhale out through the mouth sighing it all out.
And here's our final breath together.
Take a full breath in through the nose full breath in through the nose and this time as you exhale allow the eyes to blink open lifting your awareness to the physical space around you.
Thank you for meditating with me today.
Namaste.
