Breathing: Counting Breath

This meditation guides you to exhale LONGER than your inhalation making a big difference to those sedative effects we love to feel after meditating. Breathing is scientifically proven to calm our nervous system providing an immediate de-stress effect, grounding, and calming which cultivates clarity and focus. Give it a go and see how you feel afterward, Remember, at first these techniques may feel counter-intuitive, but soon with practice, they become your "go-to" tools that become second nature.

Transcript

Welcome to this counting breath meditation by Gabriella Damori. This is the third breathing exercise in the core foundation techniques I want you to focus on and learn. Breathing properly is the best and most important aspect of meditation. If you haven't done so already please listen to the core exercise one and two before doing this meditation. We're going to start this meditation by extending our breath breathing in through the nose, Breathing out through the nose or the mouth. And as we've learned in the previous exercises as you breathe in allow the belly to come out like a gentle balloon and as you breathe out very gently pull the belly towards the spine. With each inhalation extend the breath a little more, Settle the body a little more. As you breathe in through the nose and allow the belly to come out you're imagining breathing in fresh new air for the lungs and with those nice long exhalations imagine yourself breathing out or expelling all of the old air in the lungs that needs to be let go of. Breathing in belly comes out, Breathing out belly comes in. Make sure your awareness is fully on your breath keeping that busy mind at bay. Each time it becomes distracted and it will it's part of the process simply return your awareness to your breath. To give you something extra to focus on just like we did in the second breathing exercise. As you breathe in I want you to observe the belly come out, The ribs expand and the chest becomes full. And as you breathe out the chest deflates, The ribs come in, Belly lays flat. Focusing on these three simple body parts as they move with your beautiful breath. Breathing in belly, Ribs, Chest. Breathing out let the chest, Ribs, Belly come inwards. Breathing in belly, Watch the ribs, Watch the chest. Breathing out let the chest fall, Ribs come in, Belly goes flat. One more time. Breathing in belly, Ribs, Chest. Breathing out chest, Ribs, Belly. Beautiful. So now we're going to set aside the focus on the body but remain with your awareness of your breath. And we're going to move into counting for the breath. What we know from meditation research is that a longer exhalation than your inhalation will automatically reduce and calm your nervous system. So this is what we're going to accomplish today with this beautifully easy and accessible technique. So as you breathe in we're going to count to the count of three and as you breathe out we're going to breathe out to the count of four. Just come to this with a beginner's mind, You don't have to perfect it on the first time but also lean into and enjoy the simplicity of this meditation. Let's try it now. Making sure your breath is smooth and even, We're simply going to breathe in counting one, Two, Three. Breathing out slowly four, Three, Two, One. Beautiful. Let's do that again. Breathing in one, Two, Three. Breathing out four, Three, Two, One. Breathing in again at your own pace now. Breathing in to the count of three, Breathing out slowly to the count of four. And as you keep doing this making sure you're not breathing in too much in the first second or breathing out too much in the first second and not having enough breath to get to the count of three or four. You want the breath to be even and tempered and smooth. Let's do this one or two more times. Breathing in to the count of one, Two, Three. Breathing out four, Three, Two. Beautiful. Let's let go of these numbers and now change the numbers and extend the breath a little more which is easier as time goes on and we continue to breathe deeply. This time we're going to breathe in to the count of four and breathe out to the count of five. Let's do it now. Empty your breath. Nice slow inhalation. Let's start one, Two, Three, Four. Breathing out five, Four, Three, Two, One. So the exhalation now is as long as it's ever been in this meditation. So temper and slow your breath down so that you can exhale evenly throughout the whole count. Doing really well let's keep practicing. Breathing in one, Two, Three, Four. Nice full breath here at the top of number four. Let's breathe out five, Four, Three, Two, One. Rest. Nice big inhalation. One, Two, Three, Four. Full breath here at the top of number four. Let's breathe out slowly and completely. Five, Four, Three, Two, One. Fully exhaling that breath. Wonderful. Breathe in for a couple of cycles to your own counts. Breathing in from one to four. Breathing out from five down to one. Very good. Let's challenge yourself now and see if you can lengthen the breath a little more. Let's breathe in now to the count of five and breathe out to the count of six. If this is too much for you just stay at the previous numbers but you'll probably be surprised that with time the breath has lengthened quite a lot. Let's try it now. Breathing in one, Two, Three, Four, Five. Full breath here at the top of the lungs top of number five. Let's breathe out slowly and evenly. Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One. Pause. Beautiful. Start your nice big inhalation. One, Two, Three, Four, Five. Pause. Let's breathe out slowly. Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One. Beautiful. I'm going to allow you to breathe now for a few more moments on your own. If you can extend the breath, Adjust the numbers again breathing in to the count of six, Breathing out to the count of seven. If you feel you've reached your capacity, Stay at this number or if it's too much or you're becoming dizzy, Reduce the numbers down to breathing in to three and out to four. Some days will be different. You may have been able to breathe longer yesterday but today feels shorter. That's totally fine. Just meet yourself where you are today. Choosing a number that feels comfortable and yet challenging and breathing out one more count on the exhalation. Choose those numbers now and breathe in for a few moments at your own pace. You've done really well today. I'm going to leave you here to either continue extending your breath or simply sit in silence. For now, Thank you for listening to this meditation.