Breathing: Word Focus
This meditation guides you through deep belly breathing, calming the vagus nerve by breathing out longer on the exhalation than when you breathe in for your inhalation. Simple words are incorporated to anchor your awareness in, inviting you to enjoy the simplicity of this exercise, and surrender to the waves IF relaxation is being cultivated. You'll practice breathing out the past through your exhalation, and breathing your present moment in through your inhalation.
Transcript
Unlucky Welcome to this word focus meditation,
The fourth session in the proper belly breathing foundation series.
If you haven't already listened to the first three exercises,
Please do so now before you move on to this meditation.
Let's start by extending our breath,
Breathing in through the nose and allowing the belly to come out.
Exhaling fully,
Allowing the belly to come in,
Gently squeezing it towards the spine.
Breathing in,
Belly comes out,
Breathing out,
Belly comes in.
Just take some time here to extend the breath.
Allow yourself time to settle into the meditation.
Take full breaths as you breathe in,
Noticing how the belly,
Ribs and chest expands.
And as you breathe out,
The chest comes down,
The ribs come in,
The belly becomes flat.
Breathing in,
Belly out,
Breathing out,
Belly in.
And as you breathe out,
Just try and breathe out a little bit longer than when you breathe in.
Let's try now to breathe in to the count of three.
One,
Two,
Three.
And as you breathe out,
Nice,
Long,
Smooth exhalation to the count of four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Let's try that again.
Breathing in to the count of three.
One,
Two,
Three.
Breathing out to the count of four,
Three,
Two,
One.
And if it's comfortable,
Let's extend our breathing in to the count of four and out to the count of five.
Breathing in when you're ready.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Breathing in.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Breathing out.
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Beautiful.
Remember that each exhalation should unwind the body a little bit more.
Allow yourself to become a little heavier,
A little more relaxed.
Calming that nervous system with each beautiful inhalation and exhalation.
And the mind comes in to distract you as it will.
Don't be too hard on yourself.
Just try not to get carried away with the thoughts or the ideas or the story.
Simply notice you've become distracted and return your awareness to the beautiful breath.
And in this meditation,
We're going to focus on the inhalation and the exhalation and enjoying the simplicity of focusing on two words at a time.
Sometimes when the meditation becomes simple and easy,
The mind becomes busier.
But in this meditation,
You want to encourage yourself to enjoy,
Relax into and simply be with one word as we breathe in and one word as we breathe out.
Doing your best to keep that busy mind at bay.
So forget the numbers.
Forget the body awareness.
Simply come to your breath and start to trace it as it moves through the center of your body.
And as you breathe in,
I simply want you to think of the word inhale.
And as you breathe out,
Simply thinking of the word exhale.
And just being with these two simple words and your breath for the next few moments.
Breathing in deeply in your own time.
Breathing in,
Inhale.
Breathing out,
Exhale.
Just continue this in your own time.
Inhale.
And exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Returning your mind and your awareness time and time again to these simple words when you become distracted.
Let's try some different words now.
As you breathe in,
I want you to breathe in today.
Breathe out yesterday.
Breathing in,
Saying the word today,
Today,
Today.
As you breathe out,
Breathing out the word yesterday,
Yesterday,
Yesterday.
Simply being with these words,
Breathing in today.
Breathing out yesterday.
Continue this in your own time,
Just focusing on those two simple words.
And as you breathe in,
Breathe in a sense of this moment of energy,
Of rejuvenation,
Of presence for today.
And as you breathe out,
Let everything associated with yesterday,
All that was done and not done,
All that was stressful or incomplete.
Let that become out of the body,
Out of the mind's eye as you breathe out the word yesterday with your exhalation.
Breathing in today.
Breathing out yesterday.
Beautiful.
Now we're going to change the words again.
As you breathe in,
I want you to breathe in the word present.
Present in this moment,
In this day,
In this breath,
In this meditation,
I am present.
This is the present.
Breathing in present.
Breathing out past.
And as you breathe out,
Let go of everything that has happened in your past,
Far beyond yesterday,
Last week,
Last month.
Allow everything in your past to just come out of your body and out of your awareness in this meditation for the next few minutes.
As you simply breathe in present.
Breathing in the present.
Breathing out the past.
Breathing present.
Breathe out past.
Present,
Past.
Present,
Past.
Continue this for a few more moments,
Making sure you're letting go of everything that happened up until this moment.
This breath,
Even the previous breath now has become the past.
The present is now each second.
The present is now.
Now.
Now.
Breathing in the present for a few more moments.
Breathing out the past.
We're going to change the words now once again.
This time,
Breathing in the word light.
Breathing out the word dark.
So as you breathe in,
Breathing everything light colored,
Light in feeling,
Fresh,
New.
Think of clear re-energizing breath and energy.
Breathing lightness,
Happiness,
Joy,
Contentment.
Breathing in light,
Breathing out dark.
Anything that is difficult,
Distressing or unpleasant.
Anything that feels heavy or burdensome.
Let it come out through the breath and your exhalation.
Anything that is no longer needed or no longer serves you.
Let it come out through the breath and your long exhalation as you simply focus on the word dark.
Breathing in light.
Breathing out dark.
Breathing in light.
Breathing out dark.
Let go a little bit more with each exhalation.
Creating more space for lightness and freshness and newness as you breathe in light.
Breathe out dark.
Lastly,
We're going to change the words one more time.
This time as you breathe in,
Simply saying yes.
Yes,
Yes,
Yes.
Yes to life.
Yes to this meditation.
Yes to this moment.
Yes to love.
Breathe in,
Yes.
Breathe out,
No.
No.
No.
Breathe out everything you don't want to do,
You're not interested in.
Everything that tries to cross your boundaries,
No.
Breathe out everything you want to say no to from this moment on.
Breathing in all that you want to say yes to in life.
Breathing out all that you're ready to say no to.
Breathing in,
Yes.
Breathing out,
No.
Yes,
Yes,
Yes.
No,
No,
No.
Continue this breathing in,
Yes.
Breathing out,
No.
In your own time for a few more moments.
And lastly,
As we start to close the meditation,
I want to give you a chance to tune into yourself in this moment.
And I want you to come up with your own two words.
Breathing in what you feel you need at this moment.
Breathing out what you'd like to let go of.
What you no longer need or what no longer serves you.
You may breathe in peace,
Stillness,
Love,
Hope,
Time,
Money,
Energy,
Whatever you like.
Breathing out something that no longer serves you.
Fear,
Rage,
Sadness,
Criticism,
Worry.
Just choose one thing to breathe in that you'd like to cultivate in your life.
One thing to breathe out,
Represented by one simple word.
Breathing in what you need.
Breathing out what you don't need.
Breathing in what you need in this moment,
On this day.
Breathing out what you're ready to let go of.
Just taking a final few deep breaths here.
Make sure your breath is long and smooth and your belly is still moving.
Belly comes out as you breathe in.
And as you breathe out,
Fully exhaling everything that is in the lungs,
Belly comes in gently towards the spine.
I'm going to leave you now.
Stay here for as long as you can,
Enjoying the simplicity of the breath or going back over two of your favorite words that you may need more of today and simply be.
I'll see you in the next core belly exercise meditation where we focus on increasing our awareness of our physical body up the front and the back of the body.
For now,
Thank you for listening to this meditation.
Thank you.
