Hello lovelies and welcome to Wise Puppy Meditations,
Meditations for holistic mental health.
This meditation practice is a part of our Breathwork series.
Today we're going to be working with box breathing.
Box breathing involves following a breath sequence that slows things down,
Promoting balance and decreasing anxiety.
Further use of this practice supports our ability to regulate our emotions and improve our capacity for focus and concentration.
This improves our relationships,
Our experiences at school or work,
And our ability to navigate the challenges that life throws our way.
The practice is called box breathing because of the structured and balanced nature of the breath cycle,
Which forms a box-like or equally balanced pattern.
In this breathing technique,
The inhalation,
Breath retention or pause after the inhale,
Exhalation and pause between breaths are all the same duration.
So we can imagine drawing a box with our breath,
Inhaling for the count of four,
Holding for the count of four,
Exhaling for four,
And holding again for four before beginning our next breath.
So some tips before we engage in this practice.
One is that you have to slow down and deepen your breath,
Creating a sort of white noise sound with your inhales and exhales,
Like you're trying to fog up a mirror.
Two is that as you inhale through the nose,
We'll breathe into the belly first,
Then up into the chest,
Allowing the retention to really inflate the chest,
Stretching out the lungs,
Stretching out the rib cage.
And then as you exhale through the nose,
We'll release the chest first,
Then contract the belly to release all of that carbon dioxide out of the body.
Three is that some people,
Myself included,
Tend to hike up,
We tend to hike up our shoulders in breath work,
Especially with the inhales and the retention.
So be aware of this and allow your shoulders to soften.
It can be helpful for some people to lie down.
Also please note that if you are pregnant or have heart or lung concerns,
Retention is really not advised.
So instead,
You can inhale for eight and exhale for eight.
And as always,
This goes for everybody,
Please listen to your body.
You are welcome to take a break at any time.
You can always jump back into the practice.
Before we begin,
We can just take a moment to settle into our beings,
Either lying down or sitting upright,
Finding a sense of balance in the body.
Together we will take 10 breaths,
Inhaling,
Holding,
Exhaling,
And holding.
We'll start by exhaling everything out of the lungs,
And then inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Very,
Very good.
You can allow yourself to drop the practice,
Just breathing normally,
Noticing how your breath has changed since the beginning of this meditation and noticing how other things maybe have changed since the beginning of this meditation,
How you feel in your body,
How you feel in your mind,
How you feel in your heart,
Just bringing some open nonjudgmental curiosity to this moment and remembering that we can integrate this practice at any time in our day.
That's one of the things that are so beautiful about breath practice is that it can be very discreet.
We can engage in it at any moment,
Whether we're in commute or about to give a presentation or in a difficult conversation,
We can just tap back into the breath.
So we'll take a moment just to recognize ourselves for committing ourselves to engage in practices that are supportive for our mental health and our wellbeing.
And we can close our practice by dedicating the merit.
May we engage in these incredible practices so that we can be well.
And may we be well so that we can do good for ourselves,
For humanity,
And for the planet at large.
Thank you so much for joining me today,
For putting in the work and for being a part of this wonderful wise puppy community.
Peace and blessings.
I will see you next time.
