Lay down and put one hand on your lower abdomen and the other hand on your chest.
Watch your breath for one minute.
Don't control it,
Just become aware of it.
Is your breathing quick and shallow or slow and relaxed?
Where is your breath coming from?
Are you breathing from your upper chest or from your lower diaphragm?
Many people breathe from their chest,
Which is much more shallow than diaphragmatic breathing.
Shift your focus to your diaphragm.
The hand on your stomach should move up and down with each inhale and exhale.
Your chest may move up and down as well,
But most of the movement should come from below.
Can you focus your breathing to come more from your diaphragm,
Therefore moving your stomach up and down more than from your chest?
Breathe slowly and rhythmically from your diaphragm for one minute.
Enjoy each breath.
You may find that your breathing slows down as you watch it.
Don't force it though.
Do this now.
Do you feel your mind calming down?
Do you feel your body relaxing?
If your muscles are still tight,
Release that tension on the next exhale.
Breathe like this for another minute.
Pretty simple,
Huh?
Diaphragmatic breathing is the solid foundation.
Now that you know that you should breathe diaphragmatically,
Check in with yourself throughout the next day to get a sense of where you're breathing from.
If you're breathing from your chest,
Try to slow down and concentrate.
Bring in deep inhales from the diaphragm instead.
Can you feel yourself becoming calmer already?
