Welcome to your 10-minute breath awareness exercise.
It's time to hit the pause button on your day,
Taking just 10 minutes to reset,
Recharge,
And feel better.
Tuning first into your breath without changing anything at all,
Noticing where is the bottom of your breath right now.
As the level of stress amps up in our day,
We may find that our breath gets stuck in our chest,
Never able to break through,
Never able to draw it deeper within where it can begin to calm our nervous system.
Noticing without judgment,
Simple awareness of what is present for you in your breath in this moment.
Take a moment to scan your mind and body now,
Observing how much stress and tension is hiding out within.
On a scale of 1 to 10,
How stressed do you feel in this moment?
Not analyzing your response,
No labeling of your number as good or bad.
Simply notice.
Now together,
Let's begin to count our inhalation and bring our exhalation into balance.
So if you feel comfortable inhaling to a count of 4,
Then also exhale to a count of 4.
There is no goal of what your number should be.
We are just going to use a count of 4 so we can all breathe in sync with each other.
There's power in matching our comfortable,
Relaxed breath with a group.
But please remember that you are in control of your breath.
If this count doesn't feel right for you,
Change it to a number that feels better.
Inhaling 4,
Exhaling 4.
Next we will begin to lengthen our exhalation,
Still inhaling to a count of 4,
But now let's exhale to a count of 5.
In 2 3 4,
Out 4 3 2 1.
In 2 3 4,
Out 4 3 2 1.
In 2 3 4,
Out 5 4 3 2 1.
In 2 3 4,
Out 5 4 3 2 1.
In 2 3 4,
Out 6 5 4 3 2 1.
In 2 3 4,
Out 6 5 4 3 2 1.
Last extension,
In 2 3 4,
Out 7 6 5 4 3 2 1.
In 2 3 4,
Out 7 6 5 4 3 2 1.
Keep it going.
If that is a problem for you,
Simply go back to inhaling to a count of 4,
And exhaling to a count of 7.
Choosing the number that works best for you today,
And the fact that your exhalation is longer than your inhalation,
Is communicating to your nervous system that it is time to relax,
To let go,
And downregulate.
Continue inhaling to a count of 4,
And exhaling to a count of 8.
Welcome the feeling of ease into your mind and body as we continue to focus on counting both our inhalation and our exhalation.
Now take a moment to let go of the effort of counting,
Inviting your natural breath to return.
Slow and steady,
Easy breaths in and out of your nose,
And together let's scan our mind and body again.
Noticing if anything changed for you.
On a scale of 1 to 10,
How much stress and tension is in your body now?
Did your number change?
Shift your awareness now into your heart center,
And think of something you are so grateful for.
Allowing a moment of joy to be your portal into gratitude.
See that moment in your mind's eye as if it is happening right now.
Who was with you in that moment?
Were there any particular smells,
Tastes,
Or sounds?
Fully drop into that memory and observe how gratitude felt in your body.
Imagine now we can breathe gratitude directly into our heart center.
With each inhalation our heart begins to overflow,
Filling up our entire body with the sensation of gratitude.
See or feel each and every cell of your body illuminated with that feeling.
Take a moment now to slowly blink your eyes open with a smile,
Ready to face the rest of your day with a whole new perspective.
If you found this 10-minute exercise helpful,
Please consider placing an alarm on your phone to come back to this throughout your day.
Hitting the pause button many times throughout your day so that you can feel more productive,
More clear-minded,
And feel better,
Moving throughout your day with ease despite any challenges you may be facing.
I wish you well,
Kalyani.
