This is a simple 4-4-4 box breath exercise.
Find a place where it's a little bit removed from the distraction of the house,
Away from the noise.
Set yourself into a seated posture.
If seated in a chair,
Lean forward slightly,
Moving your back away from the back of the chair and place both feet firmly on the ground.
Or sitting on a cushion to lift your hips a little bit higher than your knees.
If seated on the floor,
Legs can be crossed gently or a little bit looser.
The most important thing here is that you're sitting in an erect position so that breath is very easy.
Eyes.
If you're comfortable with eyes closed,
That's fine.
If not,
Allow the eyes to be half open with a very softened gaze.
And we'll begin first by taking a deep breath in as deeply as you can,
But still having it be comfortable.
No discomfort.
And slowly exhale out through the mouth.
Let it go.
And maybe do that one or two more times just to feel the breath drawing in,
To notice where you feel it most vividly.
And then letting the breath slowly move out,
Sighing it out.
And just for good measure,
We'll take that one more time,
Breathing in deeply through the nose.
And then letting the breath simply fall away.
Take a moment to notice the weight of your body as it rests,
Whether on the chair,
The back of the legs,
Resting on the seat of the chair.
Notice the weight of the body and also the weight of your feet.
If seated on a cushion,
Again,
Acknowledge the weight of the torso and then the weight of the legs themselves.
You might even imagine roots traveling down the length of your body and growing into the earth itself,
Really grounding.
I'm going to count breath.
What we'll do is we'll breathe in very deeply for a count of four.
At the height or top of the breath,
You're going to pause and just keeping the throat open,
Hold the breath in static energy.
Then exhale for the same count of four.
And at the bottom of that breath cycle,
Simply pause for counts.
And so if you're ready,
Breathing in for a count of four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Pause four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Exhale four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Pause four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Inhale four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Pause four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Exhale four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Pause four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Inhale four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Pause four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Exhale four,
Three,
Two,
One,
Pause four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Begin to let your breath move very easily now.
Simply allow the breath to breathe you,
Rather than you forcing the breath.
You might take a moment to notice your thoughts.
Notice emotions.
Notice the body and any sensations.
Opening to all of these sensations,
Thoughts and emotions and exploring them with gentle,
Compassionate,
Friendly curiosity.
And now holding the sensations of the breath in the body in spacious awareness and carrying that sense of awareness of openness to whatever experiences arise in the next moments of your day.
