Welcome.
My name is Cassandra Vaughn,
And I am so grateful that you're choosing to take a few minutes for us to breathe together.
Box breathing is a simple,
Powerful breathing technique that can help you reduce stress,
Improve focus,
And cultivate a state of calm by stimulating your parasympathetic nervous system.
That's the part of your brain that cues your body to rest and digest.
It's called box breathing because your breath follows the visual pattern of a box.
As you breathe in,
You can visualize a line being drawn vertically upwards.
As you hold the breath,
Imagine a line going across.
As you breathe out,
Visualize the line going vertically down.
And as you hold the breath,
Imagine the line going across the bottom and completing the shape of a box.
Box breathing is a grounding,
Nourishing practice designed to help you find your center and improve your focus.
Box breathing can take as little as 16 seconds,
And the way that it works is this.
You breathe in through the nose for a count of 4 seconds,
Hold the breath for a count of 4 seconds,
Breathe out through the nose for a count of 4,
Seconds,
And then hold the breath for a count of four seconds.
That is considered one round of box breathing.
In today's meditation,
We're going to move through several rounds of Box Breathing.
3 rounds at 4 seconds.
3 rounds of Box Breathing at 5 seconds.
And 3 rounds of Box Breathing at 6 seconds.
And please don't be concerned if you find your thoughts going everywhere the first few rounds.
Trust the process.
And in time,
You're going to see how helpful Box Breathing can be to calming your mind and improving your focus.
Let's begin.
I want you to find a comfortable seated position.
Be sure that your feet are on the floor.
Allow your hands to remain open on your lap or wherever is comfortable for you.
Take a few deep breaths,
And as you do so,
Close your eyes.
We're going to breathe in through the nose for a count of four,
Hold the breath for a count of four,
Breathe out through the nose for a count of four,
And then hold the breath for a count of four.
Let's start box breathing.
Breathe in.
2…3… Four.
Hold… 2… 3… 4… Breathe out… 2… 3,
4,
And hold,
2,
3,
4,
Breathing in,
2,
3,
4,
And hold,
2,
3,
4,
Breathing out,
2,
3,
4,
And hold,
2,
3,
4.
One more time,
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
2 3,
4,
And hold,
2,
1.
Three.
4… Breathing out… 2… Three.
For and hold to.
Three,
Four.
Now relax the breath.
Box breathing is a powerful technique because it allows you to train your mind,
Your body,
And your breath.
It helps you get centered.
So don't judge where you are with the box breathing.
We're going to go into another round,
And this time we're going to do a five-second hold.
Again,
Give yourself space.
See the box that you're breathing into as expansion.
As we go through these counts,
Just say to yourself,
I'm expanding,
I'm growing,
I'm expanding.
Alright,
Let's go to box breathing on a 5 second count.
Breathing in.
2… 3… 4… 5… and hold 2… 3… 4… 5… Breathing out… 2… Three.
4,
5,
And hold 2.
3.
4… 5… Breathing in… 2… Three.
4… 5… and hold 2… 3… 4… 5… Breathing out to release.
3.
4… 5… and hold 2… Three.
4,
5,
Breathing in and out.
2… 3… 4… 5… and hold.
2 3 4… 5… breathing out 2… 3… 4… 5… and hold 2… tree.
4… 5… Release the breath.
In between rounds,
Sometimes you want to just shake it out or just give yourself permission to breathe any way your body feels called to breathe.
Again,
We are expanding,
We are growing,
We are training the breath.
No judgment here.
Acceptance.
Embracing breath as life and focusing on the expansion that this allows.
All right,
We're going to go into our final rounds and this time we're going to do box breathing on a six second count.
So breathe in whatever way you want to breathe.
Make sure you get a full breath in,
A full breath out,
And let's begin.
Breathing in.
2.
3.
4,
5,
6,
And hold 2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
Breathing out 2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
And hold 2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
3,
4,
5,
6,
And hold 2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
Breathing out 2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
And hold 2,
3,
4,
5,
And in.
Sue.
Three.
4,
5,
6,
And hold 2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
And hold 2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
And hold 2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
And Allow your breath to return to its natural flow and just notice how are you feeling right now?
Where is your mind?
Where is your heart?
Where is your essence?
What are you feeling right now?
Give yourself whatever time and space you need to come back into the room,
To come back fully into your body,
And whenever you are ready,
Open your eyes.
Thank you so much for meditating with me today,
And I so look forward to meditating again with you soon.
Till we see each other again.
