Today I'm going to lead you through Samavritti but with a brief retention and this is box breathing you might know it as.
We're going to start by finding a comfortable position,
Whatever that is for you,
A few options if you want to be seated,
If you would like to be against a wall,
If you want to use any props or blankets or anything to support you,
Maybe lying down,
Really whatever is available to you at this point.
Once you find your way into that comfortable position,
We'll just begin by bringing your attention to your breath.
Starting to notice and observe here.
Once you notice the length of your inhale and your exhale,
The temperature of your breath,
Where the breath enters and exits through the body,
Where you feel your breath in your body or not.
Does your breath feel shallow or does it feel deep?
Does it feel forced or is it flowing freely?
As you inhale and exhale,
Just allow your breath to gradually lengthen and deepen slowly over time,
Not in a rush.
Next let's begin to balance the breath out at a count of four on the inhale and an equal count of four on the exhale.
Doing just like this,
Counting your breath,
Hoping to find a balanced breath and to keep your presence and awareness here and now.
Next we will add a retention or a pausing of the breath.
What that will be is inhaling to four,
Pausing for four,
And then exhaling to a count of four.
Doing just like that,
Inhale to a count of four,
Pause for four,
And then exhale to a count of four.
We're going to add one more retention in and that will come at the bottom of the exhale.
When you're ready,
You will inhale to a count of four still,
Pause to a count of four,
Exhale to a count of four,
Pause for a count of four.
Continue like that,
Inhale to a count of four,
Pause to four,
Exhale to four,
Pause for a count of four,
And then inhale and continuing just like that.
Okay,
We're going to add one more retention.
And you can continue on like this if you would like.
But when you're ready,
Slowly making your way back to an easy breath without retention,
Without counting,
Just headed back towards your more natural rhythm to your breath.
Taking a few moments to notice how you feel in your body,
In your mind,
In your breath.
When you're ready,
Slowly blinking open your eyes if you'd like,
Giving a stretch,
Taking some gentle movements,
Whatever you need here.
And thank you for joining me today.
