So today we're going to practice a very simple breathing technique,
A regulating breath.
So just letting your body come to rest.
Just starting to notice your breath.
And then starting to gently count the inhale.
Letting it be natural as you do so.
And then the same on the exhale.
Just counting.
Not trying to alter it for now.
And then on the exhale,
Start to make the length about one and a half times the length of the inhale.
So if you find like you're breathing in to the count of four and the inhale,
Breathing out about six.
Or if you're breathing in six,
Breathing out about nine.
It doesn't have to be exact.
Just roughly about one and a half times the length of the inhale.
And just noticing how altering your breath in this way,
What it does to your nervous system,
To your sense of rest.
If you find at any time on the exhale that there's a shortness of breath,
Just breathing in again,
Trusting the rhythm of your body.
And slowly over the next minute or two,
Starting to find a rhythm where the exhale is about one and a half times the inhale.
And as you continue to breathe in this way,
Just starting to tune into one of the resting places in the body.
Most likely the hands.
Starting to anchor your attention in that place in the body.
And noticing how breathing in this way can help facilitate you to do so.
Often when we sit down,
Whether we've done the shaking practice or not before we do so,
We can feel a level of agitation in our system,
But it's hard to focus our attention.
And this is where this regulating breath can be very helpful.
Often even a few cycles just when we sit down can really help regulate us and allow us to focus our attention on a particular part of the body without tightening,
Without trying to constrict our attention.
And once you fall into that rhythm,
Being able to gently maintain your attention on the particular part of the body that you're focusing on,
You can just let your breath return to normal.
Just gently sinking your attention into that part of the body.
We only use this regulating breath as much as we need to,
And then just let our breath return and be natural.
If you're in the midst of practice,
Let's say 15,
20 minutes into a practice and you're noticing you're finding it hard to settle again,
Your mind is becoming agitated,
This practice again of extending the exhale on your breath can be a very useful ally.
Sometimes it only takes two or three cycles of doing the breath such that your mind calms down again.
And so you can experiment at times of finding the right amount of using this breath when you're practicing.
Knowing that you can return to this breath anytime your attention gets a little bit choppy,
You're finding it a little bit difficult to settle.
You can continue to rest here or use that breath as necessary for as long as you like.
