Abdominal Breathing

Try this short abdominal breathing exercise to help you quickly reduce your levels of stress & anxiety. When we’re anxious, we tend to breathe faster and take shallow breaths from our chest. If we change the way that we breathe to both mimic the breathing of a relaxed person & also to specifically activate the parasympathetic nervous system, we can induce the relaxation response. The idea is to take slow deep breaths at an even pace with your exhale longer than your inhale. Breathe to relax.

Transcript

When you're ready,

Slowly close your eyes.

Now take a few long,

Slow,

Deep breaths all the way into your abdomen.

Exhale slowly with each breath.

And as you exhale,

Breathe out all the tension from your body.

You are breathing at a slow,

Even pace.

You can feel your abdomen expand as you inhale.

And you exhale slowly,

Feeling all the tension release from your body as you exhale.

Try to inhale to the count of four,

And then exhale to the count of six.

Inhale,

Two,

Three,

Four.

And exhale,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six.

Continue this pattern of inhaling and exhaling.

If this is too much of a challenge,

Find a pace that's right for you.

Breathe in your own easy and relaxed way.

Inhale and exhale slowly.

As you inhale and exhale slowly and deeply,

You find a pace that works for you.

And you are feeling more and more relaxed with each breath.

Notice the feeling.

Continue to focus on your breath.

Take a few more deep breaths all the way into your abdomen.

And when you are ready,

You can open your eyes and continue your day.

Reviews

Such a perfect way to start my day! I feel calm and centered. Tension has moved out of my neck and shoulders. I think I love myself enough to practice this sweet little moment every day!

As the teacher started the counting, I finally found myself slowing down too, with a more relaxed body. Thank you for this lovely start to my day. Namaste. 🌺🌸