Welcome to this pranayama for harmony and balance,
Samavritti.
It's a balancing breathing exercise.
I am Verena.
Samavritti is an exercise from pranayama,
One of the pillars of yoga.
Sama means equal in Sanskrit and vritti roughly means movement or activity.
Samavritti breathing is also known outside of yoga as box breathing or square breathing.
This is because we will count the four faces of a breathing cycle in a steady rhythm.
So you can imagine your breath as a line that draws four equal sides and takes four steps for each side.
The aim of this exercise is to keep your focus and attention on your breath.
At the same time we want to harmonize the breath which can provide more balance and even out irregularities in your feelings,
Thoughts and sensations.
You can basically do this exercise in any situation or position.
This also makes it very applicable in tricky everyday situations.
After the exercise I'll tell you a trick for variations of this breathing technique so that you can apply it to your individual needs at a specific point in time.
To begin find your position,
Arrive and just find yourself in this moment.
If you want you can close your eyes.
Breathe in and out calmly and evenly through your nose.
Take a couple of breaths here.
When you're ready,
Follow my breathing instructions.
Inhale for 1,
2,
3,
4.
Hold for 1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhale for 1,
2,
3,
4 and hold 1,
2,
3,
4.
In 2,
3,
4.
Hold 2,
3,
4.
Out 2,
3,
4.
Hold 2,
3,
4.
In 2,
3,
4.
Hold 2,
3,
4.
Out 2,
3,
4.
Hold 2,
3,
4.
In 2,
3,
4.
Hold 2,
3,
4.
Out 2,
3,
4.
Hold 2,
3,
4.
In 2,
3,
4.
Hold 2,
3,
4.
Out 2,
3,
4.
Hold 2,
3,
4.
In 2,
3,
4.
Hold 2,
3,
4.
Out 2,
3,
4 and hold 2,
3,
4.
In 2,
3,
4.
Hold 2,
3,
4.
Out 2,
3,
4 and hold 2,
3,
4.
In 2,
3,
4.
Hold 2,
3,
4.
Out 2,
3,
4.
Hold 2,
3,
4.
In 2,
3,
4.
Hold 2,
3,
4.
Out 2,
3,
4.
Hold 2,
3,
4.
In 2,
3,
4.
Hold 2,
3,
4.
Out 2,
3,
4.
Hold 2,
3,
4.
In 2,
3,
4.
Hold 2,
3,
4.
Out 2,
3,
4 and hold 2,
3,
4.
If you want,
You can pause my instructions and continue doing the exercise.
If you're ready and think it's enough,
Let your breath flow freely,
Stop thinking about controlling it.
Let it calm down and return to your own subconscious rhythm.
If you enjoyed this breathing exercise,
Then you can also vary in a couple of different ways.
For example,
If you want to stimulate yourself and feel a little bit more alert and awake,
You can extend the inhalation to six steps while all other positions remain at count 4.
If you want the opposite and desire more relaxation and calm down,
You want to extend your exhale and count to six while the rest stays till count 4.
I hope you enjoyed this exercise.
Thank you.
See you next time.
