Room to Breathe

This gentle guided meditation connects you to your breath as a path to deeper relaxation and presence.

Transcript

Rest your body in a comfortable place,

Free of distractions,

And in a position that will allow you to rest completely.

Perhaps on your mat,

A comfortable couch or your bed.

A space that nurtures you with its safety and peacefulness.

Once you have placed yourself in a comfortable position,

Do a gentle scan of your body and notice if there are any spaces in your joints or muscles that still need to adjust or move before truly settling in.

During this meditation,

You will be using the breath as a guide.

Your breath will journey with you as you move toward release,

Expansion,

And restoration.

A step closer to who you truly are at your essence.

Begin to notice your breathing.

Bring the mind inward and acknowledge the simple fact that you are breathing,

Noticing without any need to change.

Let that breath be shallow or deep,

Full or narrow.

Place your breath in front of you like an object,

With all of its dimensions,

Textures,

Weights and colors.

Slowly walking around this entity with curiosity to see all sides.

Begin to draw a deeper,

More purposeful breath in and notice where this breath goes.

Where do you sense it most powerfully?

Is it in the nostrils as the breath enters or exits?

As the air hits the back of the throat?

Perhaps you begin to notice the breath when the lungs begin to expand.

As you settle further,

You may even notice the breath in the belly.

Let your awareness rest wherever your breath is most obvious to you.

Feel how the in-breath is different from the out-breath in this particular space.

Let's use the breath now to find and release any pockets of residual tension in your body.

Draw the breath as deeply as you can into your body and hold that breath suspended inside for a moment,

Floating,

And release every ounce of that breath.

Notice the settling.

This time as you draw the breath deeply in,

Filling the chest and belly,

Squeeze tightly through your fists and your feet.

Hold that tension and release completely the breath,

The hands and the feet,

Aware of the floating down of your body.

Let's draw a deeper breath this time and squeeze through the feet,

The fists,

The legs,

And the arms.

Hold the tightness and the breath and then release every ounce of tension and breath throughout the arms and legs.

Pause for a moment.

Allow the body to sink a little further.

As you draw the deepest breath that you can,

Seek to fill every corner of your body.

Squeeze every muscle you can sense,

Feet and hands,

Legs and arms,

The back,

The belly,

The jaw,

The face,

And release your entire being on a strong,

Full out-breath.

Experience that moment of complete release,

Sinking softly into the earth.

Rest in this gentle surrender and notice perhaps a bit more spaciousness in your body and mind.

Experience the gentle in-breath and out-breath in this new openness you've created.

If you find your mind has wandered away,

Simply notice the thought it was drawn to,

And without judgment allow this thought to float by.

Simply lead the mind back into noticing the breath,

That subtle rise and fall of the chest and belly.

Observe any shifts that may have taken place inside of you.

Maybe you notice the breath broadening the back against the floor.

Perhaps noticing a deeper sense of heaviness in the legs and ankles as you exhale.

Let the in-breath create space between your thoughts.

Allow each exhale to release you deeper into the floor or your bed,

Feeling as though your body were sinking into the sand.

See the inhale going a little deeper into the body each time,

Going beyond the belly now,

Down into the bowl of the pelvis.

See that breath filling the pelvis on the inhale and sinking deeper on the exhale.

Maybe you notice the breath as it begins to fill the legs,

Gently expanding them,

Creating a sensation of floating,

And on the exhale they gently settle back to the earth grounded,

Heavy and rested.

Take your next inhale deeply into the entire length of your body,

Starting at the top of your head,

Expanding the chest and the arms,

Filling the belly,

The pelvis,

Pouring into the legs,

Exhaling through the feet.

Sense this circular breath in through the top of your head,

Passing through the landscape of your body and releasing through the bottoms of your feet.

Once again,

Taking that breath in the entire length of your body,

Starting at the top of the head,

Pouring through your body like a life-giving stream and exhaling through the bottoms of your feet.

Follow this easy cycle with your awareness,

Watching your breath as it passes through your body.

Sit for a while on this rhythm of in and out,

Rise and fall.

Let's use this breath as a guide once more.

It's time to begin your journey back to the surface of awareness.

As you move toward the surface,

Like slowly floating up from the bottom of the ocean,

Bring with you the stillness your breath has helped you create.

Draw a deeper breath in now,

An awakening breath,

A breath that is more about vitality and energizing,

Slowly rising to the surface,

Knowing that you have restored your body to its natural stillness.

Perhaps beginning some very subtle movements through fingers and toes,

Coming even closer now to the surface of external awareness.

Let it sink in,

The reality of just how powerful your breath is.

Create some larger movements now with arms and legs,

Perhaps shifting through the neck,

Some deeper,

Fuller breaths coming in and out,

Slowly opening the eyes when you're ready to reconnect with your surroundings.

Pause for a moment in this new awakening.

Draw the in-breath as deeply as you can.

As with that breath suspended inside,

To fully sense the new space,

Release the out-breath completely to fully experience the restoration you have received.

Reviews

Very nice structure from beginning to end. Background music was perfect. I enjoyed this practice a lot and will probably do it again. I did it seated, but next time we’ll probably do it prone.

I adore how poetically and creatively you position the breath for exploration! Such a wonderful experience! Thank you

This one was just what my blood pressure needed this morning.

❤️❤️❤️

Thank you for this nice attention to the breath meditation! ❤️🙏🌻

Thank you. Will visit again. 🙏

Thank you! Very grounding and rebalancing

Enjoyable, relaxing, I felt my body wake up with deep breathing. Thank you.

Thank you for this meditation very soothing and relaxing 😌 namaste 🙏☯️🎧

Felt very relaxed after! Great for stress!

Wow! That was, pardon the pun, breath-taking. Tying the breath to the body like that helped still my thoughts so profoundly. The sense of space was wonderful! Thank you.

Amazing meditation, different to the norm. Loved the squeezing/releasing part. Thank you 🙏

Very relaxing and peaceful! Loved this meditation.

Excellent meditation! It really helped me to stay focused on my breath and to relax deeply. Namaste

Expansion
Thank you 🙏🏼

Perfect! Just the simple act of reconnecting with my breath and I feel ready to start my day. This is a wonderful and simply focused meditation perfect for the morning or before bed.

Calming and revitalizing meditation backed by a beautiful ambient atmospheric back drop of sounds and melody.

Excellent! Just the thing for relaxing and bringing yourself back to a better headspace. Thank you. 🙏🏻😊

Very easy to follow. Really liked it.

Very calming. Thank you!