Hello,
Thanks for pressing play.
My name's Tim.
What we're about to do is a breathing exercise.
What's unique about this exercise is it gives our minds a chance to rest.
In a 21st century working environment,
We're operating at higher levels of stress than we ever had before.
We've got an idea about stress,
That stress is bad.
Stress,
However,
Can actually be a key to long-term growth.
The bit that we're all missing is the rest.
Did you know that stress plus rest equals growth?
There's more and more science that says mindfulness is a key to unlocking rest in the 21st century.
And that's what we're about to do.
This square breathing exercise is an easy way for you to actively rest your mind.
Think about rest as an investment in yourself.
A way to relax,
Re-energize,
And get ready for another go at work.
So let's get on with it.
What I want you to do is start by taking a deep breath in through your nose.
And hold at the top and let it all out through your mouth.
Just.
.
.
I want you to do that again in through the nose.
Take your time,
There's no rush.
Again,
Let it all out.
If you feel comfortable,
You can now close your eyes.
Otherwise,
Just find something to focus on.
There's no right or wrong way to do mindfulness practice.
Mindfulness is really just that moment when you notice your own thoughts and thinking pattern.
The idea with any mindfulness practice is to cultivate that awareness of thinking.
So whenever you are listening to my voice,
All I want you to do is breathe steadily and naturally in through your nose and out through your nose or mouth.
What square breathing is the practice we're going to do today is simply by bringing the picture of a square into your mind's eye.
We breathe up one side for four counts.
We hold going across the top for four counts.
We breathe out for four counts going down the side of the square.
And across,
We hold for four counts to get us back to the beginning.
Pretty simple,
Right?
Let's give it a go.
So with eyes closed,
If you're comfortable,
Let's take one breath in for four counts.
Two,
Three,
Four,
And hold at the top.
Two,
Three,
Four.
And coming down the side of the square,
Breathing out.
Two,
Three,
Four,
And we hold again.
Two,
Three,
Four.
And continue this practice.
Two,
Three,
Four,
And hold.
Two,
Three,
Four,
And breathe out.
Two,
Three,
Four,
And hold.
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hopefully,
You're into the groove of tracing the outline of a square with your breath.
Continue this practice for the next two or three minutes.
I'm going to leave you to it.
Don't worry.
I'm watching the time.
You'll hear my voice really soon.
If at any stage you get lost,
Just start again at one of the corners of the square.
Breathing in.
Two,
Three,
Four.
You know the rest.
If your thoughts wander,
Your mind drifts,
It's totally cool.
It happens.
Just again,
When you notice it,
Just come back to your breath and start again at the corner of the square.
Breathing in.
Two,
Three,
Four.
And breathe out.
Two,
Three,
Four.
And breathe in.
Two,
Three,
Four.
And breathe out.
And breathe in.
We've got about four minutes left of the practice.
Remember,
I'm watching the time.
You don't need to worry about it.
Keep going.
And breathe out.
And breathe in.
And breathe out.
And breathe out.
And breathe in.
And breathe out.
And breathe in.
And breathe out.
And breathe in.
And take a big breath in through the nose.
Really make it a deep intentional breath.
We've reached the end.
Now just in case you were wondering how you should feel after this,
Well you should feel however you're feeling.
But some people feel relaxed,
Some people feel energized,
Others feel tired,
Others feel frustrated.
However you're feeling,
It's cool.
The key to a mindfulness practice is to keep going.
The more you practice,
The more you get used to active rest.
This is the best way to tap into other parts of your mind that you don't use when you're actively working.
Those other parts of the mind are key to some of the things that we value the most.
Creative thinking,
Empathy,
Collaboration,
Adaptability.
This is a great way for you to rest and recharge and get ready for whatever it is you're about to go and do.
Thanks for hanging out.
