A warm welcome to this five minute Botteco breathing break,
Which is perfect if you just have a few minutes or if you have a busy schedule.
So let's begin by coming into an upright posture,
Gently closing your mouth and bringing a gentle smile to your face and then slowly bringing your attention to the sensations of breathing just inside the tip of your nose.
Feeling the slightly cooler air flowing in through the nose and the slightly warmer air flowing back out through the nose.
The tip of the nose is the most sensitive place in the body to track the flow of air and so by placing our attention here,
We automatically breathe a little bit less air.
If you can't feel the breath inside the nose,
Then you can place the top of your finger just underneath the nose to help you get feedback on your breathing.
And for the first minute,
Just allowing your body to breathe naturally,
No need to control your breathing.
Letting your breathing be quiet,
Gentle and relaxed,
No big breaths.
And on each out breath,
Just allowing your whole body to relax,
Allowing the muscles around the mouth and the jaw to relax,
Letting the shoulders drop down away from the ears,
Allowing the belly to soften and relax,
Letting the buttocks and the upper legs begin to relax,
So that the whole body is just starting to let go and soften.
And as the body relaxes,
Just noticing how your breathing becomes slower and softer.
And now if you'd like to,
Just beginning to reduce the size of each breath just a little,
So that you're breathing about 10% less air than what you would normally do.
Taking slightly smaller in breaths and gently softening and slowing your out breaths.
And then gradually you'll start to feel that shortage of air,
That feeling of air hunger that we're looking for.
If it feels too intense,
Then just allowing the breath to flow a little bit more freely,
Being playful so that you can find the right level of air hunger for your body.
And just listening to the body for feedback.
So if you feel calmer or you have more saliva in the mouth,
Then this is a sign that your nervous system is down-regulating into rest and digest mode.
And if you feel warmer or have more clarity of mind or vision,
Then this is a sign of increased blood flow and enhanced oxygen delivery.
So just continuing to breathe these silent,
Soft,
Smaller breaths.
And we'll just go for another 30 seconds.
Each time you do this exercise,
You're slowly resetting the breathing center in your brain,
So that over time your breathing will become calmer and slower all of the time.
Practice regularly,
The health benefits really can be life-changing.
So why not make this breathing exercise part of your daily routine,
Maybe practicing in the morning,
Between meetings,
And before you go to bed.
Okay,
And we're done!
Wishing you all the best.
Have an amazing day,
My friends.
