Good morning and welcome.
Today's meditation is about slow breathing.
If you want to know more about why slow breathing is important,
Check out my insight on slow breathing,
Where I explain everything about the mechanics and benefits of a slow breathing practice.
The following practice is a nasal breathing practice.
If you find breathing through the nose difficult,
Please check out my meditation,
Nasal breathing,
Where I provide you with a tool to clear your nose before you practice.
The breath is the easiest and most elegant bridge between your body and mind.
Slow and steady breathing reduces anxiety,
Stress,
And allows you to be more present and able to focus your attention.
Before we start this slow breathing practice,
I'd like to remind you of some individual differences between us.
The first difference is your general base of breath.
Some of us already have a slow and deep breathing pace.
Others may have a faster or more shallow breathing pace.
Please be mindful that if you are not breathing slowly yet,
This will come with practice.
There's a variety of reasons why breathing can either be chronically or temporarily faster,
Especially when you are pregnant,
Have high blood pressure,
High stress levels,
Anxiety,
Asthma,
Or any other breathing condition.
Go easy on yourself and focus on small improvements as you practice regularly.
Second,
This breath practice is an interoceptive practice.
This means that we focus on sensations inside the body,
Specifically the heartbeat.
For some people,
This is easier than for others.
Some of us are simply more aware of sensations outside the body,
Such as things we see than sensations inside the body,
Such as things we feel.
If you find sensing your heartbeat is difficult,
Or if focusing your attention inward makes you feel uncomfortable,
This is not a problem.
You can choose to keep your eyes open and gaze at an object in front of you,
Or simply count seconds as opposed to heartbeats.
Please feel free to adapt to your own needs.
Whenever you feel ready,
Let's begin.
The most balanced breathing pattern is estimated at about 5.
5 seconds per breath.
So let's see if we can build towards that,
Or if you are already a slow breather,
Expand it a bit.
As an ancient Chinese saying goes,
Breath is carried by posture,
And posture is fueled by breath.
So the first thing we do is make sure we open our bodies to receive full breaths.
Sit in a comfortable position.
If it feels ok,
Close your eyes.
If it doesn't,
Gently gaze in front of you.
As you inhale,
Press from the sitz bones,
Erecting your spine,
Open your chest and widen your collarbones.
As you exhale,
Drop your shoulders down the back,
Draw your belly in,
And let your hips sink into your seat.
Take a slow inhale through the nose,
Filling up the belly,
Side ribs and chest,
Open your mouth and releasing in a long sigh.
Let's do that again,
Filling up through the belly,
Ribs,
Chest,
Letting go in a long and steady sigh out.
Continue breathing through the nose only.
With a count of 3 on the inhale and 3 on the exhale.
If your breath is slower,
You can simply use more counts.
If you can,
I'd like you to take your heartbeat as a reference point,
Counting 3 or more beats in and 3 or more beats out.
If you find it hard to locate that heartbeat,
Feel free to simply count up to 3.
3 in and 3 out.
You may notice a natural tendency to pause in between inhales and exhales.
Allow this pause to be there before you start counting again.
Allow your breath to slow down to 4 or more beats on the inhale,
And 4 or more on the exhale,
Allowing a natural pause in between.
You may notice that your heart rate increases and becomes more intense as you inhale,
And slows and becomes lighter as you exhale.
This is a natural process,
Allow it to happen.
Let your breath become slower with every round and lighter with every round.
Slow down to 5 beats or counts on the inhale and 5 on the exhale.
5 in,
5 out.
Allow your breath to slow down to 6 beats on the inhale,
6 on the exhale,
6 in,
And 6 out.
Slowly come back to the rest of your body,
Feel your hands,
Feet,
Sitz bones,
Shoulders,
And whenever you're ready,
Open your eyes and come back into this room.
Thank you for sitting down with me.
Have a lovely rest of your day.
