Hi and welcome.
Today we'll be practicing box breathing.
Box breathing,
Also referred to as square breathing,
Is a deep,
Relaxing breath technique that can help you slow down your breath and achieve a greater state of ease,
Reduced anxiety and stress,
And a re-grounding into your center of self.
It works by focusing your mind on your breath as you count to four,
Calming your nervous system and decreasing stress in your body.
Box breathing is simple yet powerful,
And it can help you return your breathing pattern to a relaxed rhythm.
It can help clear and calm your mind and improve your focus.
To practice,
Sit in a chair,
Stand or lie down on your back with one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly.
When you sit down on a chair,
Ensure that your back is supported and your feet are firmly on the floor.
The breathing pattern follows a box,
So you'll inhale through your nose for a count of four,
You'll hold at the top for a count of four,
You'll exhale through your nose for a count of four,
And you'll hold at the bottom for a count of four.
We'll repeat this for about 30 cycles or 5-10 minutes.
If you're short on time,
Even 30 seconds of deep box breathing will help you feel more relaxed and in control.
Throughout this practice,
You'll want to breathe in through your nose,
Deep into your belly,
Your chest and your lungs,
And exhale through your nose.
Throughout your transitions from breath hold to inhale to exhale,
Try to avoid gripping or grasping for air.
Rather,
Find ease in the transitions,
Finding ways to stay gentle and be present.
Before we get started,
Let's take a foundational breath deep into the belly,
Chest and lungs,
Inhale through your nose,
Fill up,
Hold at the top,
Take in a little bit more air,
And exhale out your mouth.
Emulating your vagus nerve to activate your parasympathetic nervous system,
Your state of calm,
Presence and ease,
Your rest and digest.
We'll take one more deep breath in through the nose,
Filling up belly,
Chest and lungs,
Hold at the top,
Take in another sip of air,
And exhale out your mouth,
Letting out a sigh.
Let's get started with our box breathing.
Inhale 2,
3,
4,
Hold 2,
3,
4,
Exhale 2,
3,
4,
Hold 2,
3,
4,
Inhale 2,
3,
4,
Hold 2,
3,
4,
Exhale 2,
3,
4,
Hold 2,
3,
4,
Inhale 2,
3,
4,
Hold 2,
3,
4,
Exhale 2,
3,
4,
Hold 2,
3,
4,
Inhale,
Hold 2,
3,
4,
Exhale 2,
3,
4,
Hold 2,
3,
4,
Inhale 2,
3,
4,
Hold 2,
3,
4,
Exhale 2,
3,
4,
Hold.
Keep this going,
Your own breath,
Your own rhythm,
Tuning into what feels intuitive in your body.
You've got this.
With this practice,
As you breathe here,
Start to notice the cadence and the quality of your breath,
The length of your inhales and your exhales,
And the transitions in between your breath holds,
Your exhales and your inhales.
Notice the cadence and the quality.
Are you gripping?
Are you holding on?
Are you finding ease in the transitions?
Try to avoid gripping or gasping for air.
Simply let it travel,
Let it rest,
Let it flow.
There's so much beauty in shape-shifting,
In transients,
Reducing friction around the edges,
Gliding from one state of being into another and back into the next,
Much like your breath is gliding between the inhales and the exhales,
As do you from the different parts of your day,
The different activities you do,
And the different versions of yourself that you show up as.
It's not about reconciling or getting rid of all these sides of yourself.
It's about softening the edges between them,
Allowing,
Accepting all sides of you,
Whenever and wherever,
Finding the transients,
Finding the ease,
Staying gentle,
And staying present.
If your mind starts to wander merely notice,
Without judgment,
But with a loving awareness,
A curiosity towards the part of you that is worried about something else.
Relate to that part of you with loving awareness,
The gentle knowledge that it's trying to keep you safe and an understanding and compassion for it.
Bring it back here,
Bring it back to you,
The state of ease with your breath.
Friends,
As we start to come back to the end of our practice,
This sense of state and calm,
This rootedness in self that you may be experiencing,
Know that this is yours to access at any time in any place.
You are the creator of your reality and your breath is a powerful tool to helping you shift your internal state.
Know that your internal world reflects your outer one and you can be the steward of your internal energy any and all times.
Start to reintroduce your normal breath,
Taking a deep breath in through your nose and letting it go.
Returning back to your normal rhythm of breathing,
Maybe bringing awareness to the sensations in your fingertips and your toes,
Starting to wiggle them out,
Drawing life back into your body.
Maybe roll your shoulders down your back and drop one ear to one shoulder and then the other ear to the other,
Rocking your head from side to side.
And then maybe gently blink your eyes open,
Maintaining this internal state of awareness of your body while you let the outside world back in.
Bring your hands to your knees or at your heart center or at your forehead in prayer,
Whatever palm gesture feels appropriate to you as we close our practice.
Take a deep breath in and let that go.
Thank you so much for sharing your time,
Your energy,
Your space with me and with yourself first and foremost today.
Thank you for taking time to smooth out the edges.
The light,
Love,
And human in me sees,
Respects,
And deeply values the light,
Love,
And human in you.
In gratitude for this practice,
My name is Sasha Andriyanova and I thank you.
Have a beautiful rest of your day.
