Balancing Breathwork Meditation
This is a guided breathwork meditation. It features "5,7,8 breathing", circular breaths as well as shorter breath holds. This practice will help reduce stress, balance the nervous system as well as promote increased focus.
Transcript
This is a balancing breath work practice.
To begin with,
Find a comfortable lying down position,
Maybe on a yoga mat on the floor or even on the bed or on the sofa.
Just taking a few moments to ensure that your body is relaxed and comfortable before we begin.
To start off with,
We can take a couple of deeper inhales and exhales,
Breathing in through the nose and exhaling slowly through the mouth.
So we can inhale through the nose,
Filling up the lungs fully and then slowly exhaling through the mouth.
We'll do one more inhale through the nose and again slowly exhale through the mouth and one final inhale and once more exhaling slowly through the mouth.
And seeing if now and for the rest of the practice if you can direct your attention to the experience of your body,
Keeping the awareness and the attention within and alert to the experience of the body and the breath throughout this practice.
So as with our other meditation practices,
If our mind wanders here,
Gently guide it back to the breath,
Guide it back to the body as many times as needed.
And if during any of the guided breathing exercises you feel like you need to take a break or pause at any time,
Feel free to do so.
You can stop the recording,
Go back to a neutral breath and then if and when you feel ready,
Just press play again and come back to wherever you were in the practice.
And a little reminder that sometimes when we do breath work like this,
Emotions may arise,
Feelings and thoughts may arise and whatever is going to be here for you during this practice,
Just seeing if we can just allow it to be and move through it,
Breathe through it,
Become curious to whatever will be present with your practice here.
So to begin with,
We're going to do a few rounds of the five,
Seven,
Eight breathing,
Calming the body,
Calming the mind before we move into circular breath.
And it may be helpful to place a hand on your stomach,
Ensuring that throughout the entire practice the breaths that we're taking are deep,
Filling up the lungs fully,
Engaging the movement of the abdomen and the stomach with each breath,
Trying to make sure that we're not using a shallow breath where we're just inhaling and exhaling with a short breath down the throat.
So really seeing if we can engage the full movement of the breath.
And if you haven't done so already,
You may close your eyes if that feels comfortable to you.
And we'll begin by inhaling through five and then we'll hold our breath through seven and then exhale through eight.
And we're trying again to carry out this breathing through the nose if possible.
If you need to sip some air in or out through the mouth at any time,
Then you are of course welcome to do so.
And we're going to begin the first inhale now in three,
Two,
One.
Inhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Hold,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven.
Exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Inhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
And hold,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven.
Exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Again in one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
And hold,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven.
And exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Again in one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
And hold,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven.
Exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Again,
Inhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
And hold,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven.
Exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
And again,
In one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
And hold,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven.
And exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
In one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Hold,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven.
Exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Again,
Inhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
And hold,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven.
Exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Last one,
In one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
And hold,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven.
Exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
So you can take a moment now to allow the breath to find its neutral,
Natural rhythm here.
And then we're going to move into circular breathing now,
Beginning with four by four.
Maybe you feel like you would like to stay with a five,
Seven,
Eight breath for a bit longer.
Maybe you feel the need to calm the nervous system down further before we continue with circular breath.
And if so,
You can just pause the recording here,
Continue five,
Seven,
Eight,
Counting it in your head,
Into your own rhythm here.
We'll continue now with circular breath.
Again,
Inhaling through the nose.
And we'll be inhaling for four and exhaling for four.
Then doing a breath hold at the end of an exhale,
Holding for 45 seconds.
And then a deep inhale,
Really pulling all of the air in,
Imagining that we're drawing it from the bottom of the stomach and pulling the air almost up to the top of the forehead.
And then holding the breath in there,
The focus in the top of the forehead as we hold that second breath hold.
We'll be slightly shorter breath hold and then we exhale,
Just letting all the air out with a big sigh,
A big release.
And that completes one of the cycles of the circular breath.
So getting ready now for the first inhale in three,
Two,
One.
Inhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Inhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Inhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Inhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Inhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Inhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And in,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And out,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And in,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And in,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And out,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And in,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And out,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And in,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And out,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Three more in,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And out,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And in,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And out,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And in,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Get ready for the hold.
And out,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And then hold at the end of this exhale now and hold.
And we'll be holding for 45 seconds here.
Keeping the attention,
Keeping the awareness within the body.
Noticing the sensations as they rise and fall within the body.
Knowing that we can always take a little sip of air in if we need to before the end of the hold.
Simply listen to your body.
Whatever feels right for you in each moment here.
And then we're going to get ready for that deep inhale now in 10,
9,
8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Deep inhale now,
Pulling the air in.
And then hold at the top of the breath.
Continue holding for a while longer and then get ready for that release,
That exhale,
That sigh out now in 5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
And exhale.
Let go.
And just come back to neutral breath here for a short while before we move into round 2.
We're going to continue counting 4 by 4 So 4 on the inhale,
4 on the exhale.
And we're getting ready for that inhale now in 3,
2,
1.
Inhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Inhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Inhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Inhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Inhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Inhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Inhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Inhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Inhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Inhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Inhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Inhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Inhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhale,
1,
2,
3,
4.
And out,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Final one in,
1,
2,
3,
4.
And out,
1,
2,
3,
4.
And hold your breath here at the end of this exhale once more.
Allow this hold to cultivate and show up a sense of presence here.
Feeling fully alert and awake to any sensations that are happening within your body.
Noticing anything and everything that's here right now for you in this hold.
We're going to get ready for an inhale now in 10,
9,
8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Big inhale now,
One more inhale.
All the way,
Deep,
Deep,
Deep.
And then hold at the top again.
Hold for a shorter breath hold here.
And then get ready once more to release,
To exhale,
To let go.
In 5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
And sigh.
Getting all the air out.
Completing round 2 of the circular breath.
We're going to move into round 3.
We're now going to pick up the pace a little bit with our inhales and exhales.
We'll be counting at 2,
2.
So inhale for 2,
Exhale for 2.
Continue to breathe through the nose if possible.
So that we're really pulling in as much air as possible even if it's only for 2 counts.
And exhaling that air powerfully out with 2 counts as well.
And we're getting ready for that next round now.
The next inhale.
In 5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
In 1,
2,
Out 1,
2.
In 1,
2,
Out 1,
2.
In 1,
2,
Out 1,
2.
In 1,
2,
Out 1,
2.
In 1,
2,
Out 1,
2.
In 1,
2,
Out 1,
2.
In 1,
2,
Out 1,
2.
In 1,
2,
Out 1,
2.
In 1,
2,
Out 1,
2.
In 1,
2,
Out 1,
2.
In 1,
2,
Out 1,
2.
In 1,
2,
Out 1,
2.
In 1,
2,
Out 1,
2.
In 1,
2,
Out 1,
2.
In 1,
2,
Out 1,
2.
In 1,
2,
Out 1,
2.
Out 1,
2.
In 1,
2.
Out 1,
2.
In 1,
2.
Out 1,
2.
Two more.
In 1,
2.
Out 1,
2.
Final one.
In 1,
2.
And out 1,
2.
And hold.
Holding for 60 seconds here if possible.
Noticing again the sensations in the body.
Becoming alert.
Becoming present here.
And then getting ready for the inhale in 10,
9,
8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
And inhale.
Deep inhale.
Fill up the lungs.
Fill up the lungs fully.
And hold at the top again.
And then once more getting ready for that release.
Maybe even consciously seeing if we can let go of anything that we're holding that doesn't serve us anymore.
Just releasing anything that we've noticed that we may be carrying in this practice or otherwise.
Just see if we can just let it go.
Let it out.
With the next exhale now.
In 5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
And just exhale.
Let it out.
Wonderful.
And just allow your breath to come back to neutral here.
For a short while.
Before we begin the final round of circular breath.
We're going to do approximately 1 minute of 1,
1.
So a deep inhale.
Deep exhale.
Again,
Imagining that pump,
The foot pump of the mattress.
A powerful push in.
A powerful push out.
A lot of oxygen here as we breathe.
And then getting ready once more for the final hold.
So getting ready for your first inhale now.
In 5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Inhale.
Exhale.
One more time.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Big exhale.
And hold your breath here one final time.
Continue holding.
We're halfway there.
Get ready to inhale in 10,
9,
8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
And big inhale now.
And once more holding at the top of that inhale.
And then getting ready for the final big sigh now.
Releasing all the air,
Releasing all the oxygen,
Releasing and letting go.
And this final exhale here.
In 5,
4,
3,
2,
1 and let go.
Exhale.
So we've now completed the circular breathing of this exercise.
Now we're just going to move back to the neutral breath again.
Just being present with the body.
Any sensations that may be present.
Taking note of any emotions that may be present.
Any thoughts or thinking.
Just making space for whatever is here,
Whatever has come up during this practice.
And as we end this breathing session,
This breath work practice,
We can move back to a deeper belly breathing here if that feels comfortable.
Otherwise you can stay in your neutral breath.
If you want to move in to belly breathing so once more inhale through the nose and exhaling slowly through the mouth.
Inhale again through the nose.
And exhaling through the mouth again slowly.
And we'll do one final inhale here.
And exhaling once more.
And this completes the breath work balancing exercise.
If you want you can continue this deep belly breathing or maybe take some time to just be in stillness on the mat for a bit longer resting in your natural neutral breath maybe.
Or even going back to 5-7-8 if that feels comfortable to you.
Or whenever you feel ready just coming out of this practice gently moving back up to seated making sure not to make any sudden movements here as we move off the mat.
Thank you.
