Balancing Breath For Calm And Focus

This meditation invites you to focus on your breath, finding calm and presence. By using the Box Breathing technique, this practice helps activate the parasympathetic nervous system and harbor calm and focus. By observing inhalations and exhalations, you'll explore inner sensations and learn to gently refocus when thoughts wander. Whether seeking relaxation, clarity, or a deeper connection to the present moment, this practice offers a path to mindfulness and inner tranquility. May this practice support you in safety, stability, and strength.

Transcript

Hello and thanks for joining me for this breathing meditation practice.

My name is Sean and I'll be guiding you through a breathing practice known as box breathing.

Now this breathing technique can bring immediate to long-term benefits around things like stress management,

Regaining focus,

And encouraging positive emotions and a positive state of mind.

It does this through activating the parasympathetic nervous system which helps the body return to a rested state.

And this is a practice that can be done at the beginning of your day,

At the end of the day,

Or as a nice reset during the middle of the day.

And so what we're gonna do is just start by finding a comfortable position.

So begin by finding a comfortable seated or lying down position.

If you're doing this meditation in the morning and you're still in bed you can stay in the comfort of your bed.

Or if you are the up-and-moving or find yourself in the midst of your day you can just find a nice and quiet area to find a seat.

So allowing your spine to be straight you can imagine maybe a string tied to the crown of your head softly lifting you up and extending through the body.

We're not looking for a stiff spine but just something elongated.

Your shoulders soften and relax.

The belly is relaxed and your hands can rest on your lap or at your side.

If you're seated cross-legged you're looking to have your hips above your knees.

And if you're seated in a chair just allow your feet to be flat on the floor.

The most important thing is that you find the posture that's most accessible to you and one that is supporting you in both stability and ease in the body.

And so once you find that posture you can allow your eyes to gently close if that's comfortable for you.

And if not you can take a soft steady gaze about six to eight feet out in front of you.

I'm just arriving into the body right now.

So feeling the space that your body takes up.

Maybe the weight of the body,

The force of gravity on the body holding you steady.

If you're seated you feel the sit bones connecting beneath the surface.

Maybe you feel the surface of the ground beneath your soles of your feet.

If you're lying down you feel the full surface spread across your body.

I'm just landing here in the body.

Noticing the temperature of air on the skin and the texture of your clothes.

Just what it's like to be right now here in your body.

Are there any aches or pains?

Maybe if so you can just take a couple breaths to those areas and on the exhale soften any areas of obvious tightness or tension.

Inhale through the nose.

Exhale opening the mouth and softening the body.

And now just noticing where the mind is.

Noticing if the mind is agitated or tired.

Are you thinking about future plans or is it quite quiet now in your mind?

And whatever it is that arises,

Whatever is here that you're meeting yourself at,

Just allowing that to be where you are.

Allowing that to be okay.

So not trying to push that away from the practice but just welcoming it into the practice.

So as you feel into your current moment in the body,

Start to notice your breath.

Bring your attention to your breath.

Feel the sensation of the air as it enters through the nostrils,

As it fills your lungs,

And as it leaves your body again.

You don't need to change your breath here.

Simply observing it just as it is.

Noticing the inhales.

Noticing the exhales.

And as you notice your breath,

If it feels comfortable and it feels right,

Allow yourself to encourage a deepening of your breath.

So just begin to deepen the breath with slower and longer inhales and slower and longer exhales.

Breathing in to a filling belly.

Breathing out from a softening belly.

And wherever in your breath right now,

Just allowing all of the breath to come out,

Fall out of the belly.

Breathing all of your air out of the body.

And on this next inhale,

Allow yourself to inhale for a count of four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Hold for a count of four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Exhale for a count of four,

Three,

Two.

Hold empty for three,

Two.

Inhale for a count of four.

Hold for a count of four.

Exhale for a count of four.

Hold an empty for a count of four.

In for four.

Hold for four.

Exhale for four.

Hold for four.

In.

Hold.

Exhale.

Hold.

Inhale.

Hold.

Exhale.

Hold.

Continuing to repeat this pattern at your own pace.

Inhaling for a count of four.

Holding for a count of four.

Exhaling for a count of four.

And holding for a count of four.

And as you continue to breathe,

Again,

Welcome awareness into the body.

Notice how your body feels with each breath.

Feel into your chest and belly as they rise and fall.

Inhale,

The belly rises.

And on your exhales,

The belly falls.

Feel the gentle movement in your ribcage.

And if there's any tension or discomfort that's arising in the body,

Just imagine it being released with each exhale.

If you have any issues connecting with your breath,

They can help by placing one hand on the belly,

Or two hands on the belly,

Or one hand on the belly,

One hand on the chest.

Just allowing yourself to feel the sensation of the body,

The belly,

The chest,

Rising on the inhale and falling on the exhale.

And at some point,

It's likely that your mind might begin to wander.

If your mind starts to wander,

Or if emotions arise,

Know that that's completely normal.

And rather than being caught up in them,

Or trying to push them away,

Or trying to villainize them,

Instead,

Acknowledge them.

Allow yourself to acknowledge them and gently bring your focus back to your breath.

You might acknowledge them with a simple,

Silent noting.

Silently saying,

Thinking,

Or thought.

And then gently bringing your focus back to your breath.

Again,

Moving into the pace of inhaling for four,

Holding for four,

Exhaling for four,

Holding for four.

If you feel like you need a little bit more focus to guide your attention on your breath,

You can silently say to yourself,

In on the inhales,

Hold on the holds,

Exhale on the exhales.

If you are using the noting,

Imagine you are giving the noting 25% of your focus.

So it's a very soft and subtle noting,

But the main point of your attention resting on the experience of breathing.

And try to immerse yourself completely in the experience of breathing.

Let each breath anchor you in the present moment.

Feel the aliveness and the stillness within you.

Feel this deep presence fill you with every breath.

And again,

If your attention wavers and your mind wanders,

Just allow yourself to know this and acknowledge the thoughts or emotions that arise.

Label them as thinking and gently bring your focus back to your breath.

Inhaling for four,

Holding for four,

Exhaling for four,

Holding for four.

With every breath and every hold,

Allow yourself to become immersed in the sensations of breathing.

Wherever you are in the breathing practice,

If you'd like and you want to continue to breathe,

Please continue to do so.

But when you feel ready,

Or if you feel ready now,

You can allow yourself to release the pattern of breathing and return back to your normal breath.

And just remembering that there's nothing you have to do to make a normal breath happen.

You can allow yourself to breathe freely.

Notice how it feels now compared to when you started.

It was bringing awareness to the body,

The sensations of your body,

The state of your mind,

The state of your energy within the body.

Why do you know this?

And remembering to be kind and curious to whatever arises.

Not really worrying about if it's right or wrong,

But just noticing what is here.

And when you are ready,

You can bring awareness back to the space around your body.

Noticing that space.

And if your eyes are closed,

You can slowly blink open your eyes,

Taking in your surroundings.

Bringing slight movement to your fingers and toes.

Taking any mindful stretches if needed.

And bringing yourself back into the space you are currently in.

And maybe if you have time,

Just taking a moment to reflect on your experience.

How do you feel now?

What did you notice?

And is there anything you want to carry forward with you into the rest of your day?

I thank you so much for allowing me to guide you on this practice.

I know there are thousands of meditation teachers,

So it really does mean something to me that you are allowing me to guide you.

And I hope this meditation brings you any nourishment or support that you might need.

Knowing that it's always available for you,

Whether it's my recorded voice or if you're just out in the world,

You can always use this practice as a nice and simple way to reset the body and reset the mind.

Thank you very much again and have a great rest of your day.

Reviews

This is the first guided meditation I chose to do on this app and I really like it! Soft voice and soft music, not intrusive but slow and contemplative.

Such a wonderful practice I feel so very relaxed after doing this thankyou so much 💕☀️🙏🏻

A great practice, I wish I could relax more so I could get more benefits. My body does involuntarie movements. My legs jump or my arms jump, sometimes my hands start shaking by themselves. I hardly can keep my focus on the breath. Thank you very much for this recording. I enjoyed it. I’ll try it again and hope my body will eventually learn to stay calm. Thank you again.

I found this meditation really calming and relaxing. I love a good Box Breathing practice and this is one of the best guided ones I have done on Insight. Nicely paced and with very clear guidance. Definitely one I’ll save and come back to.