Hello and welcome.
My name is Sean and today we'll be practicing a deep breathing exercise.
This deep breathing practice,
Also known as diaphragmatic breathing,
Is a great exercise and tool to be used when needing to maybe lower our stress levels or ease tension in the body or anxiety.
It also is a great tool to use before maybe stepping into a meeting or giving a presentation,
Finding some space to center and balance yourself.
It can also be a great tool for transitioning from one task or space to the next,
Such as from work to home.
So for this practice,
We'll be breathing in through our noses and we'll be breathing out through our mouths.
We'll be inhaling for a count of four,
We'll hold for a count of six,
And we'll exhale for a count of eight.
When we exhale,
We'll be exhaling out our mouths through pursed lips,
As if you were about to whistle or sip something through a straw.
You'll be breathing into a relaxed belly,
So the inhales should bring an exaggerated rise to the belly,
And on the exhales,
The belly should naturally fall.
It can help to place your hand on your belly to connect with that feeling.
If the hand is rising on the inhales and it is falling on the exhales,
Then you have the practice.
So let's go ahead and get started.
Bring yourself into any comfortable position that suits you now.
This could be seated or lying down,
It could even be standing up.
And if you'd like to close down your eyes,
Feel free to do so,
Or maybe take a soft steady gaze in front of you.
And let's just first begin to arrive into our bodies,
So letting go of anything that happened before this moment,
And anything that is on the to-do list for after this moment.
So just for this time,
Tuning out our outside world and tuning inward.
And as we drop into our body,
Take this moment to scan the body,
Feeling into any areas of tightness or tension.
Scanning from the crown of our head to our face,
Softening through our cheeks,
Our brow and forehead,
Our jaw.
Allow that awareness to go down the neck and soften into the neck,
Bring some softness to the shoulders,
The chest,
The arms and hands,
The belly,
The back,
The hips and legs,
The pelvic floor,
All the way down to the feet and the toes.
And in this space,
Let's see how we can get into our body.
So let's just take a deep inhale through the nose,
Filling the body,
And exhale audibly,
Sighing it out the mouth.
And again,
Deep inhale through the nose,
Filling the body,
And again,
Deep inhale through the nose,
Exhale,
Sighed out the mouth.
Just like that,
Deep inhale through the nose,
Biggest breath you've taken today,
Filling the body,
Long exhale,
Sighed out the mouth.
And on this next inhale,
We'll begin inhaling for two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
Now continue to breathe like that,
Inhaling for a count of four,
Holding for a count of six,
Exhaling for a count of eight,
Breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth and seeing if you can keep your attention on your breath as you breathe at your own pace.
Now from time to time,
You might realize that your mind has drifted from your breathing and has wound up in some thoughts,
Or maybe it's been pulled away by something in the environment or an experience in your body.
Whatever it may be,
Just allow yourself to simply notice this.
Notice that the intention has drifted from the breathing to somewhere else.
There's no need to become angry or upset with yourself or to berate yourself for losing focus.
Your mind is just doing what it does,
It thinks.
So just simply allow yourself to notice this and then bring yourself back to the counting of breath,
Inhaling for a count of four,
Holding for a count of six,
And exhaling for a count of eight.
Now from time to time,
You might realize that your mind has drifted from the breathing and has wound up in some thoughts,
Or maybe it's been pulled away by something in the environment or an experience in your body.
And again,
Just noticing if the mind has drifted from your breath,
And if so,
Simply allowing yourself to notice that the attention has shifted away from your breath and into a thought,
And then bring yourself back to your breathing.
There's no need to trace down how long you've been lost in thought or why.
Simply notice and then return to the breath.
And now wherever you are with the counting,
You can allow it to go.
Allow your breath to return to a natural flow and just simply sit here and feel whatever is present in the body.
Maybe noticing a calmer or clearer mind,
Maybe noticing softness or release of tension and tightness in the body.
Just allowing yourself to notice any changes that have come from this practice.
Maybe there are no changes present,
And that too is okay.
There's no right or wrong to be found in this practice.
And you can stay in this space for as long as you like,
Or when you are ready,
Allow your eyes to gently open and bring yourself back into the rest of your day.
Thank you so much for joining me today,
For allowing me to share this practice.
I hope you have a wonderful day,
And I'll see you next time.
