Mindfulness And Breathwork Session - No Background Music

In this session, I guide you through three powerful and calming breathing techniques:

Box Breathing – A simple yet effective practice used by athletes and even Navy SEALs. You'll learn how to breathe in, hold, breathe out, and hold again – each for four counts – to calm the nervous system and sharpen focus.

Pursed Lips Breathing – A gentle technique that slows your exhale and improves oxygen exchange. It’s especially helpful for reducing anxiety and easing breathlessness, making it ideal for daily stress or before sleep.

4-6 Breathing with Humming or Ocean Breath – This variation of coherent breathing extends the out-breath to activate the parasympathetic nervous system. Adding a soft humming sound (or ocean-like Ujjayi breath) helps further soothe the mind and stimulate the vagus nerve for deeper relaxation.

You’ll leave the session feeling more grounded, centred, and connected to your breath.

Transcript

Hello,

Good morning and welcome to our mindfulness and breath session Let's take a few moments to prepare our bodies to breathe,

Making sure your body is comfortably open and upright Although you're also welcome to do this lying down to help open up the chest just rolling the shoulders down in front of you up above you and back in that circular motion and then the other way a little slower stretching the neck muscles by gently leaning your head left and right and then up into your jaw base this is a good chance to massage around your nose to see if your nose is blocked maybe massaging those sinuses either side of your nose they help to release some blockages and if your nose is blocked and just gently breathing in and out and then holding your breath seeming in your in relatively good health just hold your breath for as long as you comfortably can and then gently breathe in through your nose doing that a couple of times will help to open up your nose moving your attention down your body down to your chest abdomen and back and just stretching your back by leaning to your left slowly feeling the stretch and then leaning to your right perhaps giving your arms and hands a little shake now feeling that connection between you and the earth and let's begin our practice with box breathing this is usually done using the nose breathing in for hold for four breathing out for four and then holding for four again now although i say a count of four i'm not saying or seconds so just count a speed that feels comfortable for you maybe like this in two three four hold two three four out two three four hold two three four maybe at that speed it may be slower it may be faster it may change over time as you go around the box not forcing it too much remember your lungs are sensitive so bring a gentleness a softness a flexibility to your practice see if you can combine it with a one percent smile when you do this you also want to encourage diaphragmatic breathing if you want you can put one hand on your chest one hand on your lower abdomen and when you breathe in you want that lower hand to rise when you breathe out you want it to fall back you may notice your breathing slowing down as you're getting into it and now taking a little break from that notice how your body is feeling notice the sensations in the body if you've been unnecessarily tensing up for whatever reason just see if it's possible to release that tension next exercise is hearst lips breathing it's good for exercising the diaphragm it's also good whenever you feel breathless you can just sit down and do this so inhaling gently through your nose and exhaling as if you're blowing through a straw or blowing on a hot drink or as if you're gently blowing on a candle that's called hearst lips again if you want to check that you're doing diaphragmatic breathing you can place your hands on your chest and abdomen area just below your ribcage you're breathing out through the first lips take your time let your breath naturally come out possible just the effect it's having on your mind and your feelings on your whole body wonderful and now taking a break from that after your next breath cycle and now let's practice four six breathing so you're breathing out slightly longer than you're breathing in and again it's a count of four and a count of six and the benefit of the count is that you go at a speed that's good for you so breathing in through your nose and breathing out you can either hum some people enjoy doing that we could do the ocean breath the ujjayi breath you make that gentle sound of the ocean by constricting your throat very slightly if you're doing the ujjayi breath you can see if you can do it on the in breath and the out breath so it could be a ratio a bit like this in two three four out two three four five six and they could be a natural pause between the in and out breath the rate of breathing creates a harmony between your heart and your lungs and your brain and if you really listen to your body and you go at a breathing rate that feels really pleasant that's a really good sign that you're going at the right rate for your physical body and the right rate for today give yourself absolute full permission to enjoy simply breathing as if it's a treat for you so let's remember that there are millions of people meditating right now with us and let's imagine we're joining that community and we're all breathing mindfully together in our quiet time so as we gently come towards the end of today's meditation it's gradually going back to your natural breathing rates and just notice how your being is doing as your body and mind and taking a moment to reflect on the last 24 hours and reflecting on three moments of connection three good things a few things you're grateful for could be seeing a flower or a tree a connection with another person or simply having a roof over your head thank you for joining us for your meditation today