Hello,
My name is Victoria Spellman.
Today we will be practicing square breathing,
Also known as boxed breathing,
Four-part breathing,
And four-by-four breathing.
This breathing technique is easy to learn and can be highly effective.
It is often thought of as resetting the breath as it aims to bring the breath back to its natural rhythm.
Square breathing is one of the many types of pranayama used in yoga.
If you are unfamiliar with this term pranayama,
It is a term used to refer to our yogic breathing.
Prana meaning the life force energy and ayama meaning to lengthen or extend.
Our goal during our pranayama practice is to take control of our breath,
To bring focus to our breath,
And use it as a means to calm down our body and our mind.
As I mentioned before,
Square breathing is pretty easy to learn,
However not always as easy to accomplish.
If you find yourself getting frustrated during this practice,
I encourage you to let that go.
If you need to take a breath sooner than the counts allow,
Or need to exhale,
Please feel free.
This is a practice and I invite you to allow yourself the room to grow in this practice.
I encourage you to smile,
To laugh,
And to just be.
Be where you are right now in this moment.
Now before we get started,
I will just break down the basic principle behind square breathing.
Square breathing consists of an inhale,
A held breath at the top,
An exhale,
And finally a rest at the bottom.
All made up of equal counts.
For example,
We will inhale for 4 counts,
Hold our breath at the top for 4 counts,
Exhale for 4 counts,
And rest at the bottom for 4 counts.
If you find this to be a bit challenging,
Feel free to go down to 3 counts,
Maybe even 2 counts.
In time you may want more of a challenge and in that circumstance,
I would invite you to even move on to 5 or 6 counts.
Just notice where your body is at today.
Wherever you are at is wonderful.
Listen to your body and what it needs.
Let's get started.
Begin by finding a comfortable seat either inside or outside.
Somewhere where you have space,
Where it is quiet,
Where you can concentrate.
Then bring your hands to your knees,
Either palm face up if you would like to receive the energy around you or palm face down if you would like to feel a little bit more grounded today.
Begin to close your eyes,
Relaxing your shoulders away from your ears,
Sitting up nice and tall but not holding on.
And just begin to observe your breath.
Notice your breath coming in and out of your body.
Just observing without any judgement,
Without any manipulation,
Just seeing where you are at today.
Notice the pace of your breath,
The texture of your breath,
Noticing the temperature of your breath.
Imagine your breath falling in and out of your body as if you were watching the waves coming in and out of the ocean.
Then begin to intentionally draw in air through your nose,
Filling up your whole body.
Then exhale,
Let it go.
Two more,
Just like that.
Big inhale through your nose.
Exhale,
Maybe even open mouth,
Sigh it out.
Last time,
Inhale through your nose,
Take a deep breath in.
Exhale,
Sigh it out,
Let it go.
This time drawing in air through your nose for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Holding at the top for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Resting at the bottom for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Inhale for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Holding at the top for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Rest at the bottom for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Again inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Holding at the top for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Holding at the bottom for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Continuing this cycle on your own,
Repeating those counts of breath,
Maybe even dropping down to three counts,
Maybe going up to five or six counts.
Let's guess you,
Call it.
I can't do it anymore.
Continuing to observe your breath without judgment,
Without expectations.
On your next cycle of breath,
Just finishing up,
Returning to a nice easy comfortable breath.
Inhaling and exhaling.
Just taking a moment to notice how your breath might be different.
How it has changed in the last 10 or so minutes.
And taking a minute to observe your body,
Your mind,
Your soul.
Noticing how that might have changed as well.
Taking a deep breath in through the nose together.
Big breath in.
Open mouth side out.
Let it all go.
Two more just like that.
Big breath in.
Exhale,
Side out.
Let it go.
Inhale,
Biggest breath of the day.
Big breath in.
Exhale,
H-A-ha.
Let it go.
Then bringing your hands to your heart.
Bowing your forehead towards your fingertips.
Thanking yourself for coming to your mat today.
The light in me is so honored and humbled with the light in each and every one of you.
Namaste.
