This meditation is designed to help your system de-stress immediately.
So if you're feeling particularly stressed or agitated,
This is a good meditation to use as a first line of defense,
Especially before taking action,
Making decisions or responding to someone.
So find a comfortable place where you won't be interrupted for a few minutes and take a moment to close your eyes and take a deep breath in and a big sigh out,
Really tangibly feeling what lets go on the breath out.
Then on the next breaths out,
Let the jaw drop,
Let the face be soft,
Let the shoulders drop,
Let your elbows be beside the body,
Not in front,
So that the weight of the arms naturally pulls the shoulders down and opens the chest.
And let the belly be soft,
Let go of any holding or tightness in the belly or chest.
No need to brace yourself or hold together,
Just let all that go.
Now tune in to where you feel the breath,
The breathing process,
Most tangibly,
Maybe at the nose,
Maybe in the chest,
Maybe in the belly.
And feel that movement of the air coming in and going out,
Maybe it's a rise and fall of the chest,
Maybe an expansion contraction in the middle of the torso,
Or the cool air coming in and the warm air going out at the nostrils.
And just feel the movement of the breath as you breathe naturally.
Now let the out-breath,
The exhalation,
Be slightly longer than the inhalation,
But without pushing or forcing,
Just let it naturally and easily extend longer.
A way to help this is to count,
For example,
In two three,
Out two three four five,
In two three four,
Out two three four five six.
It doesn't matter whether you go to three or to seven,
Just that the exhalation is longer than the inhalation.
We want to extend the breath out without efforting or squeezing to make it so.
Just allow the breath out to be a long,
Slow,
Cool exhalation.
In two three,
Out two three four five,
Or whatever your count is.
So at your own pace with whatever your count is,
Just do that for the next minute or so.
In two three,
Out two three four five,
Whatever it is for you,
Just keep allowing that breath out to just extend a little extra.
Just let it be a little bit longer.
Keep allowing the breath out to be longer with ease,
No effort,
No squeezing,
No controlling.
Just allow the breath out to be naturally longer than the breath in.
And you don't have to do the counting,
That's only if it makes it easier.
Good.
This simple mindfulness exercise of extending the breath out is one of the quickest ways to help the system settle.
It helps stop cortisol,
The stress hormone,
From flooding the system.
And it should quite quickly help your whole system settle in a good way,
To help you be more relaxed and present.
And for just a few more breaths,
Allow the breath out to just extend longer than the breath in.
Now feel your feet,
Your hands,
The tangible touch of your skin contacting the chair,
Whatever you're sitting on,
The pressure,
The clothes,
These tangible sensations that bring you to the present moment.
And allow any settling and relaxation in your system to just continue naturally,
So that as you make the transition from this eyes closed practice to whatever comes next,
The momentum of settledness and presence that you've gotten in touch with during this meditation will naturally continue through whatever you do after this meditation.
