Hello!
Welcome to your meditation.
If you could please find a comfortable seat,
Make sure that your hips are higher than your knees and your spine is nice and tall.
If you need pillows underneath you or maybe pillows or cushions or blankets underneath your knees,
You're welcome to do that as well.
You might also feel really nice for you to have your back leaning up against something.
You can also do this laying down if that's more comfortable for you.
Just make sure that your spine is still in one straight line,
There's nothing underneath you and that you're not going to fall asleep.
So what we're going to be doing here is just a really short breathing exercise that is simple to learn so hopefully you can do it on your own after we do it together.
So sitting nice and tall,
Just take a few moments to come into your body and slow down any thoughts.
Let your pelvis sink heavily towards the earth and allow the crown of your head to reach up towards the sky.
So there's length in your spine and then you can soften around your shoulders.
Soften your belly and soften all little muscles in your face.
Bring your awareness to your breath and without forcing anything just allow a little bit of a longer inhale and a little bit of a longer exhale so that your breath starts to smooth out.
And the pranayama or the breathing exercise that we're going to do today is equal parts breath so we're inhaling and exhaling for the same amount of time.
We're also going to do a breath retention at the top of an inhale and at the bottom of our exhale for the same amount of time as well.
It can be really helpful to visualize just a box in your mind's eye and you can visualize the inhale that we do for the count of four going up one side of the box and we'll hold the breath for the count of four and that's going along the top side of the box.
Then exhale for four and that will go along down the opposite side of the box and then hold the breath for four and that will complete the square.
So I'll guide you through it.
We're going to do four counts for each part of that breath.
So let's start off just taking a really big breath in together through the nose and exhale clear that out with a sigh.
Inhale through the nose for the count of four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Hold your breath for four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhale four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Pause four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Hold four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhale four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Hold four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Hold four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhale four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Pause four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Hold four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhale four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Pause four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Now keep going on your own,
Counting for yourself.
If you would like to change the count to maybe five or six or seven,
You're welcome to do that.
Just keep it even and equal.
Okay.
Now that you've got a bit of a rhythm,
Can you maybe add on an extra second to your breath?
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
If you could please just go for one more round.
Once you finish your last round,
Just release the count,
Release the visualization,
And just let the breath be really smooth and long and steady.
Notice the breath filling up your entire body,
Especially your belly and your chest.
And notice how when you exhale,
More of your body starts to soften and your shoulders get even heavier,
Your belly even softer,
And your jaw relaxes a little bit more with every round of breath.
Continue to just lean into this space of softening.
Lean into the space of being more at ease,
More calm and more quiet.
You're welcome to stay here for however long you like.
But when it feels right for you,
You can take one more final round of aware and conscious breath.
And then when you're ready,
You can slowly open up your eyes.
Thank you so much.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
