Hi,
I'm Susanna Kenton.
Whatever circumstances have brought you to this breathing practice,
Welcome.
I honor the courage it takes sometimes to simply show up and press play.
I'm going to guide you in a couple of my favorite breath practices to help downregulate the response of your nervous system so that you can release stress and anxiety and quickly begin to experience more peace and more freedom.
So just begin by making yourself comfortable in a seated position.
And for a moment,
Just tense and squeeze your shoulders,
Lifting them up towards your ears,
Breathing in,
Hold,
And now let go,
Letting your shoulders drop back down.
You're going to practice some easy box breathing on counts of four.
It's a technique used by Navy SEALs to help them feel calm and centered in high stress situations and it really works.
You're going to breathe in and out through your nose,
Assuming you can.
Nose breathing is great because it promotes relaxation and resilience in and of itself.
The breath pattern goes four counts in,
Four counts to hold,
Four counts out,
And four counts to hold.
And doing this will naturally begin to calm your nervous system and take the edge off any anxiety moving through.
So begin by exhaling fully through your mouth.
And now breathing in through your nose,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
In,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
In,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
In,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And now just letting the counts go and allowing your breath to come and go naturally for a few cycles.
Byron Katie teaches that all human suffering,
And that includes anxiety,
Is caused by believing our stressful thoughts.
In other words,
It's not reality itself that causes us to panic or be stressed,
It's the story we tell about it.
And when we're in the grip of a stress response or a panic attack,
We are inevitably projecting and believing a stressful story about a future that hasn't even happened yet.
We may also be reliving a story from the past that causes us suffering.
Either way,
The stressful stories we tell and believe cause a physiological response that undermines our well-being.
The antidote and the path to living more peacefully and joyfully is to bring our awareness into the now,
Dropping beneath the surface activity of the mind and anchoring ourselves in present moment awareness.
Focusing on the breath is how we do that.
And when we do,
Our physiology changes,
And that's the point of these breath exercises.
We're going to use a different breath pattern now that is also wonderful for down-regulating stress.
It's the 4-7-8 breath.
Four counts in,
Seven to hold,
Eight to breathe out.
As you lengthen the duration of your breath and especially lengthen your out-breath,
You naturally signal your body to come into a more peaceful,
Restful state.
This breathing pattern actually lowers blood pressure and heart rate and helps switch the body out of the fight-or-flight stress response into the rest and digest one.
So let's begin again by exhaling fully.
And now breathing in through your nose,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven.
Out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight.
In,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven.
Out two three four five six seven eight in two three four hold two three four five six seven out two three four five six seven eight in two three four hold two three four five six seven out two three four five six seven eight good and now just letting the counts go and allowing your breathing to come back to whatever rhythm is most comfortable.
As you breathe you might want to put one hand on your belly so you can feel it extend outwards on the in-breath and soften back in as you breathe out.
Now check in with your body and notice any difference you experience from when you started this meditation.
Do you feel calmer,
More relaxed,
More at peace?
Remember that no matter what thoughts arise in your mind that cause you stress or suffering you have the power to question them and to live into a different story.
Instead of focusing on what you imagine to be wrong with you or your life or what could go wrong shift your focus to notice what is right and what could go well.
In this moment what are you grateful for?
How is life supporting you?
What amazing outcome for yourself can you envision?
Practice these breathing techniques regularly even for four cycles at a time and you'll begin to discover and trust the safe haven within your own body that you can always come home to for greater peace.
You
