Today we're going to be doing an exercise called box breath.
It's really quite simple.
All you'll need to do is inhale for a count of four,
Hold for a count of four,
Exhale for a count of four and then hold again for a count of four and repeat the process.
In breathing in this way we're actively down regulating our nervous system,
Moving away from the fight-or-flight mode and into the rest and digest parasympathetic nervous system.
Main bits of advice here would be just to make sure that you're not out of breath in any way.
If the counts aren't working for you,
You can always adjust them to maybe three or five depending on how you find it,
But just make sure that you're comfortable and that you have enough breath throughout the process.
So just beginning by closing your eyes,
Sitting with a straight back if you can,
A relaxed but alert posture and just taking a few nice and big in breaths through the nose and then releasing through the mouth.
Breathing in,
Letting go,
Filling the lungs,
Releasing.
Final one and releasing and then allowing your breath to return to normal,
Closing the mouth and breathing through the nose for the remainder of the session.
Checking in with the state of the mind as you begin the practice today,
Approaching it with a spirit of curiosity if you can.
It's like,
Okay this is how my mind feels right now and that's perfectly fine for the purposes of today.
Then taking a moment to gain a sense of being grounded,
Noticing the points of connection between your feet and the floor,
Your legs and the chair and then just taking a few moments to listen out for any sounds that might be present in the room right now.
It doesn't matter what you can hear,
It could be a complete absence of sound or distracting noises.
All you need to do is allow hearing to unfold exactly as it wants to and then moving away from hearing and starting to connect with your breathing wherever you feel it most clearly in the body right now.
This could be at the chest or at the belly or at the nostrils,
It doesn't really matter.
Just go with the one that feels most natural for you right now and then gently and gradually I invite you to start controlling the breaths,
Working towards inhaling for a count of four,
Holding for a count of four,
Exhaling for a count of four and then holding again for a count of four.
Inhale two three four,
Hold two three four,
Exhale two three four,
Hold two three four and if the mind wanders off as it so often tends to,
Just remembering that this is what the mind does and it's nothing to worry about.
All you need to do is just gently and smilingly revert your attention back to your breathing and continuing with these box breaths.
The idea of box breaths is that each side of the box is one of the counts of four.
For some people it helps them to visualize the box as they breathe,
But this isn't completely necessary.
All you need to do is inhale two three four,
Hold two three four,
Exhale two three four,
Hold two three four and again if the mind has wandered off,
Just remembering that mind-wandering will always be part of meditation practice and it's completely fine.
Just reverting your attention smilingly back to your breathing and seeing if you can tighten up your attention on the breaths for the final few moments of the practice.
And now just letting go of all effort,
You can drop the focus on the box breaths.
I'm just doing absolutely nothing for a moment or two.
If the mind wants to think,
Then let it think.
Starting to become aware of any sounds or smells in the room and finally checking in with your mind as you did at the start of the session.
Is there any change that you can notice,
However subtle?
And when you feel ready,
Opening the eyes and coming back to the room.
Feeling free to stretch or wake up the body in any way that feels good for you right now.
And congratulate yourself for turning up and practicing today.
My hope is maybe that you're feeling a little bit calmer now.
Hopefully you got a taste of how this breathing practice can slightly shift you out of the fight-or- flight mode and can put you into a bit more of a peaceful state.
Have a great day.
