Hi,
I'm Viona.
Welcome to the Calming Breathing Meditation Series,
A beginner-friendly journey into the power of breath.
The theory is short and simple,
Just one practice at a time,
Designed to help you slow down,
Reset,
And connect with yourself.
Whether you are completely new to meditation,
Or just want to build a habit of mindful breathing,
This is your space to begin.
Belly breathing is one of the simplest and most powerful ways to calm your nervous system.
It is perfect when you feel anxious,
Stressed,
Or disconnected from your body.
Let's begin.
Find a comfortable position,
Seated or lying down.
Close your eyes if it feels safe,
Or you can also gently lower your gaze.
Start by settling in to your body.
Take a deep breath in through your nose.
Exhale slowly out through your nose.
Do that one more time.
Inhale through your nose.
Exhale through your nose.
Let your shoulders drop a little more.
Your jaw softened.
Your hands rest gently on top of your knee or by the side.
You may place one hand on your chest and the other on your belly.
Now just take a moment to breathe naturally.
Notice where your breath moves within your body.
It may be on your throat.
Maybe your upper chest feels the move.
Maybe you feel it lower in the central of your chest.
There's no need to judge.
Just notice for now.
Now the breath happens naturally but also trying to slow down.
And slowly as we slow down,
See whether you can move your breath a little bit deeper.
Maybe it's in your diaphragm area.
Maybe it's between your chest and your belly area.
Your rib cage area.
See whether you can expand the rib cage as you inhale.
Then as you exhale,
Rib cage contract.
Continue here.
Inhale,
Rib cage expand.
Exhale,
Rib cage contract.
Continue at your own pace.
Whenever you breathe,
Just breathe like your whole body,
Your whole being is breathing.
You may adjust your spine to make it straight.
If you're lying down,
Just sense your whole spine touching the ground.
If you are seated with every inhale,
Imagining that something is pulling up from the top of your head,
Straighten your spine and expand your rib cage at the same time.
Now slowly get your breath a little bit deeper.
Move both hands on your belly.
One on the right side and the other one on the left.
As we inhale,
Really trying to direct the air deep,
Deep in.
Feel your belly expand.
When we exhale,
Belly folds or contract.
Inhale,
Belly expand.
Exhale,
Belly folds or contract.
Couple more breaths here.
If your mind starts to wander,
That's completely normal.
Just notice there's no need to judge anything and come back to your breath.
Feel the rise of the belly and contraction as you inhale and exhale.
The breath is always your anchor.
Now as we really dive deep into the belly breathing,
We're adding the counting to our breath so that every inhale and exhale have the equal counts,
The same duration.
So wherever you are,
Exhale first.
We'll inhale to the belly for two,
Three,
Four.
Four.
Exhale from the belly.
Two,
Three,
Four.
Good.
Continue.
Inhale from the belly.
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale out from the belly.
Two,
Three,
Four.
Keep going at your own pace.
Just make sure the inhale and exhale have the same pace.
You'll practice one minute here.
If you find your thoughts drifting,
There's no need to worry.
Just bring back to your breath.
Slowly let go of any control over the breath and return to the natural rhythm.
Just take a moment to notice how you feel right now.
You may notice you're feeling more grounded,
Connected,
Settled or connected with yourself.
Repeat silently after me.
I am home in my body.
I am home in my body.
I am home in my body.
Feel the sense of connection.
With your next inhale,
Let this sense of connection spread to every corner of your body.
To your toes,
The right toe,
The left toe,
The knees,
Hips,
Fingertips.
You may wiggle them.
Feel free to wiggle your body freely for a moment.
With this moment of connection with your inner self,
Take a moment to send in gratitude to yourself.
Thank you for being here.
Thank you for showing up.
And thank you for practicing with me.
