Welcome to the sweet and simple practice of square breath,
Incorporating breaths and meditation.
Find a comfortable seat,
Either sitting on the floor or sitting in a chair.
Allow your body to be relaxed yet alert.
And find a rhythm to your breath,
Not forcing anything,
Just allowing the natural rhythm to arrive.
Breathing through your nostrils,
Just softly closing your lips.
Within this practice,
You might wish to draw the square with your index finger.
You may wish to visualize it.
Follow whichever path feels right for you,
Feels comfortable.
And I'll guide you through this practice by counting at a certain pace and to a certain number.
If that length of breath is too great or not enough,
Just simply increase that number to your number.
I'll be counting to the number 4.
You can evolve the practice as we move through it and over time.
Let's begin.
Exhaling wherever you are in your breath cycle and begin drawing the upward stroke as you breathe in 1,
2,
3,
4.
Right hand stroke horizontal 4,
3,
2,
1.
Inhaling downward stroke 1,
2,
3,
4 and exhaling left hand horizontal stroke 4,
3,
2,
1.
Inhaling upward stroke 1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhaling horizontal 4,
3,
2,
1.
Inhaling downward stroke 1,
2,
3,
4.
Exhaling left horizontal 4,
3,
2,
1.
Inhaling upward 1,
2,
3,
4.
Pause here 1,
2,
Exhale 4,
3,
2,
1.
Pause here 2,
Inhale 1,
2,
3,
4.
Pause here 1,
2,
Exhale 4,
3,
2,
1.
Pause here 1,
2.
Continue counting,
Continue visualising.
When we pause on the inhale floating on the fullness of the breath,
Not tensing the body,
Just closing the throat a little,
Resting in that prana.
When we pause at the bottom of the exhale,
Resting in the nothingness,
Sense the difference in the energy of the pauses at the top of the inhale and the bottom of the exhale.
Feel that in your body.
Notice your level of comfort with the count.
Perhaps it's time to increase the count or reduce the count.
And you may wish to become creative,
Moving from a square to a rectangle,
Lengthening either the inhale or the exhale.
Make those changes in small increments and if you lose your way just begin again.
Follow the lines and feel the breath.
Slow down the pace and be in the practice.
It's not something to finish,
It's something to be present with.
Take three more rounds of the full practice,
Your whole square or your rectangle and your corners.
Then release the pauses.
Let's come back to the four sides.
If you have increased your count,
Bring it back to four.
Now allow the image of the square to dissolve.
Simply counting,
Inhale four,
Exhale four.
Now releasing the count,
Coming back to your normal breath,
Your natural breath.
And in your own time,
Begin to move your body,
Blinking open your eyes and move about your day or your evening.
Thank you for joining me.
Namaste.
