Calming Breath Practice

This is a simple guided practice to bring a sense of calm when you feel overwhelmed or stressed.

Whether you are sitting or standing,

I want to invite you to feel your feet firmly planted on the floor.

Maybe even wiggle your toes in your shoes to feel gravity holding you.

And just to bring some awareness to the rest of your body,

Noticing the space that you occupy.

And to bring some awareness to your breath,

Listening to the sound of your inhale and your exhale.

And as you bring some awareness to your breath,

I want to invite you to take a slow inhale through your nose and a slow exhale through your mouth.

Slow inhale through your nose and a slow exhale through your mouth.

And breathe for a few cycles in this way.

One more cycle of breath.

Now I want to invite you,

As you exhale,

To purse your lips like you're gonna blow out a birthday candle.

But instead of blowing out hard enough to blow out a birthday candle,

I want to invite you to let your exhale be so slow that even if there was a flame right in front of your lips,

You wouldn't blow it out.

So a slow inhale through your nose and a very slow exhale through pursed lips.

And breathe for a few cycles in this way.

Slow inhale through your nose and slow exhale through pursed lips.

As we close out the meditation,

I want to again invite you to bring some awareness to your body,

To your feet on the floor,

To your spine,

To your shoulders,

To the top of your head.

And as you bring some awareness to the front of your face,

Enter back into the space that you occupy and go about your day.

And so it is.