Today we're going to spend a few moments practicing box breathing,
Which is a breathing technique that can help bring a sense of relaxation into the body and the mind and help reduce stress and it can be effective with just a few minutes of doing it as well.
So to begin,
Find a comfortable seated position,
Resting your feet flat on the ground,
Letting your spine be nice and long.
You might even take a moment to roll your shoulders up towards your ears and down along your back.
Just allowing there to be a sense of openness in the heart space,
In the chest.
And then let your hands rest easefully and effortlessly in your lap,
Or maybe you rest your hands on your thighs.
Let your shoulders be soft.
And you can either close your eyes or just let your gaze soften on a point out in front of you.
Just take a moment to tune into the body and into the breath,
Just noticing how things are feeling internally.
What's the weather like inside?
Maybe things feel fairly calm or maybe they're feeling a little chaotic.
Not needing to change any of it,
But just letting it be,
Just noticing it.
In the practice of box breathing,
We control the breath by inhaling to a count of four,
Holding the breath for a count of four,
And then exhaling for a count of four,
And holding the breath at the end of the exhale for a count of four.
So you can imagine with each inhale,
Hold,
Exhale,
And hold,
You're creating a box.
And I'll guide you through this at the beginning,
And then I'll allow you to count the breath with your own rhythm.
We each have a different rhythm to our breath,
So it can be helpful to count for yourself.
And if it feels clunky or unnatural,
That's okay.
I just encourage you to stay with it and see what happens.
So we'll begin by taking a deep breath together,
And then from there,
I will begin to count.
So go ahead and let all the air out that you're currently holding in the body,
And then take a deep inhale through the nose to fill the belly and the chest,
And then a slow exhale through the nose to relax through the body,
And then when you get to the end of the exhale,
And then inhale for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Pause,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Pause,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Pause,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Pause,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Pause,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Pause,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Pause,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Pause,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Pause,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Pause,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Inhale,
Pause,
Exhale,
Pause,
Inhale,
Pause,
Exhale,
Pause,
And now continue with your own counting,
Inhaling to four,
Pausing for four,
Exhaling for four,
And pausing for four.
Staying with the breath.
Just do a couple more rounds,
And then you can just let your breath return to its natural rhythm,
Releasing any control of the breath,
And just tuning into the sensations of the breath,
Maybe in the feeling of air passing in and out of your nose,
Or in the rise and fall of your belly or your chest.
Just take some time to notice how your body feels after that exercise.
How does your mind feel?
Maybe you notice a greater sense of spaciousness,
A relaxation in the body.
Sometimes controlling the breath in that way can actually make us feel a little bit more uptight,
And if that's your experience,
Just know that that's okay.
It doesn't mean that breathing practices will always bring us that sensation.
Now you can bring some movement into the body,
Maybe rolling your wrists or bringing your shoulders again to your ears and down your spine,
And then rolling them forward towards your ears and rounding through the spine.
Maybe stretching your arms overhead,
And I hope you have a great rest of your day.
