Welcome to your stress relief meditation.
I'm Dani and I'll be guiding you through an exploration of your breath today.
We'll be playing with slowing down our breath in order to activate the parasympathetic system and stimulate the vagus nerve which is scientifically proven to help reduce anxiety.
I'm going to be layering on breath instructions throughout the meditation and I invite you to let go of the analytical brain,
Surrendering fully to the technique so that you get the most out of your meditation.
Let's begin by sitting comfortably with your legs and arms relaxed and your spine upright,
Establishing a sense of presence.
You may want to gently shift around from side to side on your seat,
Eventually coming to a place where you feel settled and supported.
Gently closing down your eyes,
Turn your attention to your breath until you find a nice,
Natural,
Easy rhythm.
Now,
Begin inhaling for two counts.
Exhale for four counts.
Inhale one,
Two.
Exhale four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Let's keep going,
Allowing your exhalation to be twice as long as your inhalation.
Inhaling for two counts,
Exhaling for four.
Now continue this cadence on your own for several more rounds.
Sitting comfortably,
Compressing with your spine upright.
Next,
Let's extend the inhalation to three counts and the exhalation to six counts.
Inhale one,
Two,
Three.
Exhale six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Just trying to remain soft,
Making sure you're not straining in any way.
Just continuing to maintain a two to one breath ratio.
Inhaling for three counts,
Exhaling for six.
Just continuing on your own for about one more minute.
Exhale six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Just continuing on your own for about one more minute.
Next,
Let's try accessing our full breathing capacity by extending the inhalation to four counts and the exhalation to eight counts.
Inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Exhale eight,
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale four counts,
Taking one final sip of air at the top.
Exhale for eight counts,
Emptying the lungs fully when you reach the bottom.
Just notice if you're straining and mindfully soften your brow,
Your jaw,
Your shoulders,
Your belly.
Just continue breathing on your own.
Inhaling for four,
Exhaling for eight.
Remember that you can always return to the previous breathing ratio,
Six to three or four to two.
What's important is that your exhalation remains twice as long as your inhalation.
If you feel comfortable here,
You might try introducing a gentle breath retention at the top of your inhalation before you exhale.
See if you can try that now,
Taking a few more conscious breaths.
Coming back to your natural breath now,
Releasing any active shaping,
Letting go of any retention or counting from the previous instructions,
Simply allowing the breath to be soft and easy.
As you let go of the instructions and come back to your own natural breathing cadence,
Take a moment to notice how you feel.
See if you can maintain this quality of presence and calmness as you move into the rest of your day.
Staying here,
Of course,
As long as you need.
When you're ready,
Opening your eyes.
