Hello and welcome to this 478 breathing practice session.
During this session we will take some time to focus on our breath and I will lead you through a breathing exercise called 478 breathing.
During that portion of the session we will complete five cycles of the technique where we will inhale for a count of seven and exhale for a count of eight.
To begin I invite you to relax into the most comfortable position available to you right now.
It should be a relaxed yet alert position and as you settle into this relaxed position I invite you to gently close your eyes.
If you prefer to keep your eyes open I invite you to soften and relax your gaze.
I invite you now to begin noticing and relaxing your breath.
You can begin by just noticing the natural rhythm of your breath and then as you tune in to the rise and fall of your chest and your belly I invite you to just begin slowing and relaxing your breathing just gently.
Taking a nice slow inhale and exhale and let's do that again.
A nice deep inhale and a slow exhale.
And let's do that one more time.
A nice deep inhale and exhale.
We will now begin the 478 breathing portion of the meditation.
I will guide you through and count each cycle so you can simply focus on your breath and gently follow the rhythm of inhaling deeply through your nose holding the breath exhaling from your mouth.
Let's begin.
Breathe in two three four hold two three four five six seven and exhale two three four five six seven eight.
Inhale two three four and hold two three four five six seven and exhale two three four five six seven eight.
Good.
Inhale two three four and hold two three four five six seven and exhale two three four five six seven.
Inhale two three four and hold two three four five six seven and exhale two three four five six seven eight and inhale two three four and hold two three four five six seven and exhale two three four five six seven eight.
Very good.
Now you can take a few slow inhales and exhales and then you can gently slowly return to your natural rhythm of breathing.
And as you begin to return to this natural rhythm of your breath I invite you to keep your eyes closed for just a few more moments taking time to notice the sounds around you maybe feel the chair or the floor beneath you taking a few moments to just tune in this moment of mindfulness to tune into what you hear what you smell what you feel you may notice that your breathing is naturally a bit slower now than it was before the session and you may feel that your heart rate is a bit slower as well and so taking a few moments just feel these sensations and noticing how our body has responded to the session.
I invite you now to slowly and fully bring your awareness back to the room around you.
If your eyes are closed you can slowly and gently open them and you can bring your gaze back up into the room.
I invite you to use this practice as a way to begin your day or you can use it as a reset any time of day.
I find this particularly helpful if I've been rushing from place to place and my breathing feels shallow my heart rate is fast or just overall my energy feels frenetic.
Taking these few moments to tune into your breath and slow things down can have exponential benefits.
Thank you so much for joining me in this meditation.
May you feel safe,
May you feel peace,
May you feel joy,
And may you feel love.
