Begin by finding a comfortable seat or lie down on your back.
And allow the body to be alert yet relaxed.
Start to bring your attention to your breath without trying to change it.
Just noticing the condition or state of the breath right now.
How does it feel?
Looking inside with a slight curiosity,
What qualities can you find in your own breath in this moment?
And with your attention resting on each in and exhale,
Begin to slow your breath down.
Make the inhales and exhales an equal length.
Gradually softening and slowing the breath,
Allowing your lower abdomen to soften and round out so it can receive each in breath fully.
And when you exhale,
Allowing the shoulders to just drop down further away from the ears.
All stress and fatigue rolling off.
Continue breathing just like this.
Soft and easy.
To increase the benefits of this slow,
Calm breath,
Add an affirmation to each inhale and exhale.
Let's begin with the affirmation,
I am calm.
On your inhale,
Mentally repeat,
I am.
On your exhale,
Mentally repeat,
Calm.
Inhale,
I am.
Exhale,
Calm.
I am calm.
Continue on listening to the words as they sync with the breath,
Almost as if they were occurring there naturally.
Continue on listening to the words as they sync with the breath,
Almost as if they were occurring there naturally.
Continue on listening to the words as they sync with the breath,
Almost as if they were occurring there naturally.
Now on the inhale,
I am.
And exhale,
At peace.
Inhale,
I am.
Exhaling,
At peace.
I am.
At peace.
I am.
And inhaling now,
I am.
Exhaling,
Safe.
I am safe.
I am safe.
I am.
I am.
Allow the affirmations to simply fade away with your next exhale and return your fullest attention to the breath.
The sensation,
The quality,
The movement of this life energy flowing in and out.
Now leave the breath as it is and notice the body.
How does the body feel?
Remember that you can always return to this state at any point in time by simply listening for one or all of those affirmations,
Which are occurring naturally and traveling through the body on each breath.
The more you practice this exercise,
The more you will sync your body,
Mind and emotions and create a memory of calm and relaxation that you can return to over and over by using your positive attention.
When you feel ready,
Allow the eyes to softly open and take a moment to enjoy this feeling.
With gratitude,
Acknowledge the time you've taken for yourself.
Know that the more you practice this exercise,
The more quickly and easily you'll be able to return to this balanced and harmonious state of being.
