Sit comfortably or lay back comfortably at an angle.
You can close your eyes or keep a soft,
Unfocused gaze.
We will build from the belly breath first,
Placing one of your hands at the lower belly,
The low abdomen,
The palm below the navel.
Start to breathe in and out of the nose.
When you inhale through the nose,
Feel the belly expand.
When you exhale through the nose,
Feel the belly naturally contract.
The inhale navel drops forward.
The exhale navel draws back.
From here we build into our long deep breath.
The inhale first into the lower abdomen,
Expanding up into the ribs.
And exhale from the ribs to the low belly.
The inhale builds from the lower abdomen all the way up to the rib cage.
And exhale from the rib cage all the way down.
Once that feels comfortable for you,
Building up to the third part,
The chest.
The inhale expands the belly,
The ribs and builds upward into the chest.
And as you exhale,
Release from the chest down.
The inhale builds from the low abdomen all the way up.
And the exhale from the top down.
If you want to take it a step further,
You can place your other palm on heart center of the sternum.
Feeling the breath expand from the low hand,
Building up to the top hand.
And as you exhale,
The breath releases from the top hand all the way down to the bottom hand.
As you continue practicing your long deep breath,
You'll start to feel the breath expand into the sides of the torso and the back as well.
So you feel the inhale build from the base circumferentially all the way up.
Feeling the breath expand from the pelvic floor all the way up to the throat.
And from the throat all the way down.
Keep going.
Feel yourself breathing.
And as you continue your long deep breaths,
Start to notice the pauses that happen naturally in each cycle.
The pause at the top of the inhale and the pause at the bottom of the exhale.
You don't have to make these pauses happen.
They're already there.
Just begin to notice them.
Your long deep breath is a reminder that all the experiences,
Situations,
Thoughts,
Emotions,
They all come and go.
The pauses reminding us to slow down to be mindful and present.
Few more long deep breath cycles.
Feel the breath build up.
Feel the breath go.
And slowly release the hands to the lap,
The thighs or the knees.
Remember,
We're creating the long deep breath to be the default.
So continue this breath in the background as you slowly open your eyes.
Use any opportunity that you can,
A grocery line in the store,
Being stopped at a red light,
Your walks,
Doing the dishes,
To be able to check in with your breath.
Always tuning back in to your long deep breath.
And if you find that you come up against jolting emotions,
Highs and lows,
If you feel that you need to harmonize yourself to self-regulate,
Bring yourself back to the belly breath first and then build back into your long deep breath.
