Today,
We'll be teaching you a deep breathing practice to lower anxiety and let stress melt away.
This is a little different than our usual meditations because it involves lying on your back,
Ideally with a heavy book you can place on your belly.
You may want to pause this recording now to find a heavy book and place it by your side.
Once you've done that,
Go ahead and lie down on your back with your knees bent and your feet planted on the ground.
Place your hand on your belly and notice the rise and fall as you inhale and exhale.
Now take this heavy book you've gotten and balance it on your belly.
Inhale deeply into your belly to the count of three.
One,
Two,
Three.
And exhale deeply to the count of three.
One,
Two,
Three.
Now inhale to the count of four,
Pushing up and into the book as you inhale,
Noticing it rise as you do.
Three,
Four.
Now exhale to the count of four,
Feeling the book fall as you do,
Releasing the air in your belly.
Three,
Four.
Now inhale to the count of five.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
And exhale.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Inhale to the count of six.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Inhale two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Excellent.
Now you can remove the book if you'd like.
That was to give you a really good feeling of what it's like when you deeply inhale and exhale from your belly.
Now we will inhale to the count of six,
Pause for three breaths,
And then exhale for six.
So go ahead and inhale for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Pause for one,
Two,
Three,
And exhale.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Great.
Now that's one rep.
We'll do two more reps for a total of three.
So go ahead and inhale for one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Pause one,
Two,
Three.
Exhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
And again,
Inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Pause one,
Two,
Three.
Exhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Great job.
Whenever you're ready,
If you haven't already,
Go ahead and remove the book.
Allow your eyes to gently open.
Notice how relaxed you feel right now compared to five minutes ago.
This is a great practice to do in the evening when you're lying in bed just before going to sleep.
It's a wonderful way to wind down and let go of the stress of the day.
Namaste.
