A Really Simple Breathing Exercise for Deep Breathing
Hello, this is Katie Englert from Compass Counseling. Today, I'm going to walk you through a really simple breathing exercise for deep breathing. We also have a quick recording on how to prepare for a deep breathing exercise.
So the first thing I would like for you to do is make sure you're not driving that, that you are in a comfortable spot with your feet on the floor.
Once you're comfortable, go ahead and close your eyes and try to clear your mind of anything that's distracting, that's going on, and thoughts that you're having, noises that are going on around you, and just start thinking about your breathing. Let's focus on that. How you're naturally breathing, just sitting there with your eyes closed.
Notice the sound that your breath makes as you're breathing, as you're breathing in and breathing out. Notice the feel of your breath as it's feeling up in your body and how it makes your body feel, how it makes your body expand and how you're just experiencing breathing in and breathing out.
Now slowly I want you to inhale by taking a big, full breath through your nose. And as you're slowly breathing that in, fill up your lungs all of the way. When you're full of breath, hold your breath and count to three. One, two, three.
Now, I want you to slowly exhale your breath from your mouth, continuing to exhale all of your breath until it's fully been released. And then briefly pause and hold that out before breathing, taking another deep breath. Again, slowly inhale through your nose and fully expand your lungs.
Feel your breath
Feel your breath, get big as you draw it all the way in to the bottom of your lungs. And count one, two, three. Again, slowly exhale your breath from the bottom of your lungs throughout your mouth. Again, slowly exhale your breath through your mouth from the bottom of your lungs until all of your breath has been released. And then pause again. Let's take a few seconds to practice this breathing cycle.
Now, as you continue to breathe in and out fully and deeply notice a part of your body where you might feel stress or discomfort. How does that feel as you're taking deep breaths?
As you're slowly inhaling and exhaling, think about how your body feels.
This time as you slowly inhale, I want you to imagine that a bright warm is in your breath. And when you're bringing this breath into your body, that this warm light is going straight to that area of discomfort or stress. As you're holding it in, I want you to imagine this big, bright, warm light filling that part of your body.
One, two, three. Now, as you're going to slowly exhale, imagine that this bright warm light is taking with your breath out of your body, any type of stress or discomfort that was once in your body before.
Again, breathe in a bright, warm light, into that big breath that you're inhaling And hold it next to that part of your body or your mind where you're having that stress for a second and then slowly exhale again.
By now, your breathing has likely deepened and your stress has been reduced. Hopefully it feels like that you've been able to let some of that go. When you're ready, take a few more breaths, open your eyes and be ready for your day.
You can use this activity whenever you're feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or if you're just wanting to prepare and focus for your day.
Deep breathing is a great activity to help you increase your awareness and decrease your heart rate and increase your mental calmness.
Any tool like this is going to get better with time and help you reduce stress and anxiety. Have you noticed any changes since we began the activity? Do you feel more at ease, more calm and has your heart rate decreased? Anytime that you practice using these tools to help you learn how to cope with what's going on? Relaxation exercises can become more effective as you use them regularly.
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