This is an exercise in “Conscious Breathing,”
Before we start lets run through the procedure, you will quickly remember it and won’t need the instructions.
Finding a quite spot to sit down to help you focus, when you are familiar with doing it, you can close your eyes, now lets begin.
1 Breathe out all the air in your lungs, then breathe in to the count of 4.
2 Hold your breathe to the count of 4.
3 Now as slowly as you can, breathe out to the count of 8.
4 Rest for the count of 2.
Return to your normal, natural breath, then when you are ready, begin again.
Some tips you might find helpful, before you start, when you want to expel all your breath you can use your abdominal muscles to help empty your lungs.
When you rest for the count of 2, after breathing out to the count of 8, if you feel light headed, just swallow once, this will take away any feelings of panic.
This exercise is called “Conscious Breathing.” because we are controlling our breath, and slowing down our heart rate, this is very helpful if it is beating too fast. We normally breathe unaware that we are doing so, as the body normally the body breathes for us automatically, through our autonomic nervous system.
Recap:
1 Breathe in to the count of 4,
2 Hold your breath to the count of 4.
3 Breathe out to the count of 8.
4 Rest for 2 counts, then begin the exercise again!
This exercise once learnt, is very effective for reversing the “Fight or Flight” adrenalin response that can occur when we are emotionally upset, angry or fearful, when we use it to calm ourselves down, we need to do 6 complete rounds from 1 to 4 to reverse the fight or flight and to feel calm once more.
This is an excellent exercise to use prior to starting your meditation practice, it helps focus the mind.
You can use this exercise as often as you want to, if you are in emotionally distress, do one set of 1 to 4, then return to your normal breathing for 5 minutes, then when your ready repeat the exercise.
Drop me an email if you have any further questions, all the best Wendy.