Breath Practices

Breath Practices

• Feeling your breath in your body: notice your breath, feel your breath somewhere in your body-nose, neck, chest, belly, etc, follow your breath as it moves in that part of your body

• Guided breathing in body: feel your breath in your nose for several rounds of breathing, then feel your breath in your neck, in your chest, in your belly, in your whole body

• Mindful breathing: follow your breath in and out, when you breathe in know that you are breathing in and when you breathe out know that you are breathing out

• Counting your breath: breathe in 1 out 2 in 3 out 4, continuing up to 10, start over at 1 when you get distracted and lose the count

• Heart breathing: feel your breath in your chest, imagine that your heart is breathing-breathe in and out of your heart, if it feels comfortable you can put your hand on your chest as you breathe

• Breathing with movement: moving hands as you breathe, arms as you breathe, head as you breathe, etc

• Breathing in and out a relaxing word: choose a word that relaxes you, repeat the word in your mind as you breathe in and out

• Extended exhale breathing: breathe in 1-2-3-4, breathe out 1-2-3-4-5-6, repeat

• Stair step breathing: when you breathe in take 4 little steps of breath like you are climbing a mountain-breathe in a little, breathe in a little, breathe in a little, breathe in a little...breathe out fully like you are sliding down the mountain....repeat

• Candle breathing: breathe in through nose, breathe out through mouth as if you were blowing out a candle...repeat for several cycles

• Breathing with pauses: breathe in, pause, breathe out, pause, repeat

• Breath like a wave: feel your breath like a wave, feel it flowing in your body like a wave in the ocean, feel the wave of your breath rising and falling