From the time you are born to the time you die, you breathe. You began life by breathing and you will end life with your last breath. Many people know that breath is an integral part of life, but they do not know consciously integrate breath into their daily life. Conscious breathing exercises allow you to connect to the breathing process.
Basic Exercises
Stop what you are doing and just notice your breath. Do not try to manipulate your breath in any way. Just notice that you are breathing in and out. Now, notice the inhalation; feel the breath come into your body. Notice the slight pause and then the exhalation. Practice noticing your breath in this way for 10 minutes every morning when you wake up and 10 minutes every evening when you go to sleep.
Notice after doing this for a few days that you begin to feel differently. You begin to notice little things that you took for granted. You smell smells, see colors, hear sounds, all with more vibrancy and more attention to detail.
Take the next step in your conscious breathing exercise program. Now begin your breathing exercise by noticing the breath but also noticing the space the breath occupies. Notice the space right before your nostril. The space where the air is before it comes inside. Notice how your nostril draws the air in---how the air goes through your nostril, down to your lungs and then pauses for a moment. Then the exhale begins, down in your lungs and up through the nostril, following the same path in reverse, then out to the space right past your nostril. Take time to follow the breath on this journey repeatedly. Increase your conscious breathing time to 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the evening.
More Exercises
While you are doing your conscious breathing exercises, try some variations to see how they feel to you. As you breath in think, calm and peaceful; as you breath out think, peaceful and calm. Provide your own words if you like or use these. The idea is to combine thoughts with your breathing until breathing becomes an integral part of your thoughts. Eventually, you will reach the area where you will think as you breathe during your regular duties of the day.
Get up while you are doing your conscious breathing exercises. Add movement to your breathing by inhaling and raising your arms up over your head at the same time. Start with your arms hanging loosely at your sides, palms turned in. As you breathe in, raise your arms slowly from your sides, until they are over your head. Hold for a moment until the exhalation begins. Lower your arms slowly back to the starting position while you exhale.
Use visualization with your conscious breathing. In this exercise, as you breathe in, picture a warm healing light entering and filling your body. As you breathe out, feel all of your tension leave your body with the breath. Breathe in warm healing light, breath out tension and stress.
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