How to Relax with the Breath

We invite you to take some time right now to experiment with relaxing with the breath.

It will be a lot more useful to you than reading about breathing and how to relax with the breath. There is no substitute for experience!

If you feel you don’t have time to do this now, you can print out the exercise below and try it later on, but remember the biggest key to being able to relax is to take the time to do it. Relaxation is so important to our well-being that we need to make it a priority!

Before reading further…

Take some time to relax with the breath...

 

stop for a minute 

 

let yourself slow down and

 

take some deep breaths…

 

 

How did that feel?

Was there some sense of settling down?

Relaxation?

Ease?

Did you feel rushed?

Like you really don’t have time for this?

Both kinds of feelings at once?

 

Now close your eyes, take a few more deep breaths, noticing how this feels…

If you feel rushed or restless, just be aware of those feelings, also noticing the relaxation that comes with breathing deeply.

Now pay attention to how your body moves as you breath. Are your breaths coming from your chest moving, or is your belly moving?

Let your belly relax and continue breathing deep into the belly. Your abdomen should move as you breath.

How does this feel?

______________________________________

Hopefully, these few moments will have brought some sense of ease and relaxation to your day. “Stop, take a deep breath!” has become a cliché, and for a good reason — it works! When we are stressed or anxious, we tend to take shallow breaths. Breathing deeply breaks that pattern. It takes us out of the “fight or flight” mode and gives us the feeling that “there’s all the time in the world”.

Whenever you remember during the day, bring your awareness to your breathing. Notice if your breathing is shallow. You may even be holding your breath at times. Take some deep breaths, into the belly. This will help you to reset and continue your activities in a more relaxed way. As time goes on, you will become aware of your breathing more often and remember to breathe in a deeper, more relaxed way.

Watching the Breath

There are many ways that we can relax using the breath. Watching the breath is a very simple way. Simply bring your awareness to your breathing. Allow the breath to go on its own, not trying to manipulate it in any way. It may change as you bring your attention to it, but don’t try to change it.

Notice the feeling of the breath moving in and out. Notice how your body moves and all the details of the experience of breathing. Whenever your mind wanders to anything else, simply bring your attention back to the breath.

You can do this for as long as you’d like any time during the day. It is very relaxing, slows you down and reminds you of the natural rhythms of life.

Watching the breath is part of many meditation techniques. To learn to meditate in this way, listen to our Breath Awareness Meditation from the Meditation Oasis podcast.

Breathing Out Tension

Here is another way to relax with the breath. First bring your awareness to your breathing. As above, simply allow the breath to go on its own, not trying to manipulate it in any way. Continue in this way for a minute or so, noticing its relaxing effect. Now allow yourself to become aware of any place in the body where tension is held. If it is not immediately obvious, you can scan your body for likely places of tension, such as the shoulders or the neck. When you find a place of tension, imagine that it is being released with the exhalation of the breath. Fully relax into the exhalation of the breath. Let the tense part of your body relax as you breath out the tension.

As you breath in, know that the body is bringing in life-giving energy. Naturally the body rids itself of what isn’t needed with the out-breath. In this exercise, we are cooperating with that natural function of the body to relax and release tension.

Meditation Oasis CDOur Meditation Oasis CD contains a deeply relaxing breath meditation.  With a soothing voice and incredibly relaxing music, it guides you in an easy breathing meditation.  Once you’ve used the CD a few times, you’ll be able to do this simple, effective meditation on your own.

xxx

Enjoy a relaxing break with our guided meditation and music in our Relaxation Room.

Comments

3 Responses to “How to Relax with the Breath”

  1. Manantsoa on September 17th, 2008 7:18 am

    Hello,
    I ‘d just like to ask if we can take a rest for relaxation with any kind of music, in the case where we like that music kind.
    Thank you…

  2. Manantsoa on September 17th, 2008 7:24 am

    Ah …
    About the relaxation with the breath … it is useful, cool and easy but are you sure we can do it anywhere?

  3. Mary on September 17th, 2008 9:00 am

    Hi Manantsoa,
    Music can be incredibly relaxing. You can always take a relaxation break with music. Not all music will be relaxing to you. Choose music you know relaxes you.

    As for relaxing with the breath, you should be able to do that anywhere as long as you are in a situation where you can take a few moments to pay attention to your breath. Of course, if you are doing something like driving a car that requires your full attention, you don’t want to put your attention on anything else!

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