105. BONUS Calm Breathing

Enjoy this bonus episode for Mother's Day!

A long exhale is key to calm. Grab a piece of paper and two markers in your favorite colors. You will "trace" your breath using the colors on the paper. Alternatively, you can do this exercise using your finger to trace your breath across the desk in front of you or even use your lap. 

Transcript

Welcome to this bonus episode all about your breathing and relaxation. Evidence has demonstrated in comparative studies that breathing with the longer exhale slows us down and gives us a greater ease in our body and in our emotion. I'm going to guide you through a relaxation that involves filling up your lungs to the count of four, and then exhaling to a count of 15. This will give your body and your brain a little bit of energy, as well as the kind of relaxation at the end that you can only get from combining the breathing with a little kinesthetic movement. And I'll explain that next. 

Moving your body to your breath is a powerful way to connect and connect both sides of your brain. If you want to do this exercise just with your finger on a desk, you can do that. Or you can do it with a marker on a piece of paper. I highly recommend doing it with bright colors on a big piece of paper. You'll trace your marker upward to the count of four, and then you'll trace it across the paper for the count of 15. I encourage you to switch hands, so if you start on your right hand going up for the count of four across for 15, then use your right hand and go backwards going up and then to the left. Now switch hands and I'll ask you to do it the other direction. I'll give you a few practice examples, and then I'll just give you a few minutes of breathing. There's some great music here and I hope you enjoy. 

Let's start with a few practice examples. So just relax, get settled. And I want to invite you to take in a deep breath of air and exhale. Really wring your lungs out. Squeeze all that air out. 

Now I'm going to ask you to breathe in for a count of four. Fill up your lungs. Two, three, four. One more little sip of air. Now exhale for 15. Four. Five six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 

Breathe in four. Fill your lungs. Two. Three. Four. One more sip. Now exhale for 15. 23456789. Ten. 11. 12. 13 14 15. 

Breathe in four. Fill up your lungs. Two. Three four. One more sip of air. And exhale 23456789 1011 1213 1415. Fill up your lungs. Inhale. One. Two three. Four. One more little sip. Exhale. 1234567. Eight. Nine. Ten. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 

Now just breathe at your own pace. Let's get your body involved as you can trace your finger across the table. Or you can pick up your marker. And if you start with your marker in your right hand, put it all the way on the left side of the paper. I'm going to ask you to draw a line upward as you breathe in. And then as you exhale, you're going to draw a line all the way across to the right. By the count of 15. You're going to reverse it and go from the left to the right. Right to the left. Then I'll ask you to switch hands. If at any point it feels like you need to breathe at your own pace, then by all means do that. You can pause and take a little break. You can just breathe at your own pace and then join back in on the next breath. Do whatever feels really most comfortable for you. 

All right. Get ready. Taking a deep breath. Exhale. Bring your lungs out. Get your pen on your paper. Here we go. 

Draw up. Breathe in. One. Two. Three. Four. A little more sip and exhale for 15. As you're exhaling, draw your marker across the page. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 

Inhale for the count of four. Draw up one, two, three, four. Little more sip of air. And now exhale for 15. Gliding your marker slowly across the page. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 

Let's go again. Breathe in. Draw up. One. 234. One more sip and now exhale for 15. And draw the line across the page. Five. Six. Seven. Eight nine. 1011 1213. 14. 15. 

Switch. Hands. Inhale. One. 234. One more sip. Exhale. One. 234. Five. Six. Seven. Eight nine 1011. 12. 13 1415. 

Breathe in 41234. Little extra sip. Exhale. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Ten. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Inhale. Four one. 234. SIP. Exhale. Three. Four five. Six seven. Eight. Nine. 1011 1213 1415. 

Breathe in 41234. One more. Exhale. 123456789 1011 1213 1415. And just breathe at your own pace for a moment. 

Notice how it feels. What's your drawing look like in front of you? If you want, you can flip your paper over and continue. Or you can keep going on the same page. Take another deep breath in. Exhale and really wring your lungs out. 

Here we go. Breathe in. One. Two. Three, four. Extra sip. Exhale. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 

Breathe in 1234. Extra. SIP. Exhale. One. 23456789 1011 1213 1415. 

You can switch hands. Breathe in. One. 234. Extra. Exhale. 123456789 1011 1213 1415. 

Breathe in 1234. Extra. SIP. Exhale. 123456789 1011 1213 1415. 

Breathe in 1234. Extra. SIP. Exhale. 123456789 1011 1213 1415. 

Let's take a break. And just breathe at your normal pace. What do you notice? What's it look like on your paper? How do you feel in your body? All right, let's get ready and do one more round. Take a deep breath in and exhale and really wring your lungs out. Get all that old air out. 

Here we go. Breathe in. One, two. Three, four. Extra sip. Exhale. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 

Breathe in 1234. Extra. SIP. Exhale. 123456789 1011 1213 1815. Switch hands. Breathe in. One. Two. Three. Four. Extra sip. Exhale. One. Two. 345. 6789 1011. 1213 1415. 

Last one. Breathe in 1234. Extra. SIP and exhale. 123456789 1011 1213 1415. 

Now just breathe at your own pace. Relax until the music ends. Enjoy the next two minutes of calm.