How would you like the opportunity to change your brain with as little as 20 minutes of Mindfulness breathing a day?
By practicing Mindfulness breathing frequently, your brain can slow down the messages that are being sent about anxiety and distress.
And, by doing this, your mind can allow more messages of calmness and comfort to become more active!
Use these techniques and incorporate them into a daily routine. It only takes 20 minutes of Mindfulness practice a day to make these changes. It is good to start now before you actually need them in order to get ahead of the curve.
The purpose of breathing mindfully is to notice, accept and be aware of your breathing. It is not so much about relaxation or stress reduction.
Learning to breathe mindfully will help you in your everyday life so let’s take a look at one of the exercises you can do to accomplish this task.
Every living thing on planet earth breathes. We as human have uniqueness in that we can control our breathing to help us to our advantage.
Find a nice quiet area and sit in a chair with both of your feet on the ground and your hands in your lap. Think about being centered in the chair. Close your eyes.
Turn all of your attention to your breathing. What does it feel like? What are you sensing? Are there particular smells you are experiencing?
Can you feel your breath as it enters your body and fills your lungs? What are you experiencing? Warmth? Coldness? Where does the breath enter and where does it exit? Are you a nose person or a mouth person? Some breathe in with their mouth and out with their nose or just the opposite.
Just notice everything you can about your breathing. Fast? Shallow? If so, slow it down or speed it up so that you are breathing in a regular fashion.
Take a deep breath every now and then. Really take in the air and experience the feelings or sensations. Allow your body to perform this all-important function.
It’s funny how we breathe and never pay attention although it is one of the most essential functions our body performs in order to stay alive on this earth.
As you experience your body breathing in, you will notice that your diaphragm or stomach will expand. Just the opposite occurs when you breathe out. Your diaphragm or stomach will relax.
While you are performing this exercise, don’t do anything else. Take the time to think about the physical sensations you are experiencing.
Your mind might want to wander away and that’s ok! Make note of the thoughts but don’t let them take over your breathing exercise. Try to guide your mind back to being aware of your breathing.
Start out by doing this for 5 minutes a day increasing your time a little each day. If you would like, try practicing this technique as you lie down for the evening to go to bed. The exercise could help if you are someone who experiences difficulty sleeping.
By concentrating on your breathing, you are allowing yourself to be more mindful and conscious of your breathing and the capacity you have to relax.
Relax your breathing and relax your body!
How We Can Help
Here at Meditation Stepping Stones, our meditation classes assist you with learning to breathe in peace. You can learn more about our classes below.
Our current classes:
Meditation – Wednesdays at 7 pm Central Time in Virtual Classroom
Mindfulness – Mondays at 11 am Central Time in Virtual Classroom
Meditation – Every other Saturday at 10:30 am in Madison, Wisconsin
For the online classes, be sure to use the link to register for each class session you attend. This helps me to know in advance who is attending. You will receive the link for the conference automatically from the system.
Personal Sessions – The personal sessions will run similarly as well except it will be only you and myself meeting. You will have more time to ask questions, work intimately together on goals, right technique, receive worksheets and other easy assignments to help you grow in your meditation practice.
Awakening to Joy Retreat in March 2018 – Join us for our co-sponsored Awakening to Joy retreat based on James Baraz’ mindfulness book, Awakening Joy.
Access our Meditation Pebbles Podcast for easy five minute practices you can do easily. Also try our longer meditations podcast, Peaceful and Healing Guided Meditations.
If you have further questions, use the contact form here on the website. I’m happy to answer any questions may have.
Be sure to join our Facebook Group too and you can ask questions, share with others and receive support.
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