Breath/Centering

BENEFITS

Promotes relaxation, reduces stress, increases energy, relaxes a racing mind, calms the central nervous system and more.


INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1: Sit in your chair, feet flat on the floor, legs at a 90 degree angle. Contract your abdominal muscles just slightly, lift up through your chest and lengthen your spine.  Drop your shoulders down your back.

Step 2: Place one hand on your belly and the other hand on your chest.  Close your eyes and relax. 

Step 3: Exhale completely.  As you inhale, breathe into your belly, feeling your belly press gently into that hand.  Try not to breathe into your chest (The hand on your chest should not move).  As you exhale, feel your belly move back toward your spine.

Step 4: Take a few breaths like this, inhaling into your belly, as it expands outward like a balloon filling with air, then exhaling, belly flattening.  Keep trying to focus the breath into your belly, not your chest.  (The position of your hands will help you to feel where your breath is moving within your body.)

Step 5: Breathe like this for as long as you like, then place your hands on your thighs for a moment, open your eyes and return to work.