We all breathe, which thankfully our bodies do for us automatically thanks to gravity and atmospheric pressure or so many of us would forget to do it. Thanks, Gravity! And here I gave you a bad rap all those years for your affect on my sagging tush.
However, being purposeful and creative about breathing can yield great rewards for our bodies and our psyches. There are all kinds of ‘numbered’ breathing, which helps to reset the parasympathetic nervous system and veer us away from the ‘on the cliff’ anxiety. Here’s an example:
Breathe in for a count of eight (or whatever number you choose), hold for a count of six, breath out for a count of four.
You can play with the numbers and hold on both the inhale and the exhale.
The point is to re-pattern your shallow, unconscious breathing to help you reconnect with your body and your life energy, your breath.
As a very visual person, I started doing what I like to call, geometric breathing, which plays into numbered breathing with a creative edge.
In your mind’s eye, imagine each breath is a line. A count of eight could be eight inches or eight feet or eight silk scarves tied together or whatever image you want eight to represent.
When you breathe in for a count, draw a line (any color, any texture, anywhere, on the floor, in the sky) and have it grow with the length of the count.
Then when you hold for a count, make the next leg of the triangle a proportionate size.
Breathe out and finish your triangle with the size that’s commensurate with that count.
Since a triangle’s sides can be of any length, this breathing exercise sparks your imagination, which further calms the body and mind.
Then let your imagination soar! You can make all kinds of shapes:
Breath in, hold, breathe out, hold (square or rectangle).
You can create a circular pattern with your breath and merely pause at the ‘top’ and ‘bottom’ of your breath.
Now add colors.
Now add textures.
Change the size dramatically from tiny to gargantuan.
Imagine that this geometric breathing encircles you. Maybe you imagine a large circle that you draw around yourself with your breath.
Perhaps you’re in the mood for a sacred triangle or pyramid that surrounds you.
Once inside this sacred geometry, you are safe. Loved.
The reason this practice is under the Throat/Blue chakra for expression is because the more you imagine shapes, colors, textures, or even sounds, the more you create an energetic ‘voice’ for yourself n your meditation.
