Breathing exercises

1.   Lying down, on your back (supine), on quite a hard surface (maybe put a cushion under the knees for more comfort).  Keep your eyes closed and try to relax.  Take a few normal breathes before you begin and try to get all of the air out of your lungs.  Place your hand on your stomach and breathe in through your nose.  Your stomach should expand and push into your hand as you fill right down into your diaphragm with air.   Put your other hand on your ribs and try to make sure that there is no movement in this area.  Breath out through the nose keeping your mouth closed.  Repeat this trying to relax your abdominal muscles and fill deep into your belly with air. 

2    Put your hands on your ribs just beneath your arm pits.  Point your fingers to the front.  Breathe in and attempt to push out the hands as far as possible with the ribs.  This movement is sideways and outwards rather than forwards.  This is not as easy as the first method.  Repeat it around 20 times and attempt to fill your rib cage with as much air as possible. 

Relaxation

SUPINE: One of the most powerful, and easy to perform, relaxation techniques available is to tense each and every muscle in your body individually, then allow each muscle to fully relax before going on to the next.  To start this technique, take 3 deep breathes.  Now, on your next in breath, hold it for a moment and tense all the muscles in both of your feet.  Pause for as long as you comfortably can then, with a big sigh, allow your feet to completely relax.  It may help to imagine that they are sinking a little as you do.  Next take a deep in breath and tense all the muscles in both of your lower legs.  Once again, hold it for as long as is comfortable then, with a big sigh, exhale and completely relax your lower legs allowing them to sink down as you do. 

Repeat this process with your upper legs, then stomach region, then torso, then upper arms and shoulders followed by the lower arms and hands (clench your fists as you tense your hands) and finally your face neck and head. 

SEATED: In this position with the legs crossed or feet firmly locked together, the lower body is stabilised.  This allows the spine to be held in an erect position and the energy to flow to the brain.  This is an ideal position to perform meditation.  By focusing on the breath, the intention is to focus inward blocking out all external pressures.

BREATH AWARENESS: Perform the breathing techniques mentioned earlier paying particular attention to the depth of each breath.

VISUALIZATION: The intention here is to draw thoughts away form negative or external pressures and to focus on either a pleasant scene such as beach, fields, sun or more powerfully, try to focus on the 'third eye' between your eye brows.  When focused, imagine a bright ball of energy releasing it’s warmth and power into your body.

LOVE AND KINDNESS: Visualize a time when you enjoyed great happiness and peace.  Avoid the details but focus on the sensation and let it enter the whole body.  Think of someone who gives you love like a parent, partner or child and concentrate on sending out that love to the same or different person. 

Article by Jayne Nicholls