Breath in, breath out. In...1,2,3,4. Out...1,2,3,4. Listen to the sound of your breath. If it wavers, concentrate on breathing steadily. In...1,2,3,4. Out...1,2,3,4. Calm and peaceful. In 1,2,3,4. Out 1,2,3,4. Deep, steady breaths. In 1,2,3,4. Out 1,2,3,4. Calm, comfortable, and steady. Focus on the steady rhythm. In 1,2,3,4. Out 1,2,3,4. Pull as much air as you can to the bottom of your diaphragm. Deep, and steady. Calm and peaceful. In 1,2,3,4. Out 1,2,3,4. No thoughts. Only breathing. Focus on the rhythm. In 1,2,3,4. Out 1,2,3,4. Slow and steady. Deep and calm. In, pushing the oxygen all the way to your toes. 1,2,3,4. Out, expelling the carbon dioxide. 1,2,3,4. Deep, calm, slow, steady, cleansing breaths. In, 1,2,3,4. Clear head. Clean air. Out 1,2,3,4. In 1,2,3,4. Out 1,2,3,4. In 1,2,3,4......

This type of sustained, deep breathing is said to have healing properties, releasing endorphins in your brain. If you practice this in a serene and comfortable environment for 20 minutes a day for two weeks, you will be on your way to meditation, and one step closer to enlightenment. Out 1,2,3,4. MEO

thank you. I needed that!

Text based meditation guidance.

So much is being said about breathing, now that yoga &co have become mainstream. Deep breathing is, indeed, calming. However, something that often gets lost among the many techniques with all their reported benefits is the need to find one's default breathing pattern and remove all the extra effort we add out of habit before any other manipulation.

See how the body breathes left to its own devices.

Are you saying to leave the breathing to become 100% invulentary?

Just until you find out how you really breath, so that you won't build a new pattern on top of an old one. Think of it like movement in yoga: if you have significant alignment issues, as many of us do, by doing the poses as the instructors want you to, you're screwing your body even more. The reigning assumption is that some muscles are a bit tight and when you stretch them by using certain poses, you're hitting the exact muscles that the yoga book says you will, and everything gets better.

In reality, people have complex issues and muscles who aren't even accessible to them at all, so while doing a 'hamstring stretch' that looks ok from the outside, there's a good chance you're not even engaging the muscle at all but actually pulling on some random joint. Also, not all tight muscles need stretching.

Similarly, if we assume one has a nice, clean breathing pattern, then you can bring it lower into the abdomen etc. But if you ask someone with a hunched-over, randomly twisted posture to breath into the abdomen, they'll likely add new layers of tension to a body that's already struggling to cope.