Meditation 3- April 21, 2020

Balloon Breaths.

photo: courtesy of google- pinterest.com

Another great mindfulness exercise done regularly is our 'balloon breath' meditation… Again, take a moment to catch your breath, allowing yourself to connect to the mind's thoughts. If you are lucky enough to have someone read this to you, that is optimal; however, if not, maybe take a few moments to read along to yourself, before feeling confident enough to coach your way through this meditation yourself :) please begin at your own pace, and make sure you are sitting (or for this one, standing) comfortably.

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Start to envision your belly as a balloon. Whatever color balloon you like, picture that as your belly. Now, take a slow, deep breath to fill up your belly with air, blowing up your 'balloon' as much as you can... pause.

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Very slowly, begin to let out the air of the balloon (though the nose) as you release breath held from the belly... you can even place your hands on your belly to feel the air release, making sure you are doing it slowly and mindfully. You can even make a light 'hissing' noise through your teeth as you exhale your breath, in order to encourage a slower exhale, or make it even more like letting the air out of your 'balloon...'

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As you exhale, relax your body, releasing the tension in different areas... You can even begin to focus on specific body parts when doing this, i.e.- starting from top down (head to toe).

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Repeat this for several minutes, as long as you wish, until you are ready to re-enter regular life and return to the day ahead of you feeling refreshed and re-energized.

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SMILE. AND CONTINUE TO REMEMBER. YOU ARE SAFE. YOU ARE LOVED.