You can always practice breathing at 6 breaths per minute here, now.
You might also find these simple breathing exercises helpful too.
Photo by Robert Winter
Meditation is a practice of self-enquiry. Listening to your inner world requires silence outside. That’s why there is only a few minutes of guidance to set up your silent meditation on the recordings below.
They’re a great way to move from fully guided meditation to sitting silently on your own.
They were recorded a while ago for my original Stillworks course, but I thought you might like to hear them now.
Try one a day for five days and see how you go.
One round of Sun Salutation consists of two sequences, the first leading with the right foot in positions 4 and 9, the second leading with the left.
Keep your hands in one place from positions 3 to 10 and try to co-ordinate your movements with your breathing.
Start by practising four rounds and gradually build up to twelve rounds.
1. Exhale
Stand with feet together and hands in the prayer position in front of your chest. Make sure your weight is evenly distributed.
2. Inhale
Stretch your arms up and arch back from the waist, pushing the hips out, legs straight.
Relax your neck.
3. Exhale
Fold forward, and press your palms down, fingertips in line with toes – bend your knees if necessary.
4. Inhale
Bring the left (or right) leg back and place the knee on the floor. Arch back and look up, lifting your chin.
5. Retain
Hold the breath, bring the other leg back and support your weight on hands and toes.
6. Exhale
Lower your knees, then your chest and then your forehead, keeping your hips up and your toes curled under.
7. Inhale
Lower your hips, point your toes and bend back. Keep legs together and shoulders down. Look up and back.
8. Exhale
Curl your toes under, raise your hips and pivot into an inverted ‘V’ shape. Try to push your heels and head down and keep your shoulders back.
9. Inhale
Step forward and place the left (or right) foot between your hands. Rest the other knee on the floor and look up, as in position 4.
10. Exhale
Bring the other leg forward and bend down from the waist, keeping your palms as in position 3.
11. Inhale
Stretch your arms forward, then up and back over your head and bend back slowly from the waist, as in position 2.
12. Exhale
Gently come back to an upright position and bring your arms down by your sides.
Why not synchronise your breathing to 6 breaths per minute with our Do Breathe Now video?
The way we breathe reflects the way we live.
Breathing is the only system in the body that works both unconsciously and, at the same time, can be consciously controlled. We can breathe away stress. We can breathe our minds into focus. We can breathe ourselves into the present moment.
Or, we can use our breath to exaggerate our stress response and make things even worse—and let’s be honest, we’ve all done that!
Stress makes us do things that don’t serve us and stops us doing things that nourish us. It makes us say things we don’t mean to those closest to us, and ruins the most precious of moments.
And yet, we have the most advanced stress-reduction technology in the world with us whenever we need it. Not our phones, our breath.
Listen to your breath. It will tell you when you need to refocus or rest. Unlike your mind, it only has one agenda, to look after you the best it can. Make your breath your constant companion and it really will be your best friend forever.
Here are some practical ways to breathe yourself better every day.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist and poet
Breathe like a baby. Babies are the best breathers. They haven’t learnt any bad habits yet and they use their physiology efficiently, as nature intended. As such, they breathe from their bellies, which is 20 per cent more energy efficient. They breathe through their noses.
They breathe out longer to calm down.
Try it now:
Breathe in from the belly through the nose to a count of four.
Breathe out from the belly through the nose to a count of six.
Repeat until you feel just right.
Breathing at this rhythm of six breaths per minute has been shown to optimize the impact on your physiology.
Watch the video and relax.
Simple, alternate nostril breathing balances the flow of the breath from one nostril to the other, creating focus and harmony. Use your right hand to open and close the nostrils, using the thumb on the right nostril and the ring finger on the left one. (Tip: fold the index and middle fingers into the palm of your hand.) Research in India has also shown a connection with the healthy functioning of the autonomic nervous system.
Try it now:
Close the right nostril and exhale completely out the left.
Inhale through the left nostril to a count of 4.
Exhale through the right nostril to a count of 6.
Inhale through the right nostril.
Exhale through the left nostril.
Continue as above for a few minutes.
Watch the video and rebalance.
Our attention spans are decreasing. We are finding it harder and harder to focus. Goldfish have attention spans of around nine seconds. Sadly, according to the New York Times, humans now have only eight.
Luckily we can regain control of the ability to focus better. Simply counting breaths can train your mind to not only pay more attention but also to recover faster from distractions, and before you know it you will be in a state of meditation without even trying to be.
Find a quiet spot and try this:
Count both your inhalations and exhalations from 40 down to 20.
Count just your exhalations from 20 down to zero.
Just follow your breath for a few minutes.
The states of our mind and our breath are linked. At the end of our in-and-out breaths there are little pauses. Slightly lengthen them. Notice them. Observe what happens in your mind. As your breath stills, so does your mind.
Next time you find your mind racing, notice these gaps.
Finding some mental space can help you move on more clearly. Why not use these natural pauses to also remind you to take more breaks in your day?
Research shows that people who take regular short breaks of around 15 minutes every hour are more productive than those who just keep going.
Watch the video and pause.
We can go days without food, hours without water but only minutes without breath. Breathing is our main source of energy.
However, when we face a big challenge, need courage or are in a period of mental or physical recovery, we probably need some really deep breaths. Don’t forget to completely exhale though, as if no matter how much you breath in, without that long exhale you will not be using your breath to your full capacity.
Breathe in to a count of six from the belly, to the chest and above.
Breathe out slowly with control to a count of 12.
Practice three rounds.
Michael Townsend Williams, from Do Breathe: Calm Your Mind. Find Focus. Get Stuff Done.
A collaboration with lululemon in Europe & Asia
Try this:
When you wake-up:
Get up! Sit up on your bed. Take 10 deep mindful breaths from the belly.
Breakfast:
Sit down to eat. Close your eyes and take one deep breath being thankful for the food in front of you.
On the way to work:
Practice counting your breaths to train your attention.
In your first meeting:
Close your eyes and do three guided breaths together with your colleagues. It will bring you closer together, and that’s always good for business.
At lunchtime:
Sit somewhere away from your desk and preferably outside (weather permitting). Close your eyes and eat your first mouthful slowly, savouring the flavours and textures. Now take one mindful breath with awareness.
Afternoon tea:
Stopping is often the most productive thing you can do. Give your mind a rest. Create your own tea ceremony. Take time. Make it beautiful. And breathe…
With friends:
Give someone a big hug. Heart to heart. Hold them a little longer. Breathe with them. Really feel being with them. Look into their eyes and smile.
Before bed:
Sit for a few minutes. Let the thoughts of the day come and go. Return to your breath. How does it feel? If you have trouble sleeping, breathe like a baby and you might also sleep like one.
Michael has been teaching The Do Lectures to breathe better since 2014.
Everyone at Do is challenging themselves somehow.
To run the best event they can.
To finally start that business.
To create the work they always dreamt of.
To give the talk of their lives.
Early morning at Do, a number of them wake up, leave their tents behind and make their way onto the deck for yoga, breathing and meditation. Shaking off train rides, car shares and for some, long haul flights too. Some are seasoned yogis, others finally taking their first step. Everyone excited, yet at the same time in need of calm for the day ahead.
All share the need to reconnect their minds and bodies. And that connection is found through their breath, and being fully present.
For the best doers also know how to be.
Michael on the deck at The Do Lectures.
What We Do
Lying down, we open out our legs and arms, and turn our palms upward. This position can make us feel vulnerable, so we ground ourselves by being aware of all the points of contact between our bodies and the earth beneath us.
We listen, with our eyes closed, to sounds around us – the starlings, the distant traffic, that noisy group of runners… We notice our bellies rising and falling with our breath… We start to stretch and wake up our bodies.
Before moving onto the yoga asanas, we practise some yogic breathing exercises to release tension and help us to feel calm and centred.
We remind ourselves to connect with our bodies and our feelings.
(We are all so much more than that 5% of our brain that ‘thinks’.)
Moving slowly and then a little faster … always with awareness of our breath.
A few rounds of sun salutations that use pretty much every muscle in the body.
Some classical positions – shoulder stands, forward and backward bends, side stretches and long deep twists – that work on all the systems of the body to bring them back into balance.
We stop, relax and do nothing for a while.
And then we sit together for some quiet time.
Set an intention to ourselves for the day ahead.
And remember a few things to be thankful for in our lives, here and now.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Breathe. Be. Do.
There are 2 simple things we focus on.
1. Awareness
If you cannot control where your attention goes, how can you expect to control the direction of your life or business? It is a muscle that can be improved through mindful practice and focussing on what you are feeling whilst you are doing. The ability to relate to the feelings and sensations of being fully alive as you in this present moment. Living with more self-awareness allows you to make better choices.
2. Relaxation
So many of us are over-stimulated. We have lost the ability to deeply relax mentally and physically. And yet this is what makes us more resilient – better placed to cope with challenges and recover from them. By lengthening our exhalations we learn how to relax more quickly and deeply.
So next time you have a lot to do, don’t forget to be.
A little bit of yoga every morning can make a lot more happen later.
The above article was written by Michael Townsend Williams for ‘Stay Curious’, the book by Clare Hieatt celebrating the first 10 years of The Do Lectures.
