Breathing techniques for a deeper meditation practice: A list
What's the story
Meditation is one of the best practices to reduce stress and improve mental clarity.
One of the best ways to enhance meditation is by incorporating calming breathing techniques.
These techniques can help focus your mind, relax the body, and create a sense of peace.
Here's how you can control your breath to deepen your meditation practice and experience its benefits more fully.
Deep breathing
Focus on deep breathing
Deep breathing means taking slow, deep breaths from the diaphragm, instead of chest.
This increases oxygen flow to the brain and helps relax.
To practice deep breathing, sit comfortably with your back straight, inhale deeply through your nose for a count of four, hold for a moment, then exhale slowly through your mouth for a count of six.
Box breathing
Practice box breathing
Box breathing is an incredibly simple but powerful technique of inhaling, holding, exhaling, and holding again in equal counts.
This technique calms your nervous system and also increases your concentration.
Start with inhaling through your nose for four seconds, hold for another four seconds, exhale through your mouth for four seconds, hold again for four seconds and repeat.
Nostril technique
Try alternate nostril breathing
Alternate nostril breathing is an ancient technique to balance energy levels in the body.
It involves closing one nostril while inhaling through the other, and switching sides after each breath cycle.
Start by sitting comfortably with one hand on your knee.
Use your thumb to close one nostril as you inhale slowly through the open one.
Switch fingers after every cycle.
4-7-8 method
Use 4-7-8 breathing method
The 4-7-8 method is designed to promote relaxation quickly by altering breath patterns consciously over time intervals:
inhale quietly counting up till the number "four,"
hold onto this air inside lungs until reaching the number "seven,"
finally release it all outwards counting downwards till reaching the number "eight."