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7-11 Breathing
This is a common breathing technique that you will often be asked to do prior to any meditation. Breathe in for 7 counts- through your nose- and breathe out for 11- through your mouth. To make this even more effective, as you breathe out try to make as much noise/vibration with your lips as possible. This activates your Vagus nerve.
Mostly you will be asked to do this 3 times- what does it do? Firstly, taking 3 deep breaths where you count and really focus on that air coming in and the air going out, along with the retraction and expansion of the diaphragm as your lungs inflate and deflate, helps you ground yourself in the present. Secondly, by breathing in through your nose you are giving your body clean air (your nasal hairs and tract work to take out all the toxins) therefore energising and feeding your body. There is a lot of research on nasal breathing- if interested look to James Astor’s book Breathe. Finally, by breathing out for longer you are getting rid of the stale air in your lungs thus replenishing them.
Good to do first thing in the morning, any time during the day when you feel the need to ground yourself (you will see athletes do this prior to diving, taking a shot, long jump etc. ), also just before you begin a longer meditation.
Bus Stop Meditation
This is another very quick everyday type of meditation. I call it bus stop because you generally wait in a queue. However this could be a queue anywhere- the supermarket, the petrol station, airports, even waiting for your takeaway coffee…the time we spend queuing adds up, so why not put it to good use. Normally, we tend toward frustration, anger, impatience, self-blame when we queue so turn what is normally a negative into a positive.
If you can, close your eyes and spend a minute grounding yourself- be curious to the effect of gravity on your body. We never really stop to focus on how the effort our body makes into keeping us upright. If you have more time, move your focus on to your breath- focus on the air coming in and then flowing out. Finally, return to your whole body again. This is a 3 minute breathing exercise, but you can spend as long as you want on each section depending on how long you have.
People often cite “I don’t have time to meditate every day” so the never meditate, or start well with 15 minute a day but soon the habit drops. I believe if you can build these small mindful moments into your day it can still lead to big changes. If you did 3 minutes a day that’s over 18 hours meditating a year. That’s got to be a good thing for your rest and digest system.