Mindful Practice: Lower-Belly Breathing

Lower-belly breathing or deep belly breathing is a form of somatic meditation as it entails not only mindful breathing but also awareness of bodily sensations.

It involves conscious breathing through your lower-belly, being aware of both the in-breath (through the nose) and the out-breath through the mouth.  You can place one hand on your lower-belly (below the navel) and the other on your diaphragm.

Now breathe into your lower-belly to a count of four, and exhale to a count of four, feeling the expulsion of breath through your diaphragm. You can complete a number of sets of this exercise and also combine it with holding your in-breath for a count of four and your exhalation for the same count.

This breathiing exercise can be done lying down or sitting up.  It is often recommended that you start with lying down and progress to sitting up.

In the following video, Christina Macias discusses the benefits of deep belly breathing – a foundational breathing exercise, and takes you through the basic steps involved (beginning at 6.45 minutes).

Christina Macias stresses the importance of balancing deep belly breathing with other forms of breathing, including conscious expansion of your rib cage.  Her instructional videos on her Facebook channel take you through the benefits and steps involved in each form of breathing exercise.

Lower-belly breathing is an easy way to grow mindfulness and increase your awareness – to take your awareness out of the stress-producing chatter in your head and grounding it in your body.

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