Free Yoga for Grief: Week 2: Breathing Exercise for Grief & Stress

Last week you were invited to explore Heal­ing Grief in the Body with Gen­tle Aware­ness. I hope what you dis­cov­ered allowed you to release some of the pain and ten­sion in your body. Prac­tic­ing kind­ness to your body is the first step towards prac­tic­ing kind­ness to your­self, which allows you to not only heal phys­i­cal suf­fer­ing, but emo­tional suf­fer­ing as well.

This week you will focus on an expan­sive breath­ing exer­cise for grief and stress. It will deepen your con­nec­tion to your breath and learn how to use your breath to bring con­scious aware­ness to the present moment. It will also release ten­sion in your body, and allow your mind to take a break from wor­ry­ing about the past or future, which is often a side effect of grief.

Pre­cau­tions: If you feel light­headed or dizzy dur­ing this prac­tice, return to your nat­ural breath.

Prepa­ra­tion: Find a com­fort­able seated posi­tion or lay down on your back.

Step 1: Notice your Nat­ural Breath.

Bring your aware­ness to your breath with­out chang­ing its nat­ural flow. If it is shal­low, notice shal­low. If you feel tight­ness in your body when you inhale, notice that. Notice if your inhales are equal in length to your exhales, or not. Notice if it is easy to focus on your breath, or not.

Approach your breath with curios­ity through­out this exer­cise. Pay atten­tion to the sen­sa­tion of your breath, as well as the places where it feels stuck or tight, open and easy. Take the atti­tude of the wit­ness, nei­ther judg­ing your breath nor expect­ing it to be a cer­tain way.

Right now you don’t need to do any­thing spe­cial with your breath. Just feel and notice your breath as though it were the first time you ever paid atten­tion to it.

Step 2: Exag­ger­ate Your Breath in Your Belly.

Grief often tight­ens the belly. We tense up to pro­tect our­selves from future pain. For now, imag­ine that you can soften your stom­ach mus­cles. If it helps, bring a hand to your belly and invite it to release into your warm palm.

Swell your belly up like a bal­loon as you exag­ger­ate and lengthen your inhales. For now, let your breath stay in the lower 1/3 of your torso.

This does not have to be forced. Expand your breath as much or as lit­tle as feels right in this moment.

Step 3: Expand Your Breath to Your Midsection

Fill your belly with breath and then con­tinue to fill up your mid­sec­tion with breath. Think of breath­ing to your diaphragm and lower ribs. Imag­ine fill­ing the lower 2/3 of your body with breath.

When you exhale, let your breath leave your mid­sec­tion first, and then your belly.

Step 4: Expand Your Breath to Your Chest

Now you are inhal­ing in three parts. First belly, then mid­sec­tion, then chest. Your breath will leave your body first from your chest, then your mid­sec­tion, and finally your belly.

Your breath is like a wave, mov­ing in and out of your body in a steady rhythm.

Step 5: Let your Exhale Fall Out of Your Mouth

Inhale in three parts, then allow your exhale to just spill out of your body. A sigh or sound might hap­pen, and this will invite more release.

Step 6: Return to a Nat­ural Breath

Let your breath be easy and effort­less. Stay aware of your breath with­out mod­i­fy­ing it for sev­eral min­utes. When you are ready to end this prac­tice, gen­tly open your eyes and notice a few more breaths before return­ing to your daily activities.

Extra Credit

• After your breath exer­cise, do the Body Scan Exer­cise from last week.
• Jour­nal exer­cise: What is your rela­tion­ship to your breath? What can your breath teach you about how your body is cop­ing with grief?

Please feel free to leave com­ments or ques­tions below.