Mind Body & Soul Activities
Breath Counting Meditation
In our current world everything goes fast and the flow of information can get overwhelming! It is important to have tools that gives you the opportunity to re-center your mind on the present. Yoga is one of these tools. Meditation is another one. Antoine and Cavita started exploring these some years ago (each Individually before they meet), after being exposed to several articles explaining how one’s mind, by focusing too much on the past or the future and not on the now, was actually able to bring down the whole self.
As part of Lean Lifestyle’s group of articles on meditation, here is a simple meditation exercise that is perfect to start. With this, we can enter the huge world of meditation. This exercise is called the Breath Counting Meditation.
This exercise can be done anywhere, anytime as long as you feel comfortable. The longer you can do it, the more self-centered you will feel. Be careful, if you are too tired, you may end up falling asleep… Already happened to Antoine :/
​
1. Sit on a chair or on the ground (in a cross-legged position) with a straight back. Close your eye, try to relax your muscles and your inner tensions, take a few deep and long breaths exhaling all the worries clouding your mind.
​
2. Focus your attention on your breathing. After exhaling, but before breathing in, count silently as follows: “one” (inhale, exhale), “two” (inhale, exhale)… until you reach “ten” and then start back at “one”.
3. While counting, try to keep your mind on your breathing and the sensations associated to it like the air going through your nose and your mouth, your diaphragm and rib cage rising and lowering. You will notice your mind starts wandering, sometimes after it has already dragged you in some thoughts. Re-center gently your focus on your breathing and continue counting. Do not feel frustrated about it. Be kind to yourself. We often uses the image of the wind of the breathings pushing away the clouds of the worries from the sun (being your inner-self). Keep at it for as long as you can focus on the breathing while being comfortable.
​
4. Once done, listen to your surroundings, smell the odors in the air, feel the touch of the fabrics on your skin. Open slowly your eyes and enjoy the view that appears to you. Look at all the details and the vibrancy of them. Enjoy being in the present, being alive.
Your turn now! Give it a try, be patient with yourself and experience new levels of awareness.