Jane O’Rourke – Self-compassion and Self-care 5 Minute Breathing Exercise

Hello, my name is Jane O’Rourke. I’m a Child, Adolescent and Family Psychotherapist and a yoga and mindfulness teacher.

So start by finding a comfortable posture. It might be that you want to sit on a cushion or in a chair or perhaps lying down, whatever you feel you most need in this moment.

And start to take a few slow, easy deep breaths, just to let go of whatever you’re carrying around with you today, any emotional baggage. And then either closing your eyes or, just gently lowering the eyelids and then start to bring your attention to your breath. The intention here is to bring a friendly attention. So noticing where you’re breathing most easily. It might be that you can feel the breath most at the tip of your nose, perhaps as a cool breeze on your upper lip. Maybe you’re most aware of your chest, or your belly rising and falling. So bringing a gentle curiosity to the sensations of the breath. Just feeling your breath here for a while. And then when you notice that your mind has wandered as minds do, just come back to feeling your breath again…

Just let your body breathe you. So no holding of the breath or trying to change it in any way. And now put your hand on your heart reminding yourself that you’re bringing a kind attention to your breathing. Our breath is with us from the moment we are born until the moment we die. So our lifelong companion. So allowing yourself to appreciate this breath that sustains us. Wherever we go, whatever we’re doing, it’s always there, it’s there to help us when times are difficult, if we need to slow down, if we need to ground and steady ourselves.

So bringing curiosity and enormous gratitude for this, this breath that gives us life and then exploring how it feels by perhaps putting the other hand on top of the hand that’s already there, on top of your heart. And feeling this as a compassionate gesture for yourself, looking after yourself. Bringing a tender awareness to your breath, be really present to how you are in this moment, looking after yourself.

Not worrying about how many times your mind might wander, just gently returning it back to the feeling of your of the breath underneath your hands. And then gently resting your hands on your lap, just noticing how your breath is now.

Give yourself a few moments to experience the sensations in the whole of your body. A curious observer of what’s happening in your body in this moment. And staying here for as long as you like and then whenever you’re ready, coming back into the room in your own time.