Equal Breathing: 4 Steps to Focus

by Jen Guarnieri
March 29, 2011

Jen G. is the Well Daily's resident yoga goddess. 

In your busy life, you're constantly surrounded by noise, but don't let that discourage you from the idea of meditation. It is often best to practice when in the midst of confusion since you really have to challenge yourself to concentrate. When you want to relax or de-stress, controlled breathing is a great solution—you don’t even need a yoga mat. It’s called pranayama, and it's one of the 8 limbs of yoga. You might think it sounds obvious to breathe, but it’s all too easy to allow the breath to become erratic or short, especially when you are in a stimulating or even chaotic environment.

One example of pranayama is a breath exercise you can do anywhere called sama vritti, which means equal breathing. Whether you’re impatiently waiting in line at the store, sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic or your mind is just racing with all that you have to do, equal breathing can help you to relax, focus and be present in 4 simple steps.

• Come to either a comfortable seat or a comfortable standing position where you can lengthen your spine and relax your shoulders.
• Close your eyes or gaze softly downward and close your mouth so that your lips are gently touching each other.
• Take a slow inhale through your nose that lasts for a count of 3.
• Exhale slowly through your nose for another count of 3.

Continue even inhales and exhales, counting your breath. Feel free to make the count higher to lengthen your breathing; just make sure that your exhale is as long as your inhale. You could even begin with a count of 3 and move up to counts of 4, 5, 6 and so on; work up to the longest breath and then begin to shorten the breath length from a count of 6 to 5 to 4, visualizing a pyramid in your mind.