Here's how to begin your practice of BREATHING COORDINATION:

Find a quiet place to lie down. Put a pillow under your knees and also under your head. Once you are comfortable and have given yourself permission to completely relax, begin a SILENT COUNT, moving your lips as you shape the numbers from one to ten Do not make any sound, not even a whisper. You are going to begin to do this silent count without taking a breath. You will start from wherever you are in the breathing process at the time you begin. Your silent counting will occur easily. The muscles of your abdomen and back and those surrounding your ribs will relax. Your shoulders and neck will relax. You will feel yourself sinking downward as all of the muscles of your body release, relax and let go. You will not do anything to make this experience of relaxation happen. It will occur naturally as you silent count.

Simply imagine that the vowels of the numbers you are shaping are dripping from your upper lip, one following the other, comfortably flowing in a downward direction. Continue allowing one shape to flow into the next until you feel an AUTOMATIC INHALE come over you. If your body is not yet ready to respond reflexively, take note of any tension that might be creeping up in your abdomen. Before your abdomen succumbs to this tension, simply allow an INHALE to occur. Then begin your LOUD COUNT, "1-2-3-4-5". If you find yourself becoming tense before you reach the number 5, then just count to the number 2 or the number 3 or whatever number comes before the advent of any tension. There is no rush. No competition. No desire to count to any particular number. You are merely listening to your own body and asking of it only that which it can do comfortably. You are not trying to accomplish anything. You are simply letting go and giving yourself the time to enjoy this special time: listening to your body…. feeling…….. and sensing….. the smallest of messages……….. from yourself.. Taking notice of any little bit of tension that may be coming into your body as you loud count, you return to your SILENT COUNT just shortly before any small amount of tension creeps in, taking special notice of your abdomen- always allowing it to stay completely relaxed as it falls back into your hips. Your silent count now continues as long as you can feel your chest and your abdomen, your back and your shoulders, your neck and your arms and legs and torso letting go. By now, feeling extremely relaxed, almost floating, you have a deep awareness of all parts of yourself and as you continue to silent count, you take note of a slight tension coming from the distance into some part of your body. Before it arrives, you allow the AUTOMATIC INHALE to occur. Then you begin to LOUD COUNT and this time you add one or two more counts to the previous loud count number (If, for example, you counted to 10 on your previous loud count, this time you might count to ten and then add an additional 1-2 or even an additional 10. The count this time might be 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-1-2 or 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10. The manner in which you build your count will be totally individual, as it is completely dependent upon your capacity to move to the next step of the process before bodily tension occurs. All the time, the sounds are easily dripping from your upper lip as you feel the release of your chin and every other part of your body continuing throughout the process. Then, just before tension occurs, SILENT COUNT, then before you feel any pressure,AUTOMATIC INHALE, then LOUD COUNT until just before any small amount of pressure creeps in,continuing SILENT COUNT, AUTOMATIC INHALE, LOUD COUNT etc. as you slowly and calmly build your loud count by twos or fours or whatever is called for by your own body.

Begin your day, if you are able, by practicing Breathing Coordination. It is also a wonderful way to begin your evening sleep. Throughout the counting process you can raise up your knees to the ceiling, allowing the soles of your feet to stay on the same surface as your back and easily move your hips from side to side to release your back as your diaphragm begins to slide up into your ribcage while you are easily building your count. You can also put your arms straight out in front of you, clasp your fingers and move your straightened arms from left to right in order to facilitate the release of your back and shoulders. The relaxation of the spine is an important step in the recoordination process.

Remember, this is your time to release and become friends with your own breath. As your voice moves into the room, allow every cell in your body to let go…………… and resonate…….