An Active Breathwork
Technique for Restless Minds
In partnership with our friends at Avocado Green Mattress
You sit down at the end of a long day. You close your eyes and focus on the rising and falling of your chest. And despite your best efforts, you’re still swirling over what went well and what did not over the past however many hours. That’s normal. It’s not even a bad thing: Thinking is a part of meditation. But if you’re looking for something to help separate yourself from your mental chatter, active breathwork might be worth a go.
Breathwork practitioner Jasmine Marie, who facilitates groups focused on healing racial trauma through her organization Black Girls Breathing, recorded this guided practice for creating space in the mind and opening the heart. She begins with some mindful breathing and visualization before transitioning into a gentle but powerful technique in which you breathe in and out through a wide-open mouth and connect inhale to exhale without pausing in the middle. It’s soothing and clarifying, and the effort of actively controlling your breath gives your mind something to focus on other than your to-do list. We like to do it from a meditation cushion in the morning to get centered before our day begins—or from under the covers at night to draw things to a close.
Marie is fund-raising to bring virtual breathwork sessions to Black women at low or no cost. You can donate to her crowdfunding campaign here.
