Gratitude Breathing Meditation Exercise: How to Clear the Mind

Graititude Breathing
Meditation Exercise

How to Clear the Mind

Have you ever had trouble staying focused on one thing? Does you mind keep throwing all these ideas and thoughts at you whilst your trying to concentrate on something and you wonder “where in the hell is all this stuff coming from”?
Well, one really good way to clear the mind is a gratitude breathing exercise. Simply put, you focus or visualise on things you are grateful for whilst you practice a breathing exercise.
The exercise can be done for one or two minutes, or can go for half an hour. The longer you practice the breathing exercise, the better the results you can expect. This exercise will relax you considerably so it is best undertaken whilst sitting or laying down in a quiet area.

Start the Gratitude Breathing Exercise

1. Inhale

Inhalations are always shorter and more regular in length than exhalations. Breath in through your nose, being aware of the air in your nostrils and on the back of your throat. So you should use the inhalation for reciting (silently in your mind) ” I … am … grateful ”taking about 1 second per word. This is effectively the chorus or mantra around which the breathing exercise is conducted.
This should take between 3 – 4 seconds per inhalation. If you can’t control your inhalation to last longer than 1 – 2 seconds then it is about time you thought about quitting smoking and took up some sort of cardiovascular exercise routine.

2. Exhale

Exhalations generally take longer and are easier to control than inhalations so you use your exhalation for reciting the ‘ad-hoc’ statements you are actually grateful for in your life. For example, ” for … all … the … things .. that … I’ve … learnt ” is an ad-hoc statement for which you may be grateful for in your life. Your exhalation mantra will take longer to recite and this particular mantra should take between 4 and 5 seconds.
There a hundreds of things most people can be grateful for in their lives and these things should come to mind quickly without too much effort on your part. You can repeat the same gratitude 3 or 4 times or only once if you like before moving on to another gratitude.
It is up to you to focus on whatever you feel comfortable with and that you identify with emotionally and in your mind. This should be pleasurable. Anything upsetting should be immediately replaced with a pleasant thought or something you are grateful for experiencing. This should be a fun experience.

3. Put it all together

So, putting it all together; you have the grateful mantra to recite on your inhalation, and a gratitude to attach it to on your exhalation. For example: Inhale steadily through your nose for 3 to 4 seconds reciting to yourself
I … am … grateful ” (one second per word), then your exhalation ” for … all … the … things .. that … I’ve … learnt.
And again:
I … am … grateful ” (one second per word), then your exhalation ” for … all … the … things .. that … I’ve … learnt.
You may then like to move on to another gratitude, keeping the same ‘grateful chorus’ like, ” for … all … the … people … I … know “. For example: ” I … am … grateful ” (one second per word), then your exhalation ” for … all … the … people … I … know “, and repeat this only once, or for 5 minutes. It is up to you.

4. Stop Reciting, but continue breathing

The final step in the gratitude breathing exercise is to stop reciting the grateful chorus and the gratitude mantra. Continue breathing, inhalations for 3 or 4 seconds, and exhalations for 3, 4 or 5 seconds, what ever feels comfortable.
You will find that after going through and reciting the gratitude breathing exercise that your mind is clearer and less prone to the ‘monkey chatter’ and negative thought patterns so prevalent in modern society.

Explanation

What effectively happens is that you are training your mind to focus on things that you are grateful for and enjoy through a process of association with your breathing. The longer you practice this exercise the more control you will feel you have over your thought processes and how they occur. By exercising control over what you focus on and think about, the mind is less prone to the obsessive recital of negative thought patterns and behaviours. By exercising this control, you will find that you ability to slow down and even clear the mind of obsessive thought patterns improves and becomes easing the more you practice.

This article was taken from: http://way2bliss.com/gratitude-breathing-lesson.php