Step 4: Extending the Exhale
In Step 3, you learned to intentionally pace your breathing. In Step 4, you’ll work on intentionally extending the length of your exhale.
Lie in a comfortable position and place your hands on your abdomen. When you inhale, intentionally expand your lungs. When you exhale, intentionally contract your lungs and belly.
Work with the inhale-pause-exhale-pause breathing pattern:
inhale to the count you established in Step 3
pause
exhale one count longer than your inhale count
pause
When this pattern begins to feel comfortable and manageable, extend the exhale by one more count.
Breathing Pattern
inhale - pause - longer exhale - pause
Counting the quantity of breaths on your fingers, observe 8 slow, comfortable breaths, extending the exhale by one or two counts. After these 8 breaths, rest for 2-3 normal breaths, then continue to the recovery postures.
in - your comfortable count
pause
ex - your comfortable count + 1
pause
Here’s more detail!
Recovery
After you do the strengthening posture, follow up with these key movements to help your body relax and recover.
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Extending your exhale will help you improve control of your core strength. It may seem like an easy step, but it’s an important step. Approach with mindfulness and curiosity.
Practice Step 4 for at least 7 days, until you feel confident you’ve mastered it, up to 14 days.
Remember, you’re trying to strengthen the communication between your brain and your muscles. The more consistently and mindfully you practice, the more quickly the communication will improve.
When you feel you’ve mastered Step 4, continue to Step 5.