Step 8: Extending the Inhale in a Sitting Position
This week you’re working on extending your inhale in a sitting position. This is the same breathing pattern you worked on in Step 5, but now you’re doing it in a sitting position rather than lying down.
Sit upright with your feet hip width apart and your hands on your lap. Lengthen your spine. When you inhale, intentionally expand your lungs. When you exhale, intentionally contract your lungs and belly.
As you did in Step 7, begin to extend your exhale by 1-2 counts, until it feels comfortable.
Continue breathing with lengthened exhales, then begin to increase the duration of your inhale by one count. When that feels comfortable, increase the inhale by one additional count.
Continue breathing with this new, lengthened breathing pattern and count the quantity of breaths on your fingers. Count 8 slow, comfortable breaths.
Rewatch the video from Step 4 if you’d like to review the details of how to extend the exhale.
After these 8 breaths, rest for 2-3 normal breaths, then continue to the recovery postures.
in - extend
pause
ex - extend
pause
Recovery
You did it! Mark your Tracker with today’s date!
Extending your inhales will refine your control of your core strength. If you can practice mindfully, the sensations of core strengthening become very interesting at this stage.
Practice Step 7 for at least 7 days, until you feel confident you’ve mastered it, up to 14 days.
The more consistently and mindfully you practice, the more consistently you’ll gain strength.
When you feel you’ve mastered Step 8, continue to Step 9.