A Calming Breath Practice with Scent
“When we fully engage with a scent and it becomes our focus, we can detach from busy distracting thoughts and experience a state of mindfulness and reflective awareness.”
Calming Straw Breath with Scent
Straw breathing - sometimes called pursed lip breathing - is a simple, nourishing breath practice that can increase feelings of calm and relaxation.
Research shows that if your exhalation is longer than your inhalation, it activates or stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system – calming and relaxing the body and mind.
As we enter more deeply into the Spring season – a time that is filled with gorgeous fragrances – you can use the scents around you to enhance and enrich this simple and powerful breath practice.
Things to smell:
A blossoming tree
A fragrant flower
The scent after the rain
The spring Earth
Calming scents like lavender or Roman chamomile essential oil
Body lotions
Bath salts
Here are the steps involved:
If it feels right, you can close your eyes for this practice.
First, take a long breath in through your nose and exhale with a sigh.
Next, bring a mindful focus to the scent that you are appreciating.
Inhale fully through the nose. Make sure the in-breath goes all the way down to the belly. Smell the scent all the way to your belly.
When you exhale, purse your lips and exhale gently as though you are blowing slowly through a straw. Imagine your entire being is infused with this vibrant scent that is full of life.
Feel the rising movement of your belly as you inhale and the falling movement of the belly as you exhale.
Continue to breath in this way - appreciating the scent as something alive, vibrant, varied, and unique.
As you breathe, you may want to notice:
the layers of smell
the shape of the smell (pointed, sharp, rounded, dull)
the memories it conjures and the feelings it arouses
Allow the smell to open itself to you and discover its beauty.
Breathe like this for a couple of minutes.
