Somatic mindfulness exercise: belly breaths

Made for Medicinal Media by Rob VanAlkemade. Edited by Robyn Hutson. Music by House of Waters . Music supervisor Brian Keigher.

When was the last time you really focused on your breath? Maybe you can find a couple minutes to do it right now? In our latest somatic video, 8-year-old Ori will guide you through some gentle belly breathing exercises that might just help you reset your day.

Ori, 8, loves to read the Never Girls collection, listen to country music, draw, dance, and meditate under the massive trunk of Fiona the Fig Tree in Alondra Park in California, especially when nearby geese and rascally squirrels are watching and wondering.

Find a peaceful spot to sit down.

Notice what’s around you — colors, textures, geese, rascally squirrels.

Sit down with your back straight, and settle in. Now close your eyes, and just… slow down.

Let’s explore our breathing. Feel the rise and fall of your belly.

Feel the air coming in, and out, of your nose. Air in through the

Nose… belly rises. Air out… belly lowers. 

See if you can switch from breathing in, to out, so softly, that breathing feels like one movement, never ending.