Flower Hand Breathing

The most popular technique I have taught

When I started teaching the flower hand breathing technique, I found it was the most popular of all the methods I taught during the mindfulness and meditation workshops. It is simple and effective in helping calm our minds. It combines breathing with hand movements. You can use one or two hands. It is up to you. I invite you, as always, to take what I teach and make it your own.

I learnt this technique from Sue Hutton during the Neuro-informed mindfulness course available at the Mindful Institute. I am grateful that so many mindfulness and meditation practices are available online for us to learn. I encourage you all to get curious and experiment with what works for you. If this technique does not do it for you that is also fine. I am sure there is a practice that will work for you amongst the many I will be writing about.

Why practice this technique?

As with all these practices, the why is unique to you. The reason I teach it is that it often helps people calm their minds. This is useful for several reasons.

If you find yourself feeling anxious. It helps regulate your breathing and focuses your mind on a moving object at the same time. This practice can be done in public or at home to help prevent your anxiety from ramping up towards a panic attack.

Breathing meditations alone can be hard to focus on. Sometimes the breath is too faint for us to notice. Adding the physical aspect of the moving hand helps give a physicality to the breathing practice.

If you have medical issues with your nose or conditions like asthma, it can be challenging to focus on our breath alone. Aside from worrying about our condition, we can also judge our breathing. Focusing on our hands means we are more likely to let go of these issues of concern and judgment, allowing us to focus on calming the mind.

If you have physical issues with moving your hand, you can use your imagination if that is easier for you. I know that when I was bed-bound I wanted to conserve energy and was not able to constantly move my hand for any length of time. You might find it more practical to focus on the breathing techniques that do not require an extra physical component if you have severe chronic fatigue, arthritis or a hand-related injury.

Personally, I often use it when I am starting a mindfulness or meditation practice. Having a busy AuADHD mind, I find the combination of movement and breathing is especially helpful. Sometimes my mind is so busy I cannot focus on just the breath. This is a stepping stone towards a breathing awareness mindfulness practice, which then allows me to focus on my meditation practice (eventually!).

How do I practice the flower hand breathing technique?

1. You can keep your eyes open, gently resting them on your hands, or anywhere you feel comfortable. If you prefer to close your eyes, that is also OK. You can also alternate between opening and closing your eyes if that feels comfortable to you.

2. Place your hand (or hands) in a comfortable position. This can look like:

• resting your hand(s) on your seat or leg

• raising one or both hands in front of you

• any other comfortable position for you

3. Gently start to move your hand like a flower, opening and closing. See the image below for an idea of what that can look like.

Place your hand in a position that resembles a flower opening. The dark-skinned hand in this photo has been photographed in grayscale with a white-ish background. Photo by Tony Sebastian on Unsplash

4. Sync your breath and your hand movements together. As you breathe in, the flower can open. As you breathe out, the flower can close - or the opposite, if that feels better for you.

5. Try this for a minute to start with, then adjust the time to a level that feels safe and comfortable for you.

NOTE: You can breathe out of your mouth if you are having trouble breathing through your nose. Colds, the flu and sinus issues do tend to bung us up! Breathe in whichever way is easiest for you, given your current state of being.

Where can I practice the flower hand breathing technique?

You can choose to lie down, sit down, or stand up to do this practice. I find that if I close my eyes when I stand up, I can start to feel wobbly, so be aware that this might be the case for you too.

If you keep your eyes open, you can practice this anywhere you feel safe to do so. This can include on a bus, in a hospital, or at your office desk, for example.

When we close our eyes, we can become vulnerable if we're outside or in a crowd, so I recommend ensuring you're in a safe place first before doing that.

If you come to my free ‘Mindful Monday’ online sessions, you can practice with me, guiding you as I tend to do this practice each week.

When can I practice the flower hand breathing technique?

You can use this technique to help calm your mind:-

• before a meeting at work to calm your nerves

• whilst waiting for a doctor’s appointment or in A&E to help keep health worries at bay

• on a busy bus or train journey to calm your anxiety

• at home on the toilet or in a bath when the children have been a handful and you feel the need for a moment of calm

• at night to help calm your mind and aid you in falling asleep

The list is endless of the times and places where this technique is appropriate, but I hope that gave you some ideas.

Mindfulness and meditation are practical tools that can be used at any time, day or night, as needed.