10 Minute breathing & Relaxation Exercises For Stroke Survivors

Hi guys, my name is Anthony Bryan, and I'm a personal trainer with Ahemaplegia. And in today's video, we're going to be doing a 10 minute relaxation and breathing workout. We're going to do 10 different exercises for one minute each, working on breathing and relaxation. I want you to do this exercise with me. I'm going to do it for one minute at a time. So our first exercise is we're going to breathe in for four seconds. We're going to exhale for four seconds. So that'd be 1, 2, 3, 4, then exhale 1, 2, 3. We're going to do it together. One minute on the clock. Get ready. 3, 2, 1. So sitting tall. I want you to breathe in 1, 2, 3, 4. Exhale 1, 2, 3, 4. Inhale 1, 2, 3, 4. Exhale 1, 2, 3, 4. Inhale 1, 2, 3, 4. Exhale 1, 2, 3, 4. Inhale 1, 2, 3, 4. Exhale 1, 2, 3, 4. Inhale 1, 2, 3, 4. And relax, exhale. Next, I want you to inhale and expand your chest nice and big. And then exhale and try and bring your rib cage together. So inhale, expand. Exhale, ribs together. We'll do it together for one minute. Let's get ready with 3, 2, 1. Inhale as big as you can. Exhale as small as you can. Inhale as big as you can. Exhale as small as you can. Try and draw your ribs together as small as you can. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Deeper breaths. Exhale. Inhale. And exhale. Relax. Next, I want you to sit tall. And we're going to shrug those shoulders up towards your ears. And inhale as you shrug up. And exhale as you shrug down for one minute. Get ready, 3, 2, 1. Inhale. In. Then down. Exhale. Inhale, shrug up. Exhale, shrug down. So inhale. Exhale. Refocus on getting that weaker side up nice and high. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale through the nose. Exhale through the mouth. Shrug those shoulders nice and high. And down. Inhale, shrug up. Exhale and down. And relax. Next, we are going to inhale for 3 seconds. And we're going to exhale for 5 seconds. So it's a longer exhale. So inhale through your nose, 3 seconds. Exhale for 5 seconds. Let's get ready. 3, 2, 1. Inhale. 1, 2, 3. Exhale for 5. 1, 2. 3, 4, 5. Inhale for 3. 1, 2, 3. And out for 6. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. Inhale for 3. 1, 2, 3. Exhale for 5. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Inhale for 3. 1, 2, 3. Exhale for 5. 4, 3, 2, 1. Inhale for 3. 1, 2, 3. Exhale for 5. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Inhale for 3. And relax. Good, good, good. Next exercise, I want you to sit nice and tall. And I want you to close your eyes. I want you to imagine you've got to scan your whole body. So you're going to scan starting at the top of your head. And you're going to scan all the way down to your toes. And then back up all the way to your head for 1 minute. So we go up and down the body. By scanning the body, this helps our brain connect with our body. And helps us relax and feel our bodies. So we're going to do it together for 1 minute. Get ready. 3, 2, 1. Relaxing breathing the whole time. I want you to close your eyes. Start at the top of your head. And then scan down. So you're scanning down past your forehead. Scanning down past your eyes. Down past your nose. Down past your mouth. Down past your neck. Down past your collarbones. Down past your abdominals. Down past your hips. Down past your legs. Down past your knees. Down past your calves. Down past your ankles. And down to the toes. Now let's scan back up again. Up past the toes. Up past the ankles. Up past the calves. Up past the knees. All the way up to the hips. Up to your ribcage. All the way up to your collarbones. Up past your neck. Up past your chin. Past your mouth. And relax. So we're going up and down the body. Next exercise, I want you to sit nice and tall and hold your hands together. When you raise your arms up, I want you to breathe in. And then when you bring your arms down, I want you to exhale. So just breathe in. And exhale. We'll do it for one minute. Let's do it together. 3, 2, 1. Hands together, sit nice and tall. Breathe in as you come up. Exhale as you go down. Breathe in as you go up. Exhale as you go down. Get those arms moving as big as movement as you can. In, nice and high, as high as you can. Exhale all the way down. Breathe in, arms up. Exhale, down. Breathe in. Up, exhale, down. Breathe in. Up, exhale, down. Breathe in. Up, exhale, down. Breathe in. Up, exhale, down. And relax. Next, we'll do some breathing techniques to increase calm and release tension. So what we're going to breathe in. But as we breathe in, I want you to repeat calm. Then we're going to exhale. When we exhale, I want you to exhale and repeat tension. We're going to do it together. So it's calm, tension. Calm, tension. That's going to bring calm into our bodies and release the tension within us. So we're going to do it for one minute. So let's get ready. Three, two, one. Let's go. So sit tall, breathe in and repeat. Calm and then exhale, tension. In, calm, tension. In, calm, out, tension. In. Calm. Out. Tension. Bigger breaths now. In. Calm. Out. Tension. Big deep breath. Calm. Out. Tension. And relax. Onto our final exercise. I want deep breaths and I want you to think something that you are grateful for, for today. And we're going to hold for three seconds. Then we're going to exhale. Then we're going to have a deep breath again. I want you to think of something else that you're grateful for today. And then hold for three seconds and exhale. We'll do this for one minute. Final exercise. Get ready. Three. Two. One. Settle. Breathe in. Hold. Think of something that you're grateful for today. One. Two. Three. And exhale. Breathe in. Deep breath. Hold. Think of something you're grateful for today. One. Two. Three. Exhale. Big breath in. Something you're grateful for. Exhale. Breathe in. Something you're grateful for. Exhale. If you can, try and do something different every time you breathe in. Breathe in. Something you're grateful for. Exhale. Breathe in. Something you're grateful for. And exhale. Bigger breaths now. Breathe in. Hold. Something you're grateful for. And then exhale. Do it when you're ready. Breathe in. Something you're grateful for. Hold and exhale and relax. Well done guys, that is our 10 minute workout for breathing and relaxation exercises. I hope this 10 minutes of exercises has really helped you to relax and be calm and if you want to have an extra workout then redo this video or try one of my other relaxation videos on my YouTube channel. Make sure you give it a thumbs up and subscribe. I'll see you guys soon.