Two Syllables Practice

When combined together, syllables make a whole. In language, combining syllables makes words. Imagine applying that concept - combining separate things to make a single whole - to breathing. Each cycle of breath involves two respiratory syllables - the in-breath and the out-breath. Together, they make a single cycle, a complete experience, a single unit of breathing.

This simple, self-calming practice combines two, one-syllables words that together are a complete message that informs your awareness, shapes your experience, and supports your focus. It can also deepen your ability to be present to “what is.” Over time, this practice can build greater stress hardiness, improve resilience, and reduce the impulse to react unnecessarily to what is happening around you by remaining present with a sense of calm that you can create within you.

Below are examples of two-syllable phrases you can use in this practice. Say the first word to yourself on the in-breath and the second word on your outbreath. You can stay with a single set of syllables or allow yourself to wander across different sets of “syllabic couplets.” It doesn’t really matter. Stay with the two-syllable practice for a few moments at a time and gradually lengthen the time you sit with this this in-breath/out-breath practice. Eventually, you can allow recitations of the syllables to drop out entirely as you simply stay with your breath or a soft focus for as long as you’d like.

EXAMPLES:

Be here…Be now… Now be…My breath… Its fine...Right here...Right now…All right…At peace…Peace now…Just right...I’m whole…With love…