Welcome,
This is Britta.
Sometimes we need help to find our own reset button,
To help us to shift from possible stress mode,
The fight-flights,
And to engage the parasympathetic nervous system,
Your rest and digest.
And in this session,
We'll use a simple but powerful breathing method,
Called the 4-7-8 breath,
Which can help to lower the stress response,
And lower the blood pressure,
And bring you many benefits,
One of which is just coming back into a state of harmony,
Equilibrium and balance.
So I'm going to invite you to make yourself really comfortable.
You can do this lying on the ground,
On a yoga mat,
In a bed,
On a sofa,
Or even sitting on a chair.
But please just make sure that you're in the most comfortable position for you,
And that you're going to be warm enough,
As your body temperature will drop.
So just pause the recording if you need to,
And come back.
And when you're ready,
We'll begin with some deep breaths.
Taking a deep breath in through the nose,
And out through the mouth.
Feel the body releasing and softening as you exhale.
Inhale through the nose,
Exhale through the mouth.
Do that one more time.
Deep breath in,
And a deep,
Slow breath out.
Letting go of all the tension,
And just beginning to feel stress and tightness dissolve away from the body.
Closing down the eyes,
If they're not already closed.
And sense your body lying in the space where you are,
Or sitting where you are.
Just sense the shape of your body.
Notice all the different kinds of sensations that come and go throughout your physical body.
And you might also just notice thoughts that come and go.
And if your mind is very overactive,
Just be patient with yourself.
And we'll start the breathing exercise in a moment or two,
Which will help you to find an anchor,
Bringing your attention away from your mind,
And away from your thoughts.
So slowing down the breath,
And slowing down the thoughts,
Allowing the body to soften and relax,
The edges of your body to melt deeper into the space where you are.
And allowing the edges of the mind to also relax.
Letting go.
So we're going to breathe in for the count of four,
Then we'll hold the breath for a count of seven,
And release the exhalation slowly for the count of eight.
So on your next in-breath,
Count your own inhale to the count of four,
Hold the breath in for the count of seven,
And slowly exhale to the count of eight.
And if this rhythm just feels a little bit too intense for you,
Or it's a struggle,
You can change that rhythm.
It could be four,
Six,
Seven,
Or four,
Five,
Six.
Inhaling for the count of four,
Holding the breath gently for the count of seven,
Exhaling slowly to the count of eight.
And continuing that cycle of four,
Seven,
Eight,
Or whatever breathing rhythm might feel just better for you.
Inhaling for the count of four,
Holding the breath gently,
Relaxing through the face and the muscles,
And then exhaling for eight counts down.
And just continue for two or three more rounds of four,
Seven,
Eight.
And don't worry if you lose your way with it.
And just come back to the next in-breath for four.
And then after a time when it feels right for you,
Allow your breath to settle into a natural breathing rhythm once more.
After your next exhalation maybe.
Keep the eyes closed.
Notice how you feel,
Sensing your whole body breathing easily in this calm and relaxed state.
Allow yourself to bathe in the wellness and the calm that you're experiencing,
Or any other sensation of well-being that you might be experiencing at this moment.
And then slowly start to wring yourself round.
And if you're not quite ready to emerge back into the world,
Then you can just pause this recording and just stay where you are,
Or just continue,
Just continue relaxing in this space if you'd like.
If you are ready to begin to emerge,
You could begin to again deepen the breath and imagine some energy coming in,
Some chi,
Prana,
Coming in with your in-breath,
Filling up your chest cavity and your abdomen.
And just letting any final stresses that you're noticing there,
Any tensions,
Disturbances,
Just releasing anything,
Any tightness in any parts of the body or discomfort.
And then we can just bring a little bit of movement to the toes and the fingers.
Maybe wiggle the jaw and bring the hands together over the chest,
Just in a kind of prayer position.
Let's just rub the hands,
The palms together,
Generating some energy again,
Some chi or prana.
Rub them quite vigorously to get some energy moving.
And when you're ready,
Just place your palms,
Warm palms over any part of your body that you would like to experience some healing,
Self-love,
Compassion,
Generosity.
Any of those values that you'd like to offer to yourself could be over the heart space,
Over the eyes,
Or any other part of your body.
You can gently flutter the eyes open in your own time and bring yourself back to the space and environment that you're in.
Gently moving into the rest of your day or your evening with this feeling of well-being and connection.
Thank you for listening.
I'll see you next time.
