Dear ones,
Pleasure to be with you today.
This is a practice to remind you of your true strength.
I would invite you to play this recording on those days where you feel down,
When the world is beating on you and you are forgetting your true nature.
The intention of this recording is to inspire you to take a moment,
To grab a pause,
To join me in a round or two of breathing and center yourself back in the present moment.
With my voice I will guide you to that place within where you will remember who you are,
Where you will find the courage,
The strength,
The ability to look fear right in the eye and to remember that you are supportive.
You are powerful,
You are beautiful,
You are loved.
The world needs you as there are no two people just like you.
Please close your eyes with me,
Find yourself in a safe place.
Remove distractions,
Pets,
Phones just for a moment.
If you can find a comfortable place to sit and put your feet on the ground,
That will make the practice even more useful.
Place your hands on your thighs,
Your feet on the ground and begin to sense the support that the ground provides.
Make any movement that you need throughout the practice to find more comfort and ease.
With the next breath I would like you to notice your feet,
Legs,
Pelvis as they join your trunk,
Arms and hands and how your head sits beautifully at the top.
Now notice that your breath begins to move your belly in and out and imagine a wave coming in and out creating more oxygen,
Creating movement inside your body.
And see if you can make this wave just a little bigger by inhaling a little deeper and exhaling very slowly.
Breathing in with me and out.
Breathing in again and out.
Now with the next breath I would like you to place your hands on your abdomen and we'll together revert this breathing pattern creating the opposite effect.
So with the next breath you will suck your belly in and then exhale out.
And again breathe in sucking your belly in like a vacuum and out.
And the next one do the same thing and raise your shoulders a little bit,
Suck your belly in and out.
One more suck your belly in,
Contract your abdomen and out.
Let it go.
Put your feet on the ground again,
Take a deep breath,
Feel your belly like a balloon.
Hold it,
Release very slowly through the pursed lips as if you were blowing air through a very small straw.
Breathing in again,
Feel the belly,
Relax your shoulders,
Let the air out again.
One more time,
Find the length of your spine,
Breathe in,
Feel the belly.
Hold and breathe out,
Let the air out naturally,
Take a moment,
Sense yourself again.
Now for the next round of breathing I'm going to ask you to bring to your mind's eye an image of yourself where you felt happy,
Where you felt grateful,
Where there was something that made you very joyful,
Something that you can remember as a happy day,
A happy moment or a moment of joy,
Perhaps excitement or just a calm,
Peaceful joy.
Maybe somebody gave you a gift or you gave a gift to somebody or you felt somebody's warmth or support.
And now place both hands on your heart,
You can put one on top of the other and take another breath and breathe through your heart,
Expanding your belly and your chest and let it out.
And again hold that image of joy and happiness in your mind's eye and breathe through your heart,
Feeling the warmth on your hands,
The expansion on your chest and let it out.
And one more time,
Feel the chest expanding,
Breathe through your heart,
Bring that image to the back of your eyelids,
Hold it and let it out.
One more time on your own time,
Breathe in through your heart,
Holding the peaceful joyful image on your mind's eye and let it out.
Now put your hands down on your lap again and just take a count,
This little practice,
Five minutes,
Maybe seven.
Notice your center of gravity sitting on the chair or the floor,
Notice if there's any change in your awareness.
Take a moment to reflect on this practice as you move into the next activity,
See if you can take it with you,
See if you can practice breathing fully through your belly,
Breathing fully through your heart,
Of course seated calmly with the eyes closed and perhaps also in the middle of a situation or as you go about your day.
In the same way I invite you to notice if there's a chance that anything that happens makes you hold your breath and suck your belly in,
That's the pattern of anxiety.
And see if you can identify doing that and you can bring yourself back to a full belly breath or put your hand on your heart and fully breathe to it.
And again observing if this creates a minor change,
Just a little change that you can perceive.
It is my intent that these practices remind you of your beauty,
Remind you of your essence and remind you of how much loved and supported you always are.
Much love to you.
Until next time.
