Welcome to the practice of breath mapping.
We'll be moving through the breath bit by bit,
Noticing as much as we can.
This practice is designed for lying or seated in a way that's comfortable for you
and where it is safe for you to do so.
Come to a comfortable lying or seated position.
Something that feels stable and comfortable,
Where you can breathe with a lot of space and
capacity in the chest.
If you're lying you might like to make sure your hips and shoulders are
grounded,
The heels are relaxed into the earth and your arms are a bit further away from the body.
If you need a thin cushion or any other support under the body,
Just placing it under the base
of the head,
The shoulders or your hips.
If you're seated,
Just taking some time to feel
really supported,
That your feet are firmly on the ground and your hands are resting in your lap.
You might take the elbows a little bit further out from the body and relax your shoulders.
Just begin to become aware of your breathing.
Noticing your regular pattern of inhaling and exhaling.
Trying not to change your breath,
Just being with it as it is.
When you're ready we will begin to just notice the inhales.
So just bearing in mind that you'll
bearing in mind that you'll continue to breathe but pay particular attention to your inhale,
Knowing that the exhale will naturally follow.
There's no need to worry about the exhale,
Stay with the inhale till the end and then relax your focus until the inhale begins again.
On your next inhale,
Notice the breath meeting the body around the nostrils.
On your next inhale,
Notice the breath meeting the body and how it travels
into the nostrils towards your sinuses.
On your next inhale,
Noticing the breath
meeting the body moving through the nostrils and sinuses into your throat.
On your next breath,
Notice the inhale moving into the body through the nose,
Into the sinuses and down to the throat and perhaps noticing the lifting of your collarbone.
On your next inhale,
Just noticing the nostrils,
Your nose,
Sinuses,
Throat,
The collarbone lifting and perhaps the inner middle of your chest,
Swelling outwards.
On your next inhale,
Noticing the breath meeting the nostrils,
Traveling through the nose,
Into the sinuses,
Down into your throat,
The collarbone lifting
slightly and the breath filling both lobes of your lungs like balloons.
On your next inhale,
Noticing the breath moving through the nose,
On your next inhale,
Noticing the breath moving through the nose,
Sinuses,
Into your throat,
Lifting the collarbone slightly,
Filling both lobes and noticing how
the sternum and the spine move away from each other with the chest expanding.
On your next inhale,
Noticing the breath meeting the nose,
Traveling into the sinuses,
Throat,
The collarbone lifting,
The lobes of the lungs filling,
The sternum and spine move away from
each other and the side ribs expand outwards,
Creating more space in the side body as the
breath pushes up against the ribs.
On your next inhale,
Noticing the breath meeting the nostrils,
Traveling through the sinuses,
Throat,
Your collarbone lifting,
The lobes filling,
The sternum and side ribs and spine all moving outwards away from each other and the feeling
of the bottom of the lungs pressing gently into the edge of the diaphragm as it pushes down towards
the belly.
On your next inhale,
Noticing the breath moving into the body,
Traveling through
the nose,
Into the throat,
The collarbone lifting,
The sternum and spine move away,
The lobes fill,
The outer ribs expand outwards,
The bottom of the lungs press into the diaphragm
and the belly makes space for the breath to fill the full chest.
Spend a few more breaths following all the way from the nose down into the belly.
Stay with the inhale following the breath from the nostrils all the way to the bottom of the belly.
Noticing the movement the whole way,
The whole inhale for at least a handful more breaths.
On your next inhale you might start to notice
how there's a slight turn at the end of the inhale as it moves towards an exhale.
From this awareness we'll shift our attention to stay with exhales letting go of the inhale.
Noticing your exhale.
Now with the next exhale notice how the belly pushes up gently pushing the diaphragm upwards
pushes up gently pushing the diaphragm upwards into the chest.
On your next exhale notice how the belly moves upwards pressing the diaphragm back towards the
chest and the diaphragm presses into the bottom of the lungs pressing them gently back into their
regular shape.
On your next exhale notice the belly pressing upwards the diaphragm pressing
into the bottom of the lungs and how the outer ribs move back towards the middle
gently hugging the lungs towards the center.
On your next exhale noticing the breath as the belly pushes upwards the diaphragm
squeezes the bottom of the lungs the ribs hug towards the middle
and the spine and sternum move back towards each other towards the middle of the body.
On your next exhale noticing the belly pressing in and upwards into the diaphragm the diaphragm
pressing into the lungs the outer ribs hugging towards each other the sternum and the spine
moving towards each other and the sinking of the collarbone.
On your next exhale noticing the belly pressing in and upwards the diaphragm moving up the bottom
of the lungs being pressed by the diaphragm back up the outer ribs pressing inwards hugging the
lungs the spine and the sternum moving back towards the middle the sinking of your collarbone
and the feeling of the breath moving in towards the throat on your exhale.
On your next exhale notice the belly pressing in and up into the diaphragm the diaphragm
pressing into the bottom of the lungs the outer ribs hugging towards the middle the sternum and
the spine coming back towards each other the sinking of the collarbone the texture change
of the breath moving into the throat and noticing the sinuses and how it feels for
the exhale to be in the sinuses.
On your next exhale noticing the belly moving inwards and
upwards pressing into the diaphragm diaphragm pressing into the bottom of the lungs the ribs
squeezing and hugging back towards the middle from the sides the front the back and the collarbone
sinking down slightly noticing the texture of the breath as it changes
moving in the throat and sinuses and finally into the nostrils.
On your next exhale noticing the belly pressing inwards and upwards lifting into the diaphragm
the diaphragm squeezing the bottom of the lungs upwards the ribs hugging the breath
squeezing it out of the lungs your collarbone sinking slightly the change of texture and
temperature as the breath moves into the throat your sinuses and nose and finally the exhale
moving out of the body.
For the next handful of breaths stay with the exhale as it leaves
from the bottom of the lungs all the way out through the nostrils.
If it's possible to now follow both the inhale and exhale stay with both the breaths in and out
for as long as you can noticing as much as you can.
Staying calm centered with the breath even if you move off track a little bit
come back notice where you're up to and continue following from there.
Letting go of the breath pattern allow your attention to just rest gently with the breath.
You might let your attention stay with the breath but also take some time to really notice your body.
Notice the parts of the body that are resting on the earth and the parts of the body that are not.
Allow your awareness to come back more presently into the space that you are either lying or seated in.
Knowing that you don't have to move straight away but you're slowly bit by bit coming back
into the awareness of being in this space preparing to move back into your day or your evening.
Allow your breath to become deeper in your own time and feel free to introduce small movements
to slowly wake the body when you're ready.
That might look like wiggling fingers and toes,
Moving hands and feet or if you're lying down
you might extend the arms overhead and the feet in the opposite direction.
If you're seated you might stretch out your arms and legs in a way that feel comfortable
for you.
If you're lying take some time to come to your side,
Have a handful of breaths before even moving again.
You can stay here for a few minutes remembering that for blood pressure
or pregnancy concerns left is best for rest.
When you're ready to begin moving through the day make sure you have your eyes open and are very
conscious and present in the body and use as much support as possible as you need to come up to seated or standing.
Thank you so much for joining me in the practice.
I hope you have a wonderful day or evening and feel
more grounded and present.
Thank you.
