My name is Jenny,
And this is a breath practice to help open up your breath,
To allow your body and your brain feel that it's safe to receive a full,
Deep,
Expansive breath and to allow you to really open up your inhale and exhale,
Ready to receive a full and present day.
This exercise is best done lying down,
Knees bent,
Feet on the ground,
But just make sure you're comfy wherever you are.
Bring your eyes to a gentle close,
Maybe one hand on the heart,
One hand on the belly,
And let's begin.
Allowing the jaw to relax and allowing your eyebrows to soften,
Really feeling your back into the ground,
Allowing your back to really melt to the earth underneath.
If you can,
Placing one hand on the heart,
One hand on the belly,
And allowing your hands to gently rest there.
Just allow your breath to start to move into those spaces,
Allowing your body to really connect with that touch,
And allowing yourself just to connect with your natural breath.
Just breathing here for a moment,
And as you breathe,
As just one breath at a time,
You start to turn your awareness inwards.
So what can you feel or tune into as you breathe today?
What sensations in the body,
Even if it's like a little flicker or a heartbeat,
Or just the awareness of the ground underneath?
What energy,
What emotion is there with you today?
No need for explanation,
Just a space of breathing in and welcoming.
Breathing in and letting whatever's there just be there,
Freely able to move and arrive as it wants to.
Take a full breath in through the nose,
Let it go with a sigh,
And just place both hands on the low belly.
Just for a few moments,
Send your breath as deep into the belly as you can,
Almost like there's a ball of light underneath your hands,
And as you inhale that light expands,
Feeling the hands rise as the belly rises.
As you exhale its softness,
Safety perhaps.
You can stay here,
Just feeling the touch of the hands,
Just feeling the breath go deep into the belly.
Or you can even gently add a little bit of acupressure or massage onto the inside of the hip bones,
Onto the psoas muscle,
Just as you breathe out.
Just allowing a little touch in whatever way feels good,
Whether it's a little massage inside the hip,
Or just a gentle hand on the belly.
As you breathe into this deep space,
Perhaps adding an affirmation like,
I am safe to receive a deep breath,
I am safe in my body to feel.
Or simply,
I am here,
Letting the affirmation land and letting the breath as possible today.
Feeling that sense of root,
Of safety,
Take a full breath into that space.
Let it go with a sigh.
Bring your hands,
Your focus to the ribcage.
And feel the breath travel to the ribs,
Front,
Side and back.
Almost like this ball of light is now expanding as you inhale into the ribs,
Feeling your strength,
Feeling your power here as you breathe into this space.
Perhaps adding either a little bit of massage between the ribcage or underneath the ribcage where the diaphragm sits.
I am safe to let go of control as I breathe here.
I am safe to step forward as I fill my ribs with breath.
As you breathe here and feel your strength here,
Take an inhale into this space.
Let it go with a sigh before coming up to the heart.
Placing your hands on the heart and rather than feeling your heart rise up into the throat,
I want you to see just how much space you can breathe around your heart,
Into your chest.
As you fill your heart with breath,
With space,
Just noticing what the heart is feeling today or what the heart needs to feel.
If it's tight,
You can massage just in front of the armpits or any part of the chest that feels a little caged.
You can even massage the shoulders.
Just maybe telling the shoulders it's okay to take a bit of that weight off.
It's okay to let go a little.
Just let the heart receive breath.
Then just letting the hands rest wherever feels good.
Just take a last minute here to see how full a breath you can receive today.
Deep into the seat of safety,
The belly.
Deep into the power center,
The ribs,
Your strength.
And full into the heart.
Space to feel.
And you can stay here for a little longer if you like.
Or with as full a breath as you can receive right now.
Take a full inhale,
Belly,
Ribs and chest.
And let it go with a sigh.
Keep coming back and keep showing your body,
Your breath,
Your brain that you are safe and you are strong enough to really receive a full breath.
That you are strong enough to receive a full life.
This drill will help you potentially feel a little more grounded in your day to day breath.
And just teach the body that it's alright to breathe.
Thank you so much for joining.
Let me know how you find this.
Let me know where you're practicing from.
And I'll see you on the mat very soon.
