Hello everyone,
I'm Kavalia Shantikar and I'm excited to be here with you today.
We're going to be practicing a breathing technique called diaphragmatic breathing and this particular breathing style is really good for beginners.
It benefits everyone but it can be really helpful when you're just starting to practice different types of breath work or what we call pranayama.
So before we get into the breath itself,
Just come into a nice comfortable position with your spine nice and long,
Shoulders over the hips,
And if you're a very beginner sometimes it's nice to actually lay down because then you know your spine is straight and you're comfortable.
But wherever you are and however you're sitting,
Just start to bring your attention inward so that you're more aware of your breath than you are of things in your external environment.
Simply being aware of breathing in and aware of breathing out.
Don't worry about controlling the breath at all.
There's no need to slow down the breath.
There's no need to speed up the breath.
Whatever speed you're at is perfect.
Just become more aware of breathing.
I'm beginning our breath.
We're going to take our hands and put it on our chest.
See your fingertips are near your collarbone,
Your hands just resting gently.
And as you inhale,
Notice your chest rising.
And as you exhale,
Notice your chest falling.
Being aware of the outward movement on the inhale,
And the downward movement on the exhale.
Nothing to control,
Simply feeling your hands rise on the inhale,
Feeling your hands fall on the exhale.
At the end of your next exhale,
Take your hands and move them down to your ribs.
Gently placing your hands on your ribs.
And as you inhale,
Feel your ribs expand.
And as you exhale,
Feel your lungs collapse.
Inhaling,
The hands lift out to the sides as your ribs get nice and big.
And as you exhale,
You feel your hands fall down as your ribs come closer together.
Not slowing down the breath.
Not controlling the breath at all.
Not increasing the breath.
Your breath is perfect just how it is.
Simply notice the movement of your hands and your ribs as you inhale.
And the movement of your hands and your ribs as you exhale.
Taking each breath in and each breath out with awareness.
As you feel ready,
Move your hands down to your lower belly.
And as you inhale,
Notice your belly get nice and big.
And as you exhale,
Notice your belly fall in.
Being aware of the expansion on the inhale.
Contraction on the exhale.
So there's no need to think about the size of your belly or how deep you're inhaling.
Simply notice your hands rise.
Notice your hands fall.
No need for inhalation or controlling of the breath in any way.
Simply allowing your belly to expand on your inhale and fall on your exhale.
Simply being aware of breathing in and aware of breathing out.
As you're ready,
You can keep one hand on your lower belly and then bring your other hand back up to the top of your chest.
And as you inhale,
Become aware of your chest,
Ribs and belly expanding.
And as you exhale,
Notice your belly,
Ribs and chest contracting.
Becoming aware of that full deep inhale and that complete exhale.
Allowing your body to fully breathe in and allowing your body to fully breathe out.
And as you're ready,
We'll take one more deep inhale all together.
And exhale,
Let it all go.
And throughout your day,
I encourage you to come back to this breath.
And just notice breathing in and notice breathing out.
