Segmented Breathing And Moving Meditation

This session is a deep dive of bringing the awareness to the body in the present moment by focusing deeply on different parts of the body and by mindfully shaping the breath to allow it to open fully. We will focus on the lungs with a segmented breathing exercise. This is a calming, grounding practice.

Transcript

We can start just kind of coming into the body and coming into the breath with just a nice gentle kind of full breath awareness.

And just as far as the plan,

As we start breathing,

Becoming mindful of the breath.

So I'm going to just do a body scan and we'll do a couple of breathing exercises.

We'll do some segmented breathing where we try breathing into different parts of the lungs and the body and the breathing apparatus.

And we'll do an exercise in sort of coupling the arms to the breath,

Which is something that's practiced in Qigong and also in yoga.

Just coupling the motion of the body to the breath.

And it's a nice way of enhancing our awareness of the breath.

We get this kind of feedback loop between expressing the feeling of the breath with our arms.

And that helps us kind of be more aware of it.

And so for that part,

Sitting is fine.

Standing can be good either way you're comfortable.

I think it's fine to do it sitting,

But it looks like everybody is sitting.

Nobody's lying down.

That is the only thing is it would be a little hard to do lying down.

And the segmented breathing is a little hard to do lying down too.

So that's the plan.

And as I said,

Yeah,

It's just a nice exercise in grounding and just being in the body,

Just staying here,

Right here,

Right now.

And as always,

Thoughts will come.

Don't push them away.

Don't smash them with a hammer.

They're not the enemy.

Just observe them.

Observe them come and go as the breath comes and goes.

And sure,

Yeah,

Of course,

Always just go with what's comfortable.

If the arm movements don't feel good,

Or if you do feel like you need to lie down,

I've definitely been there.

I've had low back problems and even been at workshops and stuff when people are meditating all day.

And I'm like doing it on modified on the back lying on the yoga mat.

So that's totally,

That's totally okay.

The most important thing is the awareness aspect of it,

Just being here with whatever it is.

If it's pain,

Do what you got to do to be comfortable and just stay with it.

So yes,

Just come into the breath and just for a few breaths,

Three or four breaths,

Just follow the breath all the way to the top and all the way to the bottom.

Just stay with the rhythm of it.

Notice the different parts of the breath,

Like a wave,

Like a tide that comes in.

And washes out,

Comes in bringing nourishment,

Fullness,

And washes out leaving spaciousness and clarity.

So just feel it.

Notice if the breath is short,

If it's a long deep breath,

If we feel tightness anywhere,

Just gently,

The broad brush,

Just allow your awareness to sweep over your whole body,

The whole breath.

Good.

And once all together,

We'll take a vocal breath.

So breathe in a little more fully and then breathe out like,

And just let that vocal breath release some of the tension that we're bringing.

Just find a little bit of relaxation and then return to just a natural breath.

And yeah,

Maybe shake around,

Jiggle the shoulders,

Jiggle the arms.

Just welcoming everybody to the party,

All the parts of the body,

All the sensations.

Just come back to the breath.

Moment by moment,

Every breath is different.

Every breath is a whole session.

All the way to the top,

Right at all the way down to the bottom.

And now let's bring our awareness down into our feet.

Just hold both feet in your mind.

Give them the spotlight.

And just see what's there.

And let's first focus on the right foot.

Just bring all the attention to the right foot.

It gets center stage for a while.

Just hold it there patiently and feel what sensations are there.

Pressure,

Temperature,

Tightness,

Pain,

Pleasure,

Softness and warmth of your sock or the carpet or just the air.

The top and the bottom of the foot,

Space between the toes,

The inside of the foot,

The muscles and the blood.

Maybe you even feel your pulse.

And the foot,

If you listen carefully,

Just hold the right foot.

Does a lot of work,

Doesn't get a lot of credit.

So just give it its moment in the spotlight.

Now we'll shift to the left,

The left foot.

See what's there.

Areas of sensation,

Maybe areas of numbness or blankness even.

Don't force it to be any way that it's not.

Just let it feel.

Just let it be.

The toes and the space between.

Heel.

Surface and the interior.

See if you can feel the blood pumping in the foot.

Good.

Now hold both feet together.

Two spotlights on the stage.

Just let them be.

Hear them.

See them in your mind.

And now allow the awareness to travel up into the calf and the shin and the ankle.

Just traveling up and down.

Allow the awareness to travel up into the calf and the shin and the ankle.

Just traveling up the legs.

Maybe do first the right leg for a few seconds and then the left.

Just shift back and forth at will.

Give them each a little attention singly and then hold them together.

Notice the moment when you switch.

What is that like?

Putting one down and picking up the other.

There's an interesting moment when we switch.

Just try to notice that.

And the knees.

Move up into the knees.

The left knee,

The right knee.

If there's any stiffness or pain,

Just invite comfort,

Invite softness.

If there's pain,

Feel the pain.

Let it feel heard.

Let it deliver the message.

Don't push it away.

But don't dramatize it.

Don't be carried away.

Be the observer of all the sensations in the body.

Travel up into the upper leg,

Thigh.

These powerful,

Large muscles that can also be very tight.

The hamstrings.

The seat,

The buttocks,

The hips,

The groin.

Just pass gently with a nice,

Warm gaze.

Just smile to the sensations you find there.

Just open that up,

Open that area.

Soften those muscles to accept the breath.

And travel up over the abdomen,

The lower back,

The chest,

The lower back,

The lower back.

And just breathe in and breathe out.

Soften those muscles to accept the breath.

Travel up over the abdomen,

The waist,

Diaphragm,

The belly,

The guts.

Feel what sensations arise there.

The organs,

The muscles.

The low back,

The posture of being upright.

What does that feel like today?

What does that feel like right now?

In the middle of the chest,

Around the heart.

The mid back,

The upper back.

Muscles of the chest and the shoulders.

Move up into the neck and the throat.

Breathe in and feel if there's tightness.

And breathe out and allow the tightness to relax.

And if you swallow,

If you have the urge to swallow,

Just listen to that complex melody of sensations that is a swallow.

It's a whole sequence of muscles and sensations and sounds.

Just listen to that melody if you feel the urge.

Move up into the head,

The back of the head.

Maybe there's some tightness there.

Some stress.

Some tingly electricity in the scalp.

Around the ears,

The cheeks and the jaw muscles.

Maybe there's some tightness there.

These muscles do a lot of work.

Smiling,

Not smiling,

Speaking,

Chewing.

Speaking,

Chewing.

Just let them rest.

Lips,

The inside of the mouth,

The palate,

The tongue.

It's complex territory.

There's a lot going on in there.

Back out to the front of the face,

The lips.

Feel the nose and the cheeks.

Feel the breath in the nostrils or the lips.

The eyes and the eyelids.

The forehead.

The temples and the crown.

And then just feel the whole head with a soft encompassing gaze.

Feel the head as a whole.

And allow the breath to lift up into the head.

Feel a sort of lift from the breath if we breathe upwards into the head.

See if you can feel that sensation.

Now let's move downwards along the back of the head and the neck.

To the neck muscles and the shoulders.

And down into the arms.

Upper arms,

Biceps and triceps,

Shoulders.

And down into the head.

And down into the arms.

Upper arms,

Biceps and triceps,

Shoulders.

Let's feel the right arm first.

The right upper arm and shoulder.

And just linger there for a moment.

Patiently allow the sensations to unfold with a few breaths.

And the elbow of the right arm and the forearm.

Just linger there for a few breaths.

What sensations are there on the skin,

Inside,

And the muscle?

Maybe we can feel the blood pumping.

Down into the right hand.

And feel the whole hand.

And we'll travel through the fingers.

Start with the little finger of the right hand.

What sensations are there on the skin?

What sensations are there inside the little finger?

And the space between and the ring finger of the right hand.

The middle finger of the right hand.

The second finger,

The pointer of the right hand.

And the thumb.

And now try to hold just the fingertips of the fingers on the right hand.

Just the tips.

Those sensitive instruments that we use to feel things and explore the world and to type and do all kinds of important things.

Just the very tips of each finger.

And then hold the whole right hand again.

Just as if that were your whole body.

Just be there in the right hand.

Now relax the right hand and we'll do the left arm.

Starting back up in the shoulder.

So come back to the left shoulder.

Maybe the neck a little bit.

Just that complex of muscles on the left.

And move down into the left upper arm.

And breathe.

Don't forget to breathe.

Always maintain some attention on the rhythm of the breath.

Even if it's just like a 10% attention.

It's good to stay anchored with the breath.

Just hold the left arm,

The left upper arm and see what sensations are there.

There's pain or stiffness.

Let's breathe in with the in-breath.

Bring the tightness or pain into sharp relief.

Feel it intensely.

And then with the out-breath,

Just invite it to soften.

Not forcing away the pain,

But just relaxing it.

With the in-breath,

Give it its moment in center stage.

The sensations of tightness.

Then let them relax.

Let them rest.

And the left elbow.

And the lower arm.

Let's rest our gaze there.

And just patiently allow the signals,

The feelings to come out.

Sometimes they can be shy.

Sometimes they can take a little bit of patience,

A little bit of encouragement to come forward.

Just give it some time.

Feel the less obvious feelings.

Don't them come forward.

And then moving down into the left hand.

Just hold the whole left hand.

And skin,

The muscles inside.

And the fingers,

The little finger on the left hand.

Feel each segment,

Each joint,

Each knuckle.

The space between the fingers and the ring finger.

The top and the bottom,

And the tip,

And the nail,

The joints.

The space between and the middle finger.

The space between and the middle finger.

Top and the bottom.

Outside and inside.

The space between and the pointer finger on the left hand.

And the left thumb.

And just hold the whole left hand as if that were your whole body.

And now let's drop the left hand and shift back to the right hand.

Just the right hand.

And notice what that switch is like as we drop the left hand and come back to the right.

Might be a little easier to hold the right hand now because we were scanning it recently,

So it's kind of activated.

So notice if that's true.

Just hold the right.

And now let the right go and switch back to the left.

And notice what happens in the awareness as we switch.

The fading or turning down of the sensations on the right and the turning up we're bringing into relief of the sensations on the left.

And once more,

Switch back to the right.

And now hold both hands as if there were two spotlights on the stage,

The right hand and the left.

And then the right and left arm all together and the shoulders.

Just that whole complex of the two arms and hands.

Shoulders.

And breathe and feel the breath.

Feel what happens in the arms and the chest as the breath comes in and the breath goes out.

And now we'll try another little exercise.

So if you want to just softly open your eyes,

This isn't too dramatic.

So if you want to just softly open your eyes,

This isn't too dramatic.

And if you're more comfortable just staying with the breath and the sensations,

That's fine too.

But I like this.

This can be kind of nice.

So I'm going to actually move over here and stand up so you can see it a little better.

So basically,

And it's really it's more about feeling into it than worrying about how it looks or anything.

And if it makes you self-conscious to do it on the camera,

You can shut off your camera,

But I'll be doing it and looking silly too.

So please don't feel self-conscious.

But basically,

The basic exercise is to find,

You find a position with your arm where it sort of feels like it's resting on the breath,

On the muscles in the diaphragm and the chest.

So if you find the right position,

Where it just sort of feels like a natural resting point that sort of comes up with the breath and goes down with the breath.

And like,

And maybe it's maybe it's when you're fully exhaled,

Maybe the hands are resting in your lap or just resting in space downwards.

And then when you breathe in,

It feels sort of natural.

There's this kind of lifting as these muscles in the chest and diaphragm open.

It's sort of naturally lifting.

And it can feel a little bit as if there was like a bubble or a balloon kind of centered around your abdomen,

Your lower abdomen,

And your hands are resting on that.

So just give that a try.

If you like,

Just try to feel into that and see if there's a place where you can sort of feel like you're resting your arms on the expansion of the breath.

And it helps if you sort of breathe downwards,

Really let the low part of the abdomen open up.

Or,

You know,

You can breathe with the whole breathing apparatus,

The whole chest,

But start from the bottom.

So you feel this nice kind of lift upwards and opening up towards the fuller part of the breath.

And then when you're done,

You can take a deep breath in,

And then you can take a deep breath out.

And see if that can kind of just gently carry up the arms.

Not maybe not a whole thing all the way up to here,

But just even if it's just a very small lift of the arms as the breath comes in.

And just play with that.

Take a few breaths to just play with that and see if you can feel it.

Good.

And we'll move into doing some segmented breathing or partition breathing,

Where we try to shape the breath a little bit.

And I think it's nice to use the arms if we connect with that feeling.

If you don't,

If it feels like a distraction or just something extra,

You can just let it go and just follow the segmented breathing.

But I like to do it.

It can be a nice accompaniment because as we shape the breath,

The way the arms move around a little bit differently can be just a sort of expression and can heighten our awareness of this.

But you don't need to do it to do the segmented breathing if it's a distraction.

If you're not connecting with it,

You can just relax it.

So just come back to the breath either with the arms or without as you like.

And so just kind of breathe a little fuller than naturally.

Not just a resting breath,

But with a little bit of maybe 10% more effort,

10% more focused,

Just open the breath up a little bit,

A little bit more actively,

Particularly into the bottom.

Make sure we're opening the diaphragm.

If you're doing the arms,

Just allow the arms to rise up with the breath,

Carry it up,

Have a nice gentle wave or the tide,

Like a buoy on the tide that rises with high tide and then comes down to rest with low tide.

And so now as we breathe in and out without shaping it anymore at first,

Just breathe as you were breathing with just that little bit of extra effort to make it a little bit of a more full and active breath.

Just notice if you can,

If you feel a little bit more full on one side or the other,

Excuse me,

As if you're breathing a little bit more into one lung or the other,

Often one lung opens up a little bit more than the other.

So without trying to shape that yet,

Just see if you can notice,

Just notice those two sides.

So maybe focus more first on the right side and the left and switch back and forth,

Just the awareness as we were doing with the hands.

And just see if you can notice if you feel a little bit more open in one lung or the other,

On one side or the other.

So just try that,

Just try noticing that,

Taking the temperature of the two sides for a few breaths,

See how that feels.

Good.

And so now what we're going to do is we're going to breathe a little bit more mindfully,

Again,

Not violently,

Not with a lot of force,

Just with another,

Maybe additional 10,

20% effort.

So what we do,

What we're going to do is next time you come to an out breath,

Breathe all the way out,

Release the breath all the way,

Hug the diaphragm in to the spine,

And then just try to breathe into just the right side a little bit more than the left,

You know,

So keep it a little closed on the left,

Maybe lean over to the left a little,

The posture and the breathing muscles are very connected,

But not dramatically,

Not with force.

And just try to open up a little bit more on the right side.

And see if you can,

If you're using the arms to see if you can express that with the arms,

Maybe the right arm comes up a little bit more,

Not doing it intentionally,

Just notice if,

If just by inviting the right lung to open up more fully,

How that changes the shape of the breath and the feeling.

So two or three breaths,

Just try to open up more on the right side than the left,

And then we'll switch.

See if there's any kind of pockets in that lung that don't habitually open the way we breathe,

Just allow it to fully open,

Receive the breath.

And then next time we come to an empty breath,

We'll switch and we'll,

We'll breathe into the left more than the right.

See if that left hand feels lifted up a little bit more,

Lifted up by the rising tide of the breath.

And now let's try to get fancy and we'll switch breaths.

So we'll breathe all the way out and then breathe into the right and then breathe all the way out and breathe into the left.

And we'll just go back and forth for a few rounds and give that a shot.

Just really feel it,

See what it feels like on each side.

And then after we've done each side a couple of times,

Two or three times,

And you're ready,

Just move back to a natural,

A natural breath,

That natural sort of like slightly deeper than baseline breath,

But centered,

Grounded.

And if we're using the arms,

Just let them rise gently together and with the breath and sink and see how that feels.

And notice what the quality of the breath is now,

If it's a little more open.

How does the back feel?

How does the muscles of the rib and the abdomen,

How does everything feel?

How does the heart feel?

And the next one that we'll try is and the next one that we'll try is,

Can be even a little more tricky because it's a little more abstract,

But basically we'll try to breathe into the front and back and hold the sides a little bit more.

So if we can breathe into the back and the front and not so much into the sides of the ribs.

And it might be a very slight,

It might be a very slight movement,

Movement difference,

But just see if we can just open up a little bit more back,

Kind of in the front back access and hold it a little bit more in the sides.

Just try that a little.

And maybe the arms help us to express that a little and find that subtle difference in posture and subtle difference in tightness and openness.

Let's give that a shot.

And then on the next out breath,

Get good and empty,

Breathe all the way out.

And then we'll try to breathe into the sides and keep a little bit more tension in the front and the back.

Just open out to the sides more.

So maybe we find the arms lifting out to the sides a little bit more.

As the breath expands the sides of the rib cage,

And we keep a little bit of tightness in the abdominals and the back.

And then we'll try to switch back and forth a couple of times.

So on the next out breath,

Breathe into the front and the back.

And then on the next out breath,

Breathe into the sides.

And we'll try that two or three times.

Good.

Then on the next out breath,

We'll try to breathe all into the front.

So we'll keep the back a little bit closed and just really just bloom out to the front with the breath.

Maybe the arms just really like open,

Like we're just going to give the room a hug.

And maybe even like lean back a little and arch your spine as we just breathe into the front.

And just breathe into the front a few times.

Just shine upward,

Upwards and outwards in the front direction.

That's a nice full breath.

And then after that,

After we've done that a few times,

We'll try to hold the front closed a little and allow the back to open up.

This one can be a little tricky.

But those muscles along the back of the ribs and shoulders,

The back of the low back,

Just really try to let those open up and breathe into the back.

So maybe the arms kind of tilt forward,

Curve our spine a little.

And let's try that three or four times.

That was nice.

Sometimes we really don't open those muscles up when we breathe.

At least me,

I forget about this sometimes.

And then we'll try to alternate there.

So on the next out breath,

We'll breathe into the front,

And then we'll breathe out and then breathe into the back and switch back a few times back and forth.

And then as you finish the next round,

Just breathe openly into every part of the chest.

Just try to breathe in nice,

Full,

Relaxed breath.

Just open up the muscles of all the different parts.

Just receive the fullness of the breath.

And exhale fully,

Wring it all the way out,

Squeeze the sponge out,

And feel that spaciousness at the bottom of the breath and fully empty.

And then we'll relax the arms if we've been doing the arms.

And then the energy that was going into the arms,

Try to let it flow up into the head and just lift the head with the in-breath.

Just breathe upwards into the head.

Stretch out the spine as the head lifts from the seat with the in-breath.

Almost feel like a nice traction on the spine,

Like we're stretching out the spine.

It can feel so light that we feel like we're about to lift up off the seat,

Like the breath could just carry us up off the seat like a balloon.

And then when we relax,

Keep the spine nice and straight and wring out the sponge.

Feel that straightness.

And then we'll just breathe in and out.

Straight,

Strong spine.

And let the breath lift us up again.

And feel the lift all the way up into the head,

Up into the crown of the head.

And I can almost feel like we're breathing in through the top of the head,

Like as if we had like a blowhole,

Like a dolphin or a whale.

Breathe in through the top of the head and let that breath carry you up,

Lift you up.

We're drinking our way up into the air.

Just feel that upwards,

Outwards force.

And then relax that.

Breathe all the way out.

And on the next in-breath,

Just try to feel the breath opening from the heart,

Just blossoming out in every direction from our core,

From the center of the lungs and the heart,

Shining out in every direction,

Out into space.

As if you could share the breath,

Share the nourishment and energy of the breath with everyone else.

Breathe in with everyone else in the group.

Breathe in energy for them and try to breathe out their tension.

As if you could breathe in,

Breathe out,

Breathe in,

Breathe out.

Breathe in energy and breathe out relaxation,

Not just for yourself,

But for everyone in the group.

And for people you know that might be very distant or might be close,

Your friends and family,

Share the breath with them.

Share the peace and goodness and pleasure of the breath and relaxation.

Share that good feeling with everyone,

Everyone in the world.

Everyone deserves a nice,

Peaceful,

Relaxing breath.

All creatures deserve to enjoy just the feeling of being in their bodies moment to moment,

Not needing anything else.

Just being at peace with what is,

Feeling the joy of just being alive.

And as we move into the final closing stage of the practice,

You can start to wiggle around a little,

The fingers and the toes,

Shift the posture,

And start to gently open our eyes and welcome in the light of the day.

And start to gently open our eyes and welcome in the light,

Welcome in the space of the room.

And try to share that peaceful,

Loving breath,

That gentle awareness that we've been washing over our body and just share that with the space,

Share that with the time,

Share that with your surroundings and the people you interact with.

And just carry that with you and know that it's always there.

You can always take the time to check in with the breath,

Even in the midst of chaos,

Just one or two peaceful breaths,

Being aware of the breath,

Being aware of being aware of the breath.

Just remember that it's always there to find.

And we'll bring the practice to a close.

And I just want to thank everyone for sharing this practice,

Sharing this moment,

And this time and the space with me and with the others in the group,

And with your friends and family and everyone you interact with.

Breathing for them,

Feeling peace for them.