Hello.
In this video,
We're going to go through three-part breath.
It will help if you have gone through the basic breath video,
But not necessary.
I'll take you through that basic breath as well.
And we're going to move breath through three parts of our body.
Our lower abdomen here,
Which is where our diaphragm lives,
Our ribcage,
And our chest.
These are the areas you should be breathing into anytime you're taking really full,
Deep breath.
As you'll see when we move through,
A lot of us only breathe in the chest area.
It's very rare that we naturally move through our ribcage,
Unless we're kids.
We kind of do that all the time.
And we don't really let that abdomen move.
A lot of us,
Depending on the world we live in,
Are self-conscious about this area.
So we try to keep it as tight and toned as possible,
But we really want to let it go.
In order to let this breath feel really nice,
We're going to do it laying down.
It can be done sitting upright,
But it's a little bit easier to feel the 360 wrap of the body when we have feedback from the floor below us.
So when we breathe here,
We're looking not only to concentrate on what's happening in the front of the body,
But also the back.
So let's find a nice,
Soft place to lay down.
Hands can help you on that journey.
Ease yourself down.
Good,
When you lay down,
Always feels good to give yourself a nice big stretch.
Good,
And then the shape the body makes is up to you.
You can have the legs nice and long.
For me,
And I would recommend,
Having your feet go nice and wide,
Maybe as wide as your mat if you're using one,
Knees knock in.
Good,
And we're gonna plant our hands down on our belly to start.
Having the feet wide and the knees knocked in gives us more space in the pelvis,
Takes out any tension there.
So give yourself a moment to settle,
Rock your chin a little side to side,
Maybe open and close your jaw.
Let all of that soften.
Good,
And then to stack the spine,
You want to press into your skull,
Right behind where your eyeballs are.
That's where we want to add a little pressure.
That'll help us lift our chin lightly.
So the front of our throat is just as long as the back of our neck.
Press back into that spot right behind the eyeballs.
See if you can lift your shoulder blades up and then crawl them down like little inchworm,
And then send your right shoulder blade more right,
Your left shoulder blade more left,
And this is gonna help us settle our ribs down.
Good.
Blink your eyes closed if that makes you feel comfortable or just a soft gaze upward,
Not looking at anything specific.
But just letting the eyes relax a little bit there,
The optical muscles releasing.
Before we do anything,
As always with our breath work,
We're just going to drop in for a moment and observe and just notice what we notice.
Good.
When we start to lose one of those senses,
Like our eyes,
Our other senses start to turn on a bit more.
So notice if there's still busyness and movement in the body or busyness in the brain.
And see if you can start to encourage that to slow down a little bit into a relative stillness.
Hands landing on the abdomen will just help give you a little bit more feedback about that breath.
Good,
Start to notice where your breath is in your body.
A good indication of that is what parts of your body move when you breathe.
And want parts are released still.
No judgment,
Just noticing.
Good,
Notice how your breath has a specific rhythm to it.
A specific piece.
And then just simply start to notice if you can actually hear your breath.
And if you can't,
Maybe see if you can turn up the volume a little bit so you hear each inhale come in.
Can you hear each exhale go out?
Good,
As we move through this breath,
I'm gonna encourage you to seal your lips lightly and let the breath move in and out of your nose.
If you're particularly stuffy or that's not available,
Soft breath out of the mouth works as well,
But as much as you can,
We wanna keep that movement in and out of the nose.
Altogether,
Hands rest comfortably on your abdomen.
Let's take a big breath in,
Make your belly big into your hands.
Through your nose,
Soft breath out.
Belly melts down,
Hands sink a little deeper into your abdomen.
Let's go again.
Big breath in,
Belly expands.
Big soft breath out,
Belly softens.
Good,
You keep that breath going.
Big breath in,
Belly gets big.
Big breath out,
Belly gets soft.
Good,
Keep hearing and feeling each inhale come in and out.
Now that the belly is getting a little more comfortable with that movement.
Can you notice what's also happening in the back of the body?
Can you start to breathe so big through the belly that you feel the back get a little bit wider too?
And then everything softens.
Good,
Our diaphragm lives up right at the base of the ribcage.
So as you make your belly big,
Your diaphragm slides down all the way towards your pelvic floor,
Making more space in the abdomen.
And you breathe out,
You let all of that go.
Good,
Let's do two more like that.
Breath in,
Belly and low back get big,
Diaphragm settles down.
Breath out,
All of that softens.
Diaphragm lifts right back up.
Relax your jaw.
Again,
Breath in.
Breath out.
Good,
Move your hands up to your ribcage,
That bony mass in the front,
Side,
And back of your body.
Keep the big belly moving.
And this time,
As you breathe in,
See if you can feel your ribs move underneath your hands.
Breath in,
Ribs get wide,
Front,
Back,
And side to side.
Breath out,
You let that soften.
Breath in,
Ribs get wide,
Front,
Back,
And side to side.
And breath out,
That softens.
And still let your belly move freely.
Let's do three more through the ribcage.
Breath in,
Really expand.
Breath out,
Let that soften.
Two more breath in.
Can you feel the ribs press deeper into the earth?
Breath out,
Release.
Good,
Last one like that,
Full deep in.
Pull the loop out.
Good,
Let your hands now move up to your chest,
Right around where your collarbones are.
Just let them rest down there.
Now breathe in through the chest.
You wanna feel it get wide front,
Back,
And again,
Side to side.
Breath out.
For some of us,
Getting the chest to move is the hardest part,
Right?
So no judgment,
No struggle,
Just imagining that chest expanding like you got really proud of yourself as you breathe in.
And softening as you breathe out.
Expanding deeply from backside to side when you breathe in.
And softening.
Let's go for two more just like that,
Big full in.
Big fallout.
Last one,
Big full in.
Big full out.
Good,
Now that we know how to move all three parts of the body,
Keep that breath moving smooth and deep.
You'll place one hand up towards your chest.
I prefer that left hand,
But either works for me.
And then your right hand all the way down towards the base of your pelvis.
So now we're gonna send a three-part breath from belly into the ribs,
Into the chest,
And then right back down from the chest to the ribs to the belly.
And you already know how to do it.
Just take a normal breath in right here.
And a soft breath out.
Here we go,
Connecting all three parts.
Big breath in,
Belly balloons first,
Then ribs expand,
Then chest opens.
Breath out,
Chest softens,
Ribs soften,
Belly softens.
Breath in,
Abdomen balloons,
Ribs expand,
Chest widens.
Breath out,
Chest softens,
Ribs melt,
Belly releases.
Breath in,
Belly balloons,
Ribs expand,
Chest opens.
Breath out,
Chest softens,
Ribs melt,
Belly softens.
Keep going,
Full deep in.
Full deep out.
Breath in.
Breath out.
Good,
Keep the pace going.
You're welcome to find an even slower pace if you need more time.
And really move your breath from one hand to the other.
Filling up all the nooks and crannies from the inside out.
Allowing the body to melt deeper into the earth,
The whole body expanding even more profoundly.
And then as you breathe out,
Offering a deeper release,
A deeper sense of calm.
Let's find three more rounds at your own pace.
No rush at all.
Make your way to your final exhale.
Gently release your arms,
Slowly tuck your knees into your belly,
Soft little rock side to side.
Good,
And then you'll land yourself over on your side in what we call a fetal position on your left side,
If that's available.
Left arm acts as a little pillow.
You settle yourself in and give yourself a moment there just to connect on the side of your body.
You breathe in,
Take in anything that felt good.
You breathe out to let go of any resistance that got in your way.
Your right hand is free.
It'll help you press all the way up to a nice tall seat.
Good,
Legs can cross,
You can kneel,
Whatever feels good to you.
Draw your hands up to your heart space.
We call this Namaskar.
Thumbs tap towards your sternum,
Sternum back into your thumbs.
Take a full breath in through your whole spine.
Audible sigh out.
Good,
Melt your chin into your chest.
A moment of gratitude for being open to learning something new.
To having the courage to slow down,
To listen,
And to be patient.
And most important,
As always,
Gratitude for yourself.
For who you are and for where you are on your journey,
You trust that it is enough.
Because you yourself are enough.
Namaste.
So thank you so much for joining me.
That three-part breath can be used anywhere.
Obviously,
It's a breath that helps to slow everything down.
So it's a beautiful practice.
If you're ever feeling a little overwhelmed and you have the space to lay down,
It's also a wonderful practice right before bed or any time when you're having insomnia or you just need to calm down a little bit.
Lay down on the floor,
Hands on your belly,
And feel the breath move all the way from the base of the pelvis into the belly,
Through the ribs,
Chest into the back and then soften the chest,
Soften the ribs,
Soften the abdomen.
I hope you feel great and I'll see you soon.
