Nervous System Breath Reset

Nervous System Breath Reset

Take a few moments to slow down, breathe, and reconnect with yourself.

In this guided breath practice, you’ll learn a simple, step-by-step technique that breaks the breath into three gentle sections. We begin by exploring each section individually, noticing how the breath moves through the body. Then, we gradually bring all three parts together into one smooth, complete breath.

This practice is designed to help calm the body, quiet the mind, and encourage the nervous system to shift toward its natural rest-and-digest state - creating a greater sense of relaxation, grounding, and inner ease.

The video is filmed outdoors, surrounded by the soothing presence of nature, allowing the sounds, space, and tranquility of the environment to become part of the experience.

Breathe in. Soften. Slow down. Come home to yourself.

Transcript

Hello everybody and welcome to this Nervous System Breath Reset. My name is Sequoia Henning and I am honored to be your guide on this journey. I have been practicing breathing and pranayama for many, Many years and teaching it. And what I've noticed is there is a lot of shallow breathing. Everybody does it, Myself included. When our nervous system ears. In running in something called sympathetic. The fight or flight. Automatically. Compensates our breath. And we have shorter breaths. And so when. I'm teaching breath work of Pranayama. And I say, Everybody take a deep breath in. A common thing that I see is someone going like this. And so it's just the upper. Part of the body. This is very common. And what happens is there's a lot of people who are not getting air in the lower lobes of the lungs. So today. We are going to explore. Lower lobes. The middle. And the top. And then bringing them all together. So let's begin. So you can imagine. That the base of your abdomen. Has a tube around it. And what is happening is. . . The there's a flat muscle. That separates. The lungs and the heart. And the internal organs. It's called the diaphragm. And as I inhale, It pushes down and the internal organs come out. And as I. Exhale. Comes back up. And we've got to look at. What happens? If I'm not breathing deep. It's affecting. What organs are in here? Stomach, The digestion. The liver. Spleen? The gallbladder? And also the reproductive organs. And so even just. This breath alone, Because we're going to isolate this breath. Will make a huge difference if you have any digestive problems or reproductive problems. I've witnessed it. It's not sexy. It's not fancy. There's no bells and whistles. It's just about practice. So get in any position that you feel comfortable. You don't have to be sitting on the ground like myself. You can be sitting on a chair. You can be lying down. And imagine it's just the lower lobes of the lungs. And a lot of us. Have this preconception that we can't. Let her belly out. It might look like we're fat or something. Like there's this, You know, This society is built upon many layers of like, We shouldn't do this. We should look like this. And the reality is, Be who you are. And the more you are who you are, The more beautiful you become. So let's. Place our middle fingers together. About an inch away from the navel. And you want to imagine that your navel is kissing your fingers. So as you breathe in. The abdomen expands. As you exhale, I recall us back. Now, Ideally, You don't want your shoulders moving and you don't want your ribcage moving. So let's continue this. You might even place their hands on the side. And or the back. Becoming aware. Of the different muscles. That you're using and how it feels. So let's begin. With three. In this lower area. And this is a practice that I really enjoy. Really encourage you to do on your own. At least for 10 minutes. We're just going to do it for three breaths. When you're ready, Begin. Now let that go. And then take some regular breaths and just notice how you feel. If that felt uncomfortable. It might be because you don't breathe in the abdomen. And it's more of a reason to begin this practice. So what we're going to do now. As we're going to go up to the mid-range. And place the hands right underneath the ribcage. I can tell you my experience when I first started doing this. I couldn't. Connect to these muscles here. The intercostal muscles. I could not connect to them. So if that's you, Have fun. Have patience and compassion. So you're bringing the fingers together and then as like we're just isolating the midsection. And when? We inhale, The fingers spread apart. If this is a challenge, I invite you to lie down on your back and bend your knees. It'll be much easier. You could even put a book. On this area of your body. It makes it, It brings more awareness. So let's breathe in here, Three breaths. Ready? Letting your hands go. And just notice how you feel. Slowly opening the eyes and now we're going to go up to the upper lobes of the lungs. Most people know how to breathe in here, But we're just bringing that awareness. So let's tape. Three breaths in the upper lobes of the lungs. You ready? Lips are closed. Once you're finished your last round. Keep the eyes closed and just notice. How it felt. Bring the hands down. Take a couple of deep breaths in. To your lungs. And now what we're going to do. Is we are going to. . . Bridge these three separate. Practices into one. And this is the idea of this practice, Is doing it. This last breath. And sometimes depending on where you are with that. How you breathe. On a regular basis will depend on you. On. Isolation practices. And I can say from my own experience, Most people need to isolate the lower lobes of the lungs. And even the midsection. Okay, So. I'm going to suggest that we breathe in each section. For three seconds. So that's a total. Of nine seconds with a little pause at the top. And then exhaling the opposite way that we inhaled. Breathed in. Again, Three seconds. Yet we're all at different of levels. I'm going to invite you to count how many seconds it takes you to breathe in. Because maybe three is too much in each section. So then you would choose two. And maybe you don't pause at the top. Maybe you do. But that's what we're going for. So let's take a look. 9 Full with three seconds. In each area. And again, Honor your body first. If something feels overwhelming and you're feeling dizzy. You don't want to do this, Whatever. Listen to the wisdom within you before anybody else, Always. You're going to count on your own. Three seconds in each. We're going to do it for a round of nine. And notice what happens. I encourage the hands on the body where the breath is moving so you develop a deeper awareness. Let's begin with just an audible sigh to just relax the body. Sigh. And begin. Allow the shoulders to relax. The face muscles to relax. As you exhale, Just feel the body relaxing. At no time should you experience tension. Keep your awareness inwards. And anchor to the breathing process. You're doing great. And notice where you can let go a little bit more in this process. There's a tendency to clench your jaw. Tighten your shoulders. Feeling ease and a wave of relaxation with each exhalation. Once you've completed the nine rounds. Place your hands on your knees. Keep your awareness inwards and just notice your state of mind. And what has changed. Keeping your breath long. To even relax. Take one more deep breath in. Slowly open the eyes. Thank you for joining me in this breathing break. I trust you feel a lot different than when you first started. Thank you so much. If you have any questions, Let me know. And may you revisit this practice on a regular basis. Have the best day ever. Thank you so much.