So getting as comfortable as possible,
Knowing there's no rush here.
You can do this sitting up or lying down,
Whatever suits you.
Lying down is a little bit more preferable and allow yourself to sink deep into the bed or the sofa beneath you.
If it's okay for you,
I'd gently invite everybody to close down their eyes.
As we are going on an internal journey today,
We want to disconnect from that outer world and connect to our own inner world.
That outer world is made up of pleasures and distractions which we all enjoy from time to time and our own inner world is made up of stories and beliefs in the mind and sensations and emotions within the body.
We'll even leave behind the stories and the beliefs momentarily and we'll drop into the non-verbal world of the body.
As above so below,
As within as without,
The vastness of the cosmos that we reside in.
We also have the same amount of space deep within inside ourselves.
We are the universe.
Cain and Nish to our two-on shop,
I invite you to kindly notice your breath,
Seeing how it is that you are breathing right now in this moment.
You don't need to change or fix your breathing right now,
Simply become more aware of it.
Are you breathing fast or slow?
Are your breaths short or long?
Are you breathing shallow or deep?
One way to notice if you are breathing deep is if your belly is rising and falling with each breath.
You may be breathing a little shallower if you feel your chest is moving more.
Your breathing pattern is as unique as your fingerprint.
So throughout this journey,
I want you to follow my guide as best you can and breathe in a way that's comfortable for you.
As we move through this journey,
Your breath will open up,
The body will release tension,
The mind will quieten down.
If it's okay for everyone,
I invite you to place one hand on your belly and one hand on your chest.
And as you breathe now,
In and out of your nose or in through your nose and out of your mouth,
Whatever's comfortable for you.
Just be with the breath as it journeys through your body.
Seeing if each inward breath can be a little bit deeper than the last one.
As you continue to breathe now,
I want you to see if you can double the length of your inhale and double the length of your exhale.
No force,
No pressure.
Enjoying each deep nourishing breath.
Feeling the rise of the belly and the chest on the inward breath and the fall on the outward breath.
And over the next few minutes,
Seeing if you can double the length of your inhale and double the length of your exhale again.
Fully expanding your lungs.
Seeing what your capacity is for a full inhale.
And how slow and controlled can you allow the exhale to be.
Continue breathing in this way and we'll do a short body scan to help everybody settle into the moment.
So imagine a beam of light beginning at the tips of your toes.
As it moves up your foot towards your ankle,
It brings with it a sense of warmth.
It moves up the front of your shins,
The backs of your calves,
The fronts and the backs of your knees.
This light of awareness simply represents your attention.
Allowing it to move along gently up along your thighs,
Towards your pelvis and your hips.
This is a major energy center in the body.
We can carry a lot of energy here.
Allow that light of awareness to drift up your tummy,
Your lower back,
Along your ribs,
Your chest,
Your upper back,
Where it meets your shoulders.
Imagine this beam of light splitting within each arm,
Meeting your elbows,
Your forearms,
Your wrists,
Your hands,
Your fingers and your fingertips.
And now imagine this beam of light gently gliding back up,
Meeting the back of your neck,
Where it moves along the back of your head towards the crown,
Along the top of your scalp,
Towards your forehead,
Your brow,
Your eyes,
Your nose,
Your cheeks,
Your ears,
Your mouth and your chin.
Now I want you to imagine this beam of light lifting up off of you and forming an orb in the sky above you.
And within that orb I want you to place your intention for the breath walk journey.
Is there something you want to let go of?
Is there something that you want to welcome in?
Setting your intention,
Placing it within the orb of light and letting it float away.
Trusting that your breath will bring you everything that you need now.
I'm turning your attention back to your breath now.
It's okay for everyone,
I want you to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.
A full inhale and a gentle exhale.
For the main part of the breath walk we'll be breathing in and out of a relaxed open mouth.
Just before we move into that,
We're going to do five physiological sights.
This is a breath walk technique that you can use at any point throughout the day.
It'll help send a calm and relaxing signal to your nervous system.
It involves a double inhale and extended exhale.
So whenever you're ready,
I want you to breathe in through your nose,
Filling up your belly,
Filling up your chest.
When you feel your full,
Take an extra sip of air and then let it slowly fall out of your mouth.
Controlling that exhale.
Then again in your own time,
Breathing fully in,
Filling up your lungs.
Pause and taking that extra sip of air.
Then let it slowly fall away,
Extending that exhale.
Again,
Breathing all the way in,
Deep into the belly,
Up into the chest.
Pause,
Take that extra sip.
Let it slowly fall away.
This time completely emptying the lungs.
Now we'll do two more of them.
Breathing fully in,
Take that extra sip.
Slowly exhale.
Completely emptying your lungs here.
Now one more time.
Fully in,
Extra sip.
And then gently let it go.
This time when you fully exhale and empty your lungs,
I want you to push out a little bit more air.
And then come back to breathing.
Nice and coherently.
Take a moment just to check in with yourself right now after engaging in a small bit of breath work.
Allowing your body to sink deeper into the surface beneath you.
Once at this point,
I invite everybody to allow their jaw to hang open,
Nice and relaxed.
And we'll begin breathing in and out of a relaxed open mouth.
You can bring your hands up to give it a bit of a massage.
If you feel you're carrying any tension there,
You can wiggle your jaw side to side.
Make some funny faces.
You can stick your tongue out all the way.
This will help release tension in that area.
And then just begin drawing the breath in.
Deep into the belly,
Open to the chest.
Through a relaxed open mouth.
Remembering that the breath does not need to be fast.
We just want a full breath in and a relaxed breath out.
And just for right now,
Seeing if you can breathe fully into your belly.
Seeing if each inhale can be a little bit deeper than the last one.
A full breath into the belly.
And now extend it up into the ribs.
And gently let it go.
This is conscious connected breath work.
It's conscious because we are giving our breath all of our attention.
And our attention is our most valuable asset.
It's connected because we allow the inhale to roll into the exhale.
And the exhale to roll into the inhale.
One continuous breath.
And it's breath work because we need to put in a little bit more effort than usual.
Learning where our threshold is.
Where is it within our capacity to grow.
With each breath,
Feeling the body soften.
Feel the diaphragm release tension.
Feeling the breath opening up.
Breathing deep into your belly,
Up into your ribs.
And one final push up into your chest.
And then gently let it go.
And find your next breath.
Letting the music guide you along as you continue to breathe.
Seeing if each inhale can be a little bit deeper than the one that came before it.
Staying aware of all the sensations in your body without any judgement.
We're not here to change or fix anything.
We are simply here to breathe through it all.
And all parts of you are welcome here.
During the first few minutes of breathing in and out of a relaxed open mouth.
Experience a bit of dryness in the back of your throat.
This is totally normal and it will pass.
Simply adjust yourself.
Find your rhythm again.
Coming back to the breath.
In about 10 breaths we'll do a short breath hold.
For now,
Continuing to breathe.
Trusting the process.
And ultimately trusting yourself.
Breathing deep into your belly.
Up into your heart space.
And gently let it go.
Coming straight to your next breath.
A full breath in.
And a relaxed breath out.
At the top of your next inhale I want you to breathe in all the way and hold at the top.
And we're simply going to stay here for 15 seconds.
If you need to breathe at all,
You just go ahead and breathe.
It's okay.
You'll feel yourself dropping back into the body when you exhale.
In 3,
2,
1.
Letting go.
Emptying the lungs and then holding at the bottom here.
We're just going to stay here for 20 seconds.
Again,
If you need to breathe it's totally okay.
I want you to trust your body has everything it needs in this moment.
Allowing yourself to relax into the breath hold.
We're already halfway there.
Welcome back to our breath in 5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Deeply inhale.
And gently let it go.
Coming straight to your next breath.
We'll now try and eliminate any gaps or pauses between the inhale and the exhale.
Allowing one breath to roll into the next.
You don't need to put too much thought into it.
Your mind may be busy asking if you're doing this right or if you're doing enough.
No,
You're doing it absolutely perfectly.
Every time the mind tries to distract you,
You simply come back to your breath.
Breathing fully into your belly.
Up into your heart space,
Nearly up into your collar bones.
And then gently let it go.
Softly allowing that exhale to fall away.
No need to blow out any air.
You can imagine yourself as if you're breathing in 100%.
Now letting go of about 20 or 30%.
And then coming straight to your next breath.
As you breathe in this way,
You'll be met with resistance,
Negative thoughts and doubts.
And you don't need to fight any of it.
Because what you resist persists.
When you're met with resistance,
Breathe into it.
Give it more breath.
When you're met with any doubt,
Breathe into it.
Give it more breath.
Ruach is the Irish word for air,
Breath and spirit.
The air that moves through you has already moved through oceans,
Mountains,
Forests,
Animals and ancestors.
The breath that you breathe is not yours alone.
It's the common act we all share.
When you breathe in,
The universe breathes out.
When you breathe out,
The universe breathes in.
In this wonderful cosmic dance of energy.
Breathe fully in through a relaxed open mouth.
Deep into the belly,
Up into the chest and gently let it go.
Coming straight to your next breath.
No gaps and no pauses.
Great Ruach so far everyone.
Stay in with the breath.
Allow yourself to be met with challenge.
If you find you're being met with any resistance,
I encourage you to breathe even deeper.
If you find yourself drifting off at all,
You can pick up the pace a little bit.
Simply be in with each breath fully.
Breathing deep into your belly,
Up into your chest and gently letting it go.
Finding your next breath.
Deep into the belly,
Up into the chest and gently let it go.
Taking a moment to notice if you're holding any tension anywhere within your body.
And directing the breath to go there.
Allowing the breath to permeate every cell of your body.
Breathing fully in.
Gently letting go.
Allowing that tension to leave your body as you exhale.
There's over 50 trillion cells within your body.
Breathe into every single one of them.
They support you.
Day in,
Day out.
This is your opportunity to support them.
Recharging during this active rest.
Full breath in.
Deep into the belly.
Up into the heart space.
Gently let it go.
Coming straight to your next breath.
Feeling the energy build within the body and breathing into it,
Allowing it to expand even more.
A couple more minutes of breathing in this way.
And then we'll enter into our meditation phase.
Seeing if you can give the breath your all now.
If you want to increase the pace a little bit,
I encourage you to do so.
If you're happy to maintain your rhythm,
That's all good.
Full breath in.
Deep down into the navel.
Up into the heart space.
Gently let it go.
And find your next breath.
Feeling the belly and the chest rise and fall like a wave at ease.
This is the part of the breath work where we go from breathing to being breathed.
Allowing the intensity to increase.
Allowing the body to take over.
Full breath in.
Deep into the belly.
Up into the chest.
Gently letting it go.
If the mind tries to distract you,
You just stay focused on the breath.
Full breath in to the belly.
Up into the chest and into the collar bones.
Gently letting it go.
Finding your next breath.
Nearly pulling the breath all the way down to your toes.
Up to the top of your head.
And then gently let it go.
A deep and full breath in.
And a relaxed breath out.
In the next ten breaths we'll do a big breath hold.
Trusting the process.
Trusting yourself.
Knowing that you've got this.
Successfully made it through every single bad day you've ever had.
You may have been met with some resistance at the start of this journey.
Thinking you can't breathe deep enough.
You're not breathing enough.
But look at you now.
Fully engaged in the process.
Allowing the breath to take over.
Breathing deep into your belly.
Up into your chest.
And gently letting go.
Last few breaths now.
Giving it your all.
A full breath in.
And a relaxed breath out.
Breathing deep into the belly.
Up into the heart space.
Gently letting go.
And now at the top of your next inhale,
I want you to breathe in all the way and hold at the top.
If it's ok for you,
I just want you to gently,
Gently squeeze your hands into fists.
Hold your toes.
Squeeze your shoulders,
Your chest,
Your back,
Your bum and your legs.
And in three,
Two,
One.
Let all of that tension go.
And exhale and relax into it.
Emptying your lungs.
And hold at the bottom here.
We're going to try and stay here for a minute.
If you need to breathe at any point lads,
You just go ahead and breathe.
It's totally ok.
But trust your body has everything it needs right now in this moment.
As you relax into the breath hold.
As you let go.
Every cell in your body dissolves.
As you momentarily melt away.
We're halfway there now with the breath hold.
Even if you feel you need to breathe,
You can take a little sip of air and continue to hold them.
Softening into it.
Feeling your heart open.
We all come back to our breath in five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Taking a deep breath in.
Gently letting it go.
And so at this point if it's ok you can close your mouth and continue breathing in and out of your nose.
Allowing the breath to slow down now.
Letting the natural rhythm of breathing to take over.
I want to imagine yourself somewhere in nature.
By a beach.
In a forest.
On a mountain.
Being with nature.
Walking.
And as you continue to walk,
Be in this beautiful place.
This beautiful space.
Being grateful for being here.
You notice in the distance.
A group of people.
And you decide to walk towards them.
As you get closer.
You notice these people are gathered together.
In a circle.
You feel very drawn to them.
So you continue walking.
As you get closer to the circle.
Some people within that circle.
Begin to notice you.
They turn around.
They see you walking towards them.
And you continue walking towards them.
As you get closer again you see that.
The circle begins to open up.
These people are looking at you.
To invite you within the circle.
And as you get closer again you notice that within this circle.
There are two figures that you feel drawn to.
So you approach them.
One is older.
One is younger.
Before you can get too close.
The younger begins to run towards you.
And it comes as a bit of a shock.
But you really do recognize them.
And as they get closer to you.
You realize that it's.
It's you.
It's younger you.
Notice how it is.
How you feel towards them.
And notice how it is that they feel towards you.
They look up at you smiling.
And they put their hands out.
And they offer you a gift.
They say here this is for you.
You're finally ready.
We couldn't unleash this back then.
But it is time.
Not only are you ready.
But the world is ready too.
The other person.
Slowly edges towards you both.
And you strangely recognize this person.
Although you've never seen them before.
They place their hand.
On younger you's shoulder.
And they place their other hand on your shoulder.
And they look at you deep in the eye.
And they say nothing.
But you know.
You know.
The circle becomes.
A bit more busy now as.
The hustle and bustle arrives and.
The circle seems to form a line.
And begin moving in one direction.
Picking up the pace step by step.
And suddenly you realize you are.
Running alongside.
All of these people.
A crowd of people in front of you.
And a crowd of people behind you.
These are all your ancestors.
And you move together.
When you move you never move alone.
You are supported always.
And allow yourself to continue running.
Into the distance with them.
I now invite you.
To begin taking some deep notion breaths.
Breathe some life back into the body.
Breathing in through your nose deep into your belly.
Open to your chest.
Gently let it go.
Begin introducing some movement into your body.
Moving your hands moving your feet.
Slowly but surely.
Opening your eyes and coming back to the room.
Taking your time.
There is no rush here.
Thank you for coming on this breath walk journey with me today.
