Good morning and welcome to this new day.
This practice is going to focus the mind on your breath,
We're going to look at how we're breathing but also we're going to concentrate on breathing nice and deeply and expanding the lungs,
Expanding the belly so that you can get the best out of your breath.
So often people don't breathe properly,
It's a funny thing to think isn't it?
This thing that we do every day,
Every moment,
Every hour,
Every minute,
Every second.
Sometimes the thing that we've been doing all our life we realize we're not doing quite properly,
We're not doing justice and sometimes there could be just small adjustments that need to be made,
That could be made,
That could really change things,
That could help us to feel more relaxed and those small changes can be done really easily,
We just have to give ourselves the time to make those changes.
So within this short practice I just want you to understand how our breath needs to be nice,
Slow,
Deep,
Consistent to allow the mind and the body to quieten down.
You see,
As I said before,
So many of us don't breathe properly,
We often find that we shallow breathe,
This of course sends messages to the brain that we're in some sort of danger,
Stress.
In primitive times of course this would have been probably how we would have been a lot of the time,
But now we are safer and so now it's time to really calm down the breath,
To send those signals to the mind that we are safer,
That things can slow down and how important it is for us to slow down.
So just start now by observing your breath,
Notice if you're breathing in through your nose or your mouth and notice if you're breathing out through your nose or through your mouth.
As you notice this,
I want you to slowly begin breathing in through the nose and breathing out through the nose,
In through the nose,
Out through the nose and just keep that going,
Feeling rested,
Quiet and confident.
This is you in communion with you,
Relaxed,
Just observing that breath,
Your eyes closed,
Just relaxing.
And as you breathe,
Notice if you could make yourself a little more comfortable by moving any of your arms or legs,
Adjusting your back,
Maybe reaching away with your arms,
Encouraging your shoulders to drop even more,
Allowing any tension or tightness to just drift away,
Maybe to sink into the surface beneath you,
Whether you're still lying down or sitting up in a chair,
It doesn't matter,
Just allow yourself to adjust or shift your body in any way that creates more comfort for you.
And keep breathing in through the nose and out through the nose,
Just observe if you feel everything slow down,
Just a fraction,
Maybe more,
Just observe it with no pressure,
No pressure at all.
Now things feel slower,
I want you to turn your attention now to your belly,
You may find it nice just to place your hands on your belly or one hand,
Whatever feels good to you,
And just observe the rise and the fall off your belly,
If any.
So now we're going to do what's called belly breathing.
You take your nice deep breath in through the nose,
I want you to expand your belly at the same time,
Expand it upwards,
And as you do this,
It encourages the air to really fill the lungs properly,
The lower half of the lung,
The backs of the lungs.
Sometimes you'll hear people talking about breathing into your back,
Whether that's in a Pilates class,
When you're talking about cycling,
Breathing into the backs of the lungs can be so important,
But it's important in everyday life too,
When you're relaxing,
When you're just doing your thing.
Using all of our lungs can have quite a profound effect on the body.
Suddenly we're getting the best gaseous exchange,
We're using all our lungs,
So just note when you breathe in,
What the belly is doing,
As I encourage you now,
When you do take your inhale,
To really extend the belly,
So it's painful,
But just really allow it to move,
So allow it to rise.
And then on your exhale,
I want you to imagine that there's a little piece of string from your belly button to your spine,
And as you breathe out,
So it pulls on that string,
Tightens towards the belly,
Tightens towards the spine,
And so that exhale means your belly drops,
Drops towards your spine,
And effectively pushing out the air out of your lungs,
So as you breathe in,
Belly expands,
Drawing that air down,
And as you breathe out,
Belly drops down,
Exhales all that air,
And this breathing is so effective,
So helpful to use your whole lung capacity,
Lung capacity,
Giving your body that beautiful enriching oxygen,
Helping to move cells around the body with the oxygen,
The nutrients,
Helping your body to work effectively,
Which is so important,
We're sending a wonderful message to the brain,
That we're relaxed,
That the body is okay,
And it can work for us in the way that it intends to,
Without stress,
Without being under any threat,
So just keep that breathing going,
So as you breathe in,
The belly expands,
Breathing into your belly,
Your back,
And then as you breathe out,
The belly contracts,
And that belly button to your spine,
And then as you breathe in,
Breathe into that belly,
Expands,
You may have your hands on your belly,
And they may be rising,
And they may be rising,
And as you exhale,
Just allow the belly to fall,
To push out that air,
And keep going,
Enjoying those nice deep breaths,
You may notice your belly rumbles from now,
And take that as a thank you,
Thank you for relaxing,
And as you really relax,
You may even notice that you begin to smile to yourself,
Feeling content,
Just you,
And your breath,
So today,
Whenever you notice,
Whether it's in a quiet moment,
Or when you're very active,
Just bring your attention back to your breath,
Check in with yourself,
And just see where your breath is,
How you can improve it,
How you can do better for yourself,
And just take those nice breaths,
Maybe place your hands on your belly,
Reconnect that belly breathing,
And take a nice deep breath,
Allow the belly to expand,
Expand,
And when you exhale,
Imagine that piece of string from your belly button to your spine,
It's pulling it in,
Helping you to exhale properly,
Using your diaphragm,
Efficiently,
And in that welcome way,
So when you're ready,
When you've had enough time,
You can allow yourself to gently begin to become more aware of your surroundings,
More aware of the sounds that surround you,
Maybe there's activity happening in your house,
Wherever you are,
Just gently allow yourself to become more aware,
You may like to wriggle your toes,
Wriggle your fingers,
And then when you're ready,
To slowly and gently have a great day.
