This is a practical breath meditation and relaxation exercise with information to help you manage those times in life when things get a bit too much.
So lets just get comfortable.
You can sit upright in a chair with both feet flat on the ground,
Hands comfortably resting on the knees.
Or if you prefer you can lay on the floor,
Making sure to support your back with a cushion under the knees.
And then gently closing your eyes.
We all get overwhelmed at times.
Overwhelmed with anxiety,
Stress or challenging situations.
And once you are at such a pitch it will take about 20 minutes to come down from that high state in the action of the moment.
The skill is in managing yourself during that time.
This is where breathing exercises and mindful meditation come in.
Mindful meditation and conscious breathing exercises are tools that medical science shows useful to help manage mental and emotional overwhelm.
In overwhelm the mind can get disconnected from the body and from what's real rather than the imagined.
So these tools will help support you,
Bring you back down,
Settling and calming the mind and nervous system whilst relaxing and grounding the body as it reconnects and rebalances the mind to the present moment,
The direct experience of right now,
Rather than where we might be in our heads.
Interestingly in some parts of the world the word for heart and mind is the same.
It is understood that the mind and the body work together and having an awareness of that connection is grounding,
Unifying and a healthy state for us to live in.
When we reconnect a stressing or overwhelmed mind to the grounded body it's a bit like rebooting a computer,
Allowing the settings to refresh,
Sort and return to normal.
So let's practice a short reboot right now using the 4-7-8 breathing method.
This is the one that I use if I'm going into a high anxiety state or beginning to feel overwhelmed.
So we're going to breathe in for 4 seconds,
Hold for 7 and breathe out for 8.
Now this isn't a competition,
If you can't make that number it's absolutely fine.
Just do the best you can,
Encouraging yourself rather than pushing yourself.
So here we go then.
Breathing in 2-3-4,
Hold 2-3-4,
5-6-7,
Out 2-3-4,
5-6-7-8 and again.
Breathing in 2-3-4,
Hold 2-3-4,
5-6-7-8,
Out 2-3-4,
5-6-7-8 and last time.
Breathing in 2-3-4,
Hold 2-3-4,
5-6-7,
Out 2-3-4,
5-6-7-8.
I practice this particular breathing method several times a day,
At times of calmness and at times of stress.
It works,
Just giving you a moment in your head to say it's ok,
It will be ok,
Settle.
And so as we settle after that short exercise,
Right now in this moment,
Just let yourself become aware of the breath as it flows in and out of your body,
Noticing where you feel the breath the most,
Maybe the nostrils,
Chest,
Abdomen.
Notice how the shoulders and upper body lift and fall.
Notice how the belly rises and falls.
Just paying conscious attention to the breath and the movements of your body as you breathe in and as you breathe out is a step of bringing the mind and body together.
Letting your attention stay,
Resting gently on the breath is always a step towards balance and calm.
Because you can't take a breath in the past,
Nor can you breathe now for in the future.
You can only breathe in the present moment and be aware of the direct experience of the breath right here,
Right now,
In the reality of this very moment,
And this moment,
And this.
Scientists tell us we think about the past or future for nearly 50% of the time.
Nearly half of our time alive we are not present.
The default mode network of your brain spends its time in the past or in the future and most of those thoughts are likely to be quite stressful because our default mode network is very busy all day,
Every day.
Another part of our brain can get overstimulated with this ongoing busyness.
This part is called the amygdala.
The amygdala is responsible for regulating emotions and coding memories,
Emotions like sadness or anger,
But in particular the processing of fear.
As the amygdala is formed up in us as babies before the rational brain comes online,
A lot of emotion can be inside our heads that has never been thought about and processed in a rational thinking manner.
It is this same part of the brain that's responsible for sending us into extremities of anxiety,
Stress and fear,
Leading eventually into the fight,
Flight or freeze response at times when we get overwhelmed.
So if we practice conscious breathing,
Mindfulness of breath,
Just like now,
We can help calm everything down.
Cooling down the triggers of amygdala activation and allowing you to feel less stressed and less panicky.
Down regulating the busy default mode network and activating that direct experience network instead.
By having the direct experience of breathing,
Consciously breathing using our rational mind and feeling more balanced and in control because you are.
So remembering now to keep your attention on the breath as you listen to my voice,
Knowing that it's natural for the mind to think it's what it does and that thoughts will come into the mind and that's ok.
When that happens during a breathing exercise or meditation,
Just acknowledge it.
You could even say the word that fits like worrying,
Planning,
Daydreaming or just simply thinking.
And when you've acknowledged it,
Gently bring your attention back to the here and now.
Your direct experience of the here and now,
Using the breath as an anchor.
Not judging yourself about what you may have thought or be going to think about.
Not holding on to thoughts,
Not pushing thoughts away.
Just letting them arise,
Come and go easily as you keep a gentle conscious attention to the breath.
Let's just do that for a few minutes.
Gently pay attention to the breath,
Flowing with the breath,
Surfing the breath as it runs in,
Through and out and noticing the movements of the body as it passes.
Each in breath you take is an activation of the sympathetic nervous system.
The part of the nervous system that's involved in your protection.
Notice when you're surprised that you automatically breathe in with a sound like ahhh.
This is related to your inbuilt fight flight or freeze response and it's part of the natural human design to keep you safe.
The sympathetic nervous system is always ready to act to protect you and it can be triggered by all sorts of things,
Particularly fear.
If activated it pumps powerful chemicals into your system that slows or shuts down part of the body to divert the extra energy into your muscles with vigour to fight or take flight.
Sometimes to blank out and freeze.
When we become overwhelmed this design feature can kick in but as we're not fighting or running for our life this excess energy is not used and it takes time to be released from our bodies,
Sometimes making it hard to eat or to sleep properly.
Now each breath we breathe out activates the opposite system,
The parasympathetic nervous system.
This is the part that's involved in slowing things right down in our bodies.
Notice when you get home and relax into the sofa,
The automatic breath out and the sound that goes with it.
This system is related to rest,
Digesting food and thoughts,
Resting the body and bringing everything back into a calm and balanced state.
This is the normal state to live within,
The state that is good for our wellbeing and our lives.
In this state our systems are rebooted and refreshed,
Reducing the inflammation from the hot triggers of excessive worries or emotions and is the normal balanced and healthy state for us to live.
So in going back to your breath see that if you lengthen your out breath you're signalling your system that you're relaxing more.
This is very useful to do when you're stressed,
Panicky or becoming overwhelmed.
Coupled with regular meditation which itself slows down and rebalances the system,
These two practices of breath,
Consciously breathing and mindful meditation can change your life.
And of course as with any practice,
The more you do it the more effective you become.
So let's just get ready to do a bit of slow breathing.
When you're stressing the breath tends to be short and tight,
The chest too is tight and the hearts and lungs can be pumping and ready for action.
So slow and deeper breathing in this situation is another way to signal to your system that you're calming down.
So placing one hand on your chest and the other on your abdomen or belly helps you to connect to your body more mindfully.
It is a direct sensation and it's comforting,
A bit like a closed circuit link,
You to you and will help ground you more.
And then if you inhale deeply and we'll do it now,
Through the nose,
Taking the breath right down through the chest and stomach to the belly and hold it.
And when you breathe out letting the out breath go through the mouth and letting it be longer than the in breath.
Making an ah or a whoo sound if you can.
And again inhaling deeply through the nose taking the breath down through the chest and stomach to the belly and hold it.
And then breathing out through the mouth letting the out breath be longer than the in breath.
And once more and maybe this time when you release your breath saying the words calm or relax to yourself with the out breath.
Good.
This deep calming breath or the 4-7-8 breathing method we practiced before can be carried out any time you begin to feel unsettled or anxious and it will help prevent overwhelm.
If you practice this breathing and meditate regularly that default mode network of the brain will learn what to do for you automatically.
Just like learning to ride a bike,
Play a piano or swim,
Once you've practiced enough your brain which is designed to help you will retain the pattern and bring it forward much quicker and stronger each time you need it.
Until that time comes when you can maintain a level of calmness no matter what is occurring in or around you.
But that does take practice.
For now as you continue to breathe in a normal rhythm on the out breath allow any weight you're feeling in your body to seep out and drain away into the ground.
Any thoughts,
Worries or mental concerns let them melt,
Let them flow away.
Any emotion or upset let it disperse,
Soften seeping away.
Still gently aware of your breath,
The rising of your chest and belly,
The pause and the fall as you follow the breath mindfully,
Consciously in the direct experience of breathing.
And closing now with a short relaxation,
Letting my words settle.
Feeling good about the fact that you've spent time directly contributing to your well being and happiness.
And starting with your face,
Allowing the whole face to soften.
No need for any expression.
The jaw loose,
The mouth maybe slightly open.
Softening and relaxing the eyes,
The eye sockets,
The eyebrows and forehead,
The neck,
Shoulders relaxed and slumping slightly,
Arms,
Hands,
Fingers released,
Relaxed.
Back muscles soft,
Chest,
Stomach,
Belly,
Released.
Moving down the legs,
The feet,
Falling apart,
Heavy,
Relaxed.
The whole body feeling a little heavier,
Softening,
Relaxing.
Coming to an end by taking a few more of the deeper breaths.
Inhaling,
Holding and then slowly letting the breath go in a long,
Slow out breath.
May you be calm.
May you be peaceful.
May you be happy.
