Welcome to a pranayama practice to ease your anxiety.
Wherever you are,
Just settle your body.
You can lie down for this practice if that feels good.
You can sit up,
Whatever brings you the most ease in this moment now.
Let your body be comfortable.
And bring your attention simply to your breath.
Notice how it feels to breathe.
Notice the sensation of your inhale.
And notice the sensation of your exhale.
As you become aware of the sensation of your breath,
Also become aware of the sensations in your body.
Become aware first of the louder sensations of tension or unease.
Allow them to say their thing.
And then notice areas that are more quiet,
More subtle.
Tops of your feet.
Tip of your nose.
Just notice both the loud and the quiet parts of you.
Begin to lengthen your breath.
Without being forceful about it,
Just explore.
Inhale through the nose until you can't inhale anymore.
Feeling the edge of that breath,
The fullness of it.
And then exhale through the nose until you can't exhale anymore,
Feeling that completion,
That emptiness of the lungs.
And keep going like that.
Just simply creating the longest and the deepest breath that is available to you right now.
And as you breathe your breath,
You'll notice thoughts.
They come in and out of your awareness like clouds in the sky.
Let them float around,
Not giving them too much of your attention,
Not trying to push them away,
But not engaging with them either.
Taking another minute for this nice long breath.
Notice how it feels.
Notice how you respond to just simple,
Conscious breathing.
When we find ourselves in a state of anxiety,
Panic,
Or excessive worry,
This is our nervous system not feeling safe.
And so with these breath techniques,
We will tell the nervous system it is safe to relax.
Our first technique that we will use is a simple measured breath.
We'll inhale to the count of four,
Hold the breath in gently to the count of seven,
And exhale to the count of nine.
Doing your best to not have this breath feel forced or too intense.
If it does,
Just shorten it.
Shorten the retention and shorten the exhale.
Our breath practice is intended to be soft and easeful.
So make any changes that you need to make in order to experience that.
The intention for this practice,
This breath technique,
Is simply that your exhale is more than double your inhale.
So let's try it.
Let's take a nice deep breath in through your nose.
And a complete breath out through the nose.
And as relaxed and as fully as possible,
Inhale,
Fill your lungs.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold the breath in.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Exhale.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven,
Eight,
Nine.
Again,
One,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold it in.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven.
Gently exhale.
One,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Seven.
We'll breathe in this pattern for three minutes.
Your counting is your focus.
Inhale,
Four.
Hold,
Seven.
Exhale,
Nine.
And again,
Gentle,
Gentle,
Gentle.
Beautiful.
Notice how you're feeling.
Notice the ease or the unease of this breath.
And then on your next exhale,
Gently let it go.
Notice how you feel just watching your breath.
The next technique is called bee breath.
Very simple.
You'll inhale through your nose.
And as you exhale,
You'll hum,
Creating the sound of the bees.
Your lips are closed.
And your exhale is long,
As long as you can make it.
Inhale through the nose.
Inhale when your hum runs out.
Exhale.
Allowing the sound of the bees to captivate the mind and to sweep away excessive worry thoughts.
As we hum like this,
We are activating the vagal nerve.
Which activates the parasympathetic nervous system.
We are tuning the body for relaxation.
Keep going.
We're going to be here for five minutes.
And with your next exhale,
Let that breath go.
Just hum one more time and then let it go.
Come back into the simple awareness of your breath.
The awareness of how you are feeling right now.
Welcoming all experiences.
Noticing the body.
Noticing your emotional body and your mental body.
Watching your breath.
And then beginning to make the sound of the ocean with your breath.
Gentle constriction of the glottis in the back of the throat.
The ujjayi breath.
Inhaling.
And exhaling.
Making the sound of the ocean with your breath.
The jaws relax.
The face is relaxed.
Ujjayi means victorious.
And so as you breathe this breath,
Let the chest be open and spacious.
Let the crown be reaching up to the sky.
You are strong.
You are resilient.
You are victorious in your life.
Keep going with this ujjayi breath.
Making the sound of the ocean as you inhale and as you exhale.
We'll stay here for three more minutes.
Keep going.
Begin to let that sound go.
That breath technique go.
And then as you exhale,
Coming back into awareness of yourself here and now.
Notice any changes in your inner state.
Notice the relaxation and the sensation of softness starting to become obvious for you.
We'll begin a pattern now of alternate nostril breathing.
Doing your best.
If you have a nostril that is closed and not easily accessed,
Just simply breathe as best you can through the left nostril only.
If the left nostril is closed,
Just breathe nice and deep while we do this particular technique.
Inhale through both nostrils.
And exhale.
Take your right hand,
Your right thumb and block your right nostril and inhale through the left.
Pause for a moment,
Just a moment,
And block the left nostril.
Exhale through the right.
Inhale through the right.
Block the right nostril and exhale through the left.
Block the right nostril,
Inhale through the left.
Block the left,
Exhale right.
Inhale through the right.
And exhale through the left.
And keep going just like this,
Inhaling left.
Exhaling right.
Inhaling right.
And exhaling left.
Threading the breath.
Keep going,
We'll be here for five minutes.
Do your best.
Nice long deep breath.
And the alternate nostril threading.
Stay steady,
Stay with it.
Beautiful.
And the next time you breathe out through your left nostril,
Let that breath go.
Our final technique is a cohesive breath.
Coherent breath.
Bringing the brain and the heart into coherence.
Very simple,
Inhale to the count of five and exhale to the count of five,
Bringing an evenness to the breath.
And next time you're ready to inhale,
Let's just simply inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Exhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Inhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
And exhale one,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Keep going,
Letting your count be your focus,
Be your mantra.
Gently inhaling five and gently exhaling five for five minutes.
Our final technique for this practice,
Bringing the nervous system into a state of strength,
Resilience,
And balance.
You got this.
Keep going.
Let the count go and once again come back to awareness of your breath.
Your breath is always here for you.
It is your tool for when the mind runs amok.
For when our nervous system shifts into a state of fear.
When we are physically and emotionally safe.
Notice how you feel right now.
Notice the sensations in the body.
Notice the thoughts in the mind.
Notice a greater,
More expansive capacity for softness.
This practice is here for you.
Come back to it as you need.
May you be well.
May you be happy.
May you be free from suffering.
