Hello,
I am so grateful that you are here.
I am Maryam Ayesha and we are going to be moving through a breath work practice together.
This practice is all about finding peace with our breath,
Finding a way to use our breath to move through waves of uncertainty,
Waves of anxiety,
Waves of fear.
Our breath is such a powerful thing for our overall wellbeing,
For our mind,
For our spirit.
So it is so,
So,
So important that,
Especially when we are stressed,
When we are anxious,
When we are dealing with waves and waves and waves of difficult situations,
That we find our breath and be able to activate our parasympathetic nervous system to bring our bodies out of that fight or flight that keeps our body stressed,
That keeps our body fighting itself.
Okay,
So let's go ahead and get into it.
I want you guys to find a comfortable seat,
Sitting up straight,
Spine aligned,
Whether that be in a chair,
On the floor,
With a pillow supporting you,
Whatever you need to support you.
I just want you to make sure that you're sitting up because we are gonna be moving our arms a little bit in tandem with our breath.
So I'll give you a moment to do that.
Beautiful.
Let's go ahead and get started by just simply connecting with our breath,
With our normal breathing pattern.
In and out.
However fast or slow your body is naturally going,
Follow that breath,
Allowing your eyes to drift closed,
Allowing your shoulders to drop away from your ears,
Bringing your lips together,
Allowing the breath to come in and out through the nose.
Becoming familiar with the sensations of the breath passing over the top of the lip,
Letting go of the breath.
Now let's move into releasing anything that we've carried with us up until this point.
Anything that may be weighing heavy on our mind,
On our shoulders,
Choosing this time for you.
So I want you to take a deep breath in through your nose and sigh it out through your mouth.
In through your nose.
And sigh it out.
Keeping that pattern,
Focusing on emptying out your lungs to the very,
Very bottom until you can't exhale anymore and then breathing in that fresh air.
Continue to inhale.
And exhale.
Ah.
On this next exhale,
I want you to pull from deep within you and release,
Allowing whatever noise,
Whether that be a groan,
Whatever comes up,
Allow it to be,
Allow yourself permission to release in whatever way you feel called to and allow the sound to carry it away.
Allow your breath to return back to its normal pattern,
Sealing your lips closed and breathing in and out.
Envision yourself on the shore of your own personal ocean.
This ocean is made up of your thoughts,
Your emotions,
Your fears.
And the tide is your breath,
Allowing things to flow in to shore and sending things out far,
Far away.
Breathing in and out,
Sinking your breath with the tide,
Inhaling as it's flowing in towards you and exhaling as it's flowing out.
Inhaling as it's flowing in towards you and exhaling as it's flowing out.
Inhaling as it's flowing out.
Inhaling as it's flowing out.
Inhaling as it's flowing out.
Now allow yourself to think about a time recently where your waves weren't so calm,
Envisioning the rocky waters,
The tall waves of your emotions,
Of your environment.
Maintaining the focus on the breath as you soak in the difference of how it feels.
Maintaining the focus on the breath as you soak in the difference of how it feels.
Maintaining the focus on the breath as you soak in the difference of how it feels.
Maintaining the focus on the breath as you soak in the difference of how it feels.
Maintaining the focus on the breath as you soak in the difference of how it feels.
Continue to breathe.
You are safe here.
You are safe here.
You are safe here.
You are safe here.
Now,
On your next inhale,
I want you to lift your arms straight up in front of you,
Moving them slowly like a wave,
Allowing your fingers to come up last,
Facing towards the ceiling.
As you exhale,
Allow your arms to float down,
Letting your fingers be the last thing to rest,
Sinking your breath with this motion,
Creating your own waves,
Envisioning how this calms the rocky waves in front of you,
How it brings your emotions,
Your thoughts,
Your thoughts,
Your anxieties,
Back into a state of calm,
Back into a state of observation.
You are safe here.
You are safe here.
You are safe here.
We don't get to control all that happens to us.
The only thing we get to control is our response,
How we perceive it,
And so as you create your own waves,
Remind yourself that you are in control of your response,
That no matter how rocky the waters seem,
No matter how chaotic the tide,
You can always bring yourself back into your state of calm,
Back into your state of observation.
You are safe here.
Continue to breathe,
Allowing your palms to rest,
When your knees or your thighs are down,
Your eyes,
Wherever feels comfortable.
You are safe here.
You are safe here.
Begin to come back into your body,
Becoming aware of how you are sitting,
Where your hands rest against your legs,
The rise and fall of your chest.
Start to wiggle your fingers and your toes.
Roll your shoulders back,
Stretching them down towards the floor and releasing,
Allowing them to relax completely.
Lift them up towards your ears,
Squeezing here and release,
Allowing them to come down away from your ears.
Now bring your hands up to your heart center,
Resting gently,
Breathing into your heart center as you give yourself thanks for showing up,
For honoring yourself,
For reminding yourself,
And slowly open your eyes.
Thank you so much for joining me and I hope you have a beautiful rest of your day or night.
I want to leave you with this.
Just remember that when things get tough,
When things feel difficult,
You can simply extend your exhale to bring yourself some calm and peace while still keeping your awareness.
Simply slowing down the breath gives your body permission to slow down.
Thank you so much again,
Ashe.
