Go Inward & Breathing For Sleep

This is a bedtime breathing protocol to help ease stress and anxiety. Learn a simple breathwork practice on doubling your exhales so you can shift your nervous system to a calmer state. Go intimate with your breathing and end the day by honoring your body and yourself.

Transcript

Hey what's going on welcome to my bedtime breathing routine. One of the best ways to end the day is to honor ourselves, Honor our bodies and honor our breath. One of the only few constants in life is actually our breath. It's what keeps us alive regardless of whatever state you are in. Whether you feel agitated, Whether you feel happy, Peaceful, Joy, Sadness, Or agitation, Breath is always going to be there. It's very important for us to learn how to downregulate especially when we are preparing for a good night's sleep. Whenever you feel agitated, It's always very very effective to come back into your breath because the breath is actually the number one nervous system regulator and it's very important for us to retrain ourselves to get back into our breathing so that we have the capacity and the skill to navigate our stress better. So throughout this breathing routine you will notice that we will be using a very simple protocol which is a 1 to 2 ratio of inhalation to exhalation. So the objective here throughout this bedtime meditation is to double the exhales because doubling the exhales will allow us to shift our nervous system into a parasympathetic state meaning the rest and digest state. So I want you to lay down on bed, Relax, And just be aware of whatever is happening around your body. If you feel any tension, Let's say in your neck, Around your hips, Your legs, Your feet, Your ankles, Your knees, Just be there and stay there. I want you to now close your eyes, Put one hand just above your sternum and one hand on your belly. Our hands will give us tactile feedback whether we are doing the breath work the right way because as we all know, Breathing should be followed by a simple breath wave. So when we breathe, We should be starting to rise from our belly, From our lower belly, All the way to our middle abdomen, To our chest, To our shoulders, And all the way to the neck. And as you exhale, I want you to imagine shrinking your belly as if it's a container or a balloon that you're filling out the air. I want you to take a couple of deep breaths, Slow and deep breaths. Let's do that for three rounds. Inhale for three, Two, One, Exhale, One, Two, Three. Inhale again. I want you to be aware of whatever's happening around you. Exhale. One last round, Inhale. And exhale as you let go of all things that don't serve you as of the moment. So right now we will be starting with a fourth to eighth ratio, So that is a four second inhalation and an eighth second exhalation. So as you begin, You will inhale through the nose for four, Three, Two, One, Exhale for eight, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One. Inhale again for four, Maintain the rhythm, Exhale. Now just be aware if you're feeling any tension around your neck, Your head, Your hips. Inhale again for four, Three, Two, One, Exhale for eight. Exhale the air as slow as you can. Two, One, Inhale again for four. Now as you inhale, I want you to imagine that you're inhaling the air as slow as possible, As if those tiny little nostrils or hairs in your nose shouldn't actually move. Exhale for eight. You can also have an ocean breath or a humming sound as you exhale, So this will actually even activate further your parasympathetic state. Inhale again for four, Three, Two, One, Exhale, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One. Last two sets of this four to eight breathing. For three, Two, One, Exhale. Try to control your exhale as if you're blowing off the air very minimally and not blowing off the air very very quickly. Now you're gonna increase the number of seconds. From four to eight now we will begin doing five to ten. So it's gonna be a five second inhalation to a ten second exhalation. Now at any point of this bedtime breathing routine, Feel free to adjust your own time. Wherever you are right now, Feel free to adjust if you want to shorten it or you want to lengthen it, Feel free this is your actually your own breathwork experience. But for the purposes of this breathwork routine, We're gonna follow the five to ten ratio. So now let's begin by breathing for five, Four, Three, Two, One, Exhale for ten. Just exhale just a little bit longer than what we just did a while ago. Five seconds, Four, Three, Two, One, Inhale again. Try to control the amount of volume of air going in through your nose. Exhale for ten. Try to release anything that doesn't serve you right now. Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Inhale again for five. Control the air going in through your nose. Exhale for ten. Release all the tension, All your worries, All the chatter going on in your head. Let go all of your worries and just enjoy the silence, Enjoy the breath. Inhale again for five, Four, Three, Two, One, Exhale for ten. Enjoy the silence and the way the air is actually coming off your nose. Three, Two, One, Last two rounds, Inhale for five, Just stay there and exhale for ten. Now be aware if you're holding off any tension at any point of your body, Try to release it as you exhale. As you elongate the exhale, As you lengthen the exhale, Put your attention to that area and just feel free to let go of the tension. Maybe that's around your hips, Maybe that's on your knees, Around your lower back. Last round, Inhale for five, Four, Three, Two, One, Exhale for ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One. Now we will now transition to an even longer ratio which will be a seven to fourteen inhalation to exhalation. Now this might look very, Very challenging for some of you but again as what I have mentioned earlier, Feel free to shorten or to lengthen because ultimately this is your practice, This is going to be your experience and this is your breathwork practice. But again, Once you inhale for seven, Just try to control the amount of volume of air coming in through your nose. Now let's begin, Inhale for seven, Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Exhale for fourteen. Try to control the amount of air coming out through your nose. Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Inhale for seven. Now I want you now to think of anything that you're grateful for that happened today, Whether that's a person, Whether that's a place you visited, Whether that's an event that happened today. Exhale for fourteen, Put your attention to that person, To that place or that situation and just exhale all the air out as low as you can. Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Inhale again and just be grateful for whatever thing or person that you have thought of that you're grateful for today. Six, Seven, Exhale and really try to process it, Feel it, Feel the gratitude that's going on with you and try to relax and put away all your worries because this is actually a time for you to honor yourself and get all the way from the distraction, From all the noise going on around you. Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Inhale again for seven. Again, Inhale as if those tiny little hairs in your nose aren't supposed to move. Control the amount of air going in, Exhale for fourteen. As you exhale, Give yourself the opportunity to just relax, Enjoy the silence, Feel the sensation of your bed, Of the air coming in through your nose and your ears. Whatever you are hearing, Just stay there and be aware. Three, Two, One, Last two rounds, Inhale for seven. Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Exhale for fourteen. I want you now to begin thanking yourself for choosing to be in this place, For choosing to honor your body. Whenever you're doing your breathwork routine, Don't ever think of your breathwork practice as a chore, But rather doing it for yourself as a huge favor. Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Last one, Inhale for seven. Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Exhale, Last one, Fourteen, Thirteen, Twelve, Eleven, Ten. Just give yourself this chance to just relax everything, Put all away your worries, All the mental chattelries that you have created throughout the day that no longer serves you. Five, Four, Three, Two, One. Now, Get back to your normal breathing pace, No more following a breathwork protocol or a pattern, Just your normal breathing pace for about two minutes. And now, You can now tuck yourself under your bed and prepare yourself for a good night's sleep. Again, Thank you for choosing to be a part of this bedtime breathing routine, For choosing to honor your body, For choosing to follow your breath, Because ultimately, Our breath is the one that will always be there for us wherever we go and whatever is happening in our lives. Good night.

Reviews

Goes the distance with breathing techniques. Only issue is the voice is slightly lower than the music.