Seven Breaths Somatic Meditation (Longer Version)

Let us breathe for all those whose breath has been taken. Let our breath take us deeper into self-compassion. Self-compassion is essential to meet and walk with social change. It is deep listening for our body wisdom to guide us in engaging with skill, ease, and grounded vulnerability.

Transcript

Hi,

This is Meg Ranali of Body Centered Inquiry and welcome to this Somatic Movement Session,

Seven Breaths.

You'll be on your back for this session.

Make sure you have a padded surface such as a thick blanket or carpet and blanket.

Have a folded up bath towel or yoga blanket for your head support if you need it.

If you need to do this session while lying in bed,

By all means modify as needed,

But do have a rolled up bath towel or yoga blanket for your head rather than a bed pillow.

And have a roller for beneath your knees.

Have clothing that allows for ease of movement and warmth.

Have sock or bare feet.

Remove your glasses,

Jewelry,

Belt,

And if you wear a restrictive bra you may want to remove it for this session.

Gather the props you need and please come to lie on your back when you're ready.

Begin to settle in.

The breath is an important resource.

It's something we have with us all the time.

Quieting the breath quiets the nervous system.

The mind rides on the breath.

It is an intimate relationship between our breathing and our state of mind.

And in these challenging times,

The question we might ask ourselves is not so much how can we change or save the world,

But how do we meet the fast paced changes that are happening each day in our lives.

Notice your connection to the ground.

Notice your quality of mind.

Is it fast or slow,

Agitated,

Open,

Curious,

Quiet,

Noisy?

It's not something we notice very often because we're accustomed to looking at the world through a particular lens.

Throughout this session I'll be inviting you to bring your awareness back to your breath,

To the ground beneath you,

And to your present experience.

Become aware of your breathing.

How it moves in and out of your body all by itself.

Notice what's happening.

Breath rises and falls.

Allow your awareness to shift to your out breath.

Notice if you can allow the out breath to come to its natural completion all by itself.

Can you allow your out breath to complete itself gently?

Then could you allow yourself to linger with that pause until the next in breath arrives?

With a soft face,

Jaw,

Throat,

Tongue,

And eyes,

Explore that idea.

At the end of each out breath is a natural pause.

Then the breath returns.

You breathe in and it begins again.

An immediate way to come to our senses is to notice whether we can allow a natural pause at the end of the out breath.

It's there.

If we allow it to be there.

Take your time,

Breathe in,

Breathe out,

Allow for that pause,

And then the breath begins again on its own.

There's no need to force the breath out.

There's no need to force anything.

Attending to the natural rhythm of the breath allows us to pause.

Our anxiety is fed when our breath is rushed and incomplete.

This is a natural antidote to the sometimes frantic pace of our world.

It's good medicine and always available to us.

Continue to explore this idea of following the breath to its natural conclusion and allowing for that pause.

Do this two or three or four or five more times.

At your own pace and remember you can pause the audio.

Take another moment to be aware of the support that's always beneath you,

The space around you,

Your breath,

And your state of mind.

Now gently bring both of your hands to rest on your abdomen between your navel and your pubic bone.

Rest your arms and hands in an easy,

Simple way.

Allow them to rest close to your body.

Allow them to rest with ease.

Follow the movement of your abdomen as it rises and falls easily with the movement of your breath.

When you're ready and on your next exhale,

Begin to make the SH sound like this.

Let the in-breath happen easily.

Then on the out-breath,

Make the SH sound.

Breathe out with that sound and let it come to its natural stopping place.

If the sound becomes shaky,

You are pushing beyond the breath that you have available.

Allow the breath to complete itself all by itself.

When we make the breath audible,

We can get a clearer sense of how we're breathing.

Do this for seven cycles.

Continue allowing the SH sound to ride on the out-breath for seven cycles of breathing.

So you breathe in,

You breathe out with the SH sound,

And then there's a natural pause and the breath cycle begins again.

Take your time and pause the audio as needed.

If you notice the SH getting shaky,

That's a signal that you're out of breath.

Respect that.

Allow the pause and begin again with the next inhale.

When we respect our limits,

There's a possibility of gently discovering how to find new options with time.

Be aware of the ground beneath you and remain as soft as you can in the mouth,

Jaw,

Throat,

And eyes.

Once you've completed this cycle of seven breaths,

Notice your breath cycle.

Notice your quality of mind and your connection to the support beneath you.

And rest.

When you're ready,

Bring your hands to the outside of your middle to lower ribs.

Your palms are on the ribs,

Not the soft tissue below them,

But actually on the ribs.

If that is challenging to bring your palms to the sides of your ribs,

Then make soft fists and allow the knuckles of your hands to rest on the sides of your ribs.

Take your time to find what's easy and comfortable for you in this moment.

Let your arms rest comfortably against your body and the ground.

Take your time here.

When you're at ease,

You can be more sensitive to yourself.

You can be more aware of the changes that are occurring.

With your hands arranged in whatever way is easy for you at the sides of your ribs,

Breathe in and breathe out and on that next out breath make the S sound.

Again attend to when your breath is done.

The S sound becomes shaky.

Allow for the natural pause and let the next in breath happen all by itself.

Be aware of the pliancy of the ribs as they expand and contract.

Follow that movement with your hands.

As you inhale and exhale,

Your ribs will expand and contract.

Repeat this cycle for seven breaths.

Again pausing the audio as needed.

Seven breaths and the S sound on your exhale.

Remember to pause at the bottom of the exhale and wait for the inhale to arrive.

It's not about forcing the breath out or holding your breath.

It's something more subtle.

Rest.

And rest when you're ready.

Notice again the quality of your support beneath you,

Your relationship to the support beneath you,

The quality of your mind and the quality of your breathing.

Allow a softness through the jaw,

Throat,

Tongue and face.

Where do you go when you rest?

And when you're ready,

This time bring your listening hands gently to the area between your collarbones and your breasts.

Find a way to rest your hands and arms in an easy way here.

And as you move through your breath cycle,

On the next out breath make the ha sound.

That's H-A.

Note that chest breathing is more shallow than belly breathing just by the nature of how our skeletons are hung together.

So breathing in and then breathing out the ha sound.

And allowing for that natural pause at the end of the exhale.

And the next inhale arrives by itself and the cycle begins again.

For seven breaths.

Take your time.

Pause the audio as needed.

This timeE And when you're ready,

Rest.

Rest your arms.

Take time once again to notice your connection to the ground beneath you,

Your quality of mind,

And the quality of your breathing.

Be present to whatever is there,

Even if you're not sure what it is.

You don't have to go looking for anything.

You don't have to manufacture any particular experience,

Which is a relief and nourishment to our nervous system in and of itself.

There's nothing you have to do but observe whatever is present for you right now.

The more attuned we become to what is present,

The more present we become.

It's its own positive feedback system.

Then when you're ready,

Continue to rest.

Linger here for as long as you'd like.

In your own time,

Again,

You can pause the audio.

Slowly,

Gently roll to your side.

Very slowly,

Come up to sitting.

Notice your quality of breathing as you make these shifts in your movement.

And gradually,

Come back to standing.

And remain in standing.

And recall whatever you remember from when you started this session.

We started in standing.

Be aware of your connection between your feet and the ground,

Through your ankles,

Legs,

Hips,

Torso,

Shoulders,

Neck,

And head.

Your quality of mind,

Your quality of breathing.

Linger there for as long as you'd like to.

And whenever you're ready,

Begin to take a few steps around in your own good time.

And thank you.

That's the end of this session.