Welcome dear ones,
Brenton here.
Thank you for joining me for a breathwork journey into the heart of nervous system regulation.
Before we begin,
I invite you to stand and let your body move,
Shake,
Do whatever it feels like it needs to do while we talk for a moment about the breath.
The breath is the one function of your nervous system that's both automatic and fully within your conscious control.
Which makes it a direct doorway between what the body does on its own and what our minds can intentionally shape.
And when we breathe with awareness,
We're not just calming,
We're communicating safety to those layers of the nervous system.
Shifting our entire landscape of how we perceive and respond to the world around us.
In this way,
The breath becomes a threshold,
A place where our biology and our consciousness meet.
And where real transformation actually becomes possible.
For what it's worth,
The practices introduced in this session are all research-backed interventions for nervous system regulation.
These include sensory awareness,
Mindful tension and relaxation,
Box and belly breathing,
A physiological sigh,
Self-compassion touch,
And even humming.
Now let your movement slow and cease.
And take a moment to simply notice that you've arrived here.
That some part of you chose to show up for this.
And as you transition to the ground now,
I'll let you know that what we'll move through together is a full journey,
Grounding in the senses,
Releasing tension from the body,
And breathing in layers.
And resting in that quiet that follows,
And then sounding our way back to ourselves.
There's nothing to achieve in this practice,
Just layers of settling in one breath at a time.
So for the rest of this practice,
I recommend lying on your back with some kind of support for your neck and lower back.
But only elevating your head on a pillow or cushion if you absolutely need to,
Because this can lead to our falling asleep.
You want to be able to breathe,
Breathe deeply and freely.
So if you need to change into loose,
Comfy clothing or adjust your position,
Pause and do so now.
And if you're ready,
Let's begin.
Take a moment to call in whatever support means to you.
Ancestors or guides,
If that resonates.
And perhaps simply a felt sense of not being alone in this practice.
A sense of being held and guided.
And a sense of trust for your body.
Your nervous system.
Your energy field.
And the way that these communicate.
If you feel inspired,
You might also acknowledge the spirit of the water element.
And the flow of rivers,
And the balance of oceans,
And the reflection of still lakes,
And the comfort of gentle rains.
And we'll pause for space so that you may set an intention for this practice,
Even if it's openness.
Bye.
We'll begin by grounding into our physical body with our external senses.
So before you close your eyes,
I invite you to find five things that you can see.
Just mindfully noting them one after the other.
And now let your eyes gently close and move your attention to your sense of sound.
And point out four different things that you can hear.
One.
.
.
To the other.
Moving your awareness inward to your sense of touch now,
Identifying three things that you can feel on your skin.
Moving to that sense of smell.
And finding two things that you can smell.
And finally moving to that most intimate sense,
That sense of taste.
And noticing a single taste in your mouth.
And checking in with the rest of your body for just a moment now.
One more time with that sense of movement.
Just to see if there's anything else in you that wants to flow,
To churn before it settles.
And so as your body begins to calm and relax.
And begin to bring your awareness to your breathing.
Just the fact that you're breathing in.
And breathing out.
I'm breathing in.
I know I'm breathing in.
Breathing out.
I know I'm breathing out.
For most of this practice,
We'll breathe only in and out through the nose.
And so we invite you to begin doing so now.
And bringing your awareness to your nostrils.
Noticing that subtle difference in the way the air feels.
Coolness as you breathe in through your nose.
And gentle warmth as you breathe out.
Moving your awareness to your throat.
Perhaps feeling the ways that,
Again,
That air feels slightly cool as it moves in.
Slightly warm as it moves out.
Or maybe just noticing a movement of air moving in and out of this place.
Trying not to control the breath,
Just following it,
Just noticing it.
As it meanders through your body as you breathe.
Bring your awareness to your chest.
Notice that gentle rise and fall as air moves in and out of your body.
Dropping into your belly now.
And even if you have to consciously pull the breath down a little bit,
Let yourself do so.
So that as you breathe in,
You notice the way your belly expands too.
And breathing out the way your belly and chest kind of fall away.
Not overly emphasizing here,
Just noticing the places that the breath can move in the body.
Noticing the way it feels to breathe in these places,
These places that we often overlook in our busy day-to-day lives.
Good.
We're going to move into a practice of breathing into these different places in our body with gentle tension and relaxation.
And we'll start with the feet.
So breathing out.
And then slowly breathing in,
Imagining that you breathe in through your feet.
And holding your breath at the top.
And breathing out,
Imagining once again that you exhale through the soles of your feet.
Breathing in again through your feet and gently tensing them as you inhale.
And holding that slight tension in your feet as you hold your breath.
And breathe out,
Relaxing your feet,
Exhaling through the very bottom of you.
One more time,
Breathing in through your feet,
Gently bringing tension to this lowest part of you as you inhale.
And hold that breath with tension in your feet at the top.
And breathe out,
Relax.
Exhale through your soles.
On your next inhale,
Bring your awareness up to your legs as you breathe in.
Breathing in through your shins,
Your knees,
Your thighs.
Hold your breath with awareness on your legs.
Now breathe out.
Breathing out of your legs.
Inhale,
Gently bringing tension to your calves,
Your knees,
Your thighs,
Your glutes,
Your hips.
Hold.
Breathe out,
Relax your body as you exhale through your legs.
Last time,
Breathing into your legs,
Bringing gentle tension to these parts.
Now hold your breath,
Hold tension from your glutes to your ankles.
Breathe out,
Relax,
Exhale through your hips,
Your knees,
Your legs.
Now inhale,
Bringing your awareness up to your stomach,
To your lower back.
And now hold your breath with awareness in your lower core.
Breathe out,
Breathing out from your belly.
Breathing in again into your stomach and gently tensing your stomach and lower back as you inhale.
Just light tension here as you hold.
And breathe out.
Relax as you exhale straight from your belly and lower back.
Last time,
Breathing in through your stomach and lower back directly.
Light tension here as you hold the breath,
Holding tension in this lower torso.
And now exhale,
Relax,
Releasing that breath directly through the lower back and belly.
Inhaling again and rising up to your chest and shoulders.
Breathing in through your hands and arms.
Now hold.
Now breathe out,
Imagining the breath move down the arms and out through the fingers.
Inhaling again,
Directly into the arms and chest and bringing light tension from your fingers up to your shoulders.
Holding the breath,
Holding tension through your chest as well.
Breathe out,
Relax.
Directly exhale through your upper back and shoulders.
One more time,
Breathing in into your hands,
Your arms,
Your shoulders,
Your chest with gentle tension.
And holding here at the top.
Breathe out,
Relax.
Now inhale,
Focusing directly on the throat,
The neck.
Now hold at the top.
Now breathe out.
Breathing out as if radiating directly from the throat itself.
Breathing in again.
Focusing on that throat center as you hold with gentle tension in your neck.
And breathe out,
Relax.
Focusing on the way the air feels as you exhale.
One last time,
Breathing directly into the throat,
The back of the head,
The base of the skull.
Hold with gentle tension in your throat.
Now exhale,
Release,
Relax.
As you inhale finally now,
Imagine breathing in through the nose that rises up all the way to the crown of the head as you inhale.
Holding that breath at the top and focusing from the nose to the crown.
And now exhale,
Relax.
Breathing in again in the nose.
Breathing into the face,
The head.
And holding with gentle tension,
Gently scrunching up the face and the head before you exhale and relax,
Relaxing the face,
Relaxing the forehead.
One final time,
Breathing in,
Focusing on the face and head as you inhale.
Bringing that tension once again and gently holding with the breath,
Holding tension.
Exhale,
Consciously relax,
Release.
Last time,
We'll now bring your attention back to your feet as you inhale.
Inhaling through your feet,
Into your legs,
Your hips,
Your torso,
Your arms,
Your neck,
Your face,
Your head.
Hold.
Breathe out from your head,
Down your arms,
Torso,
Hips,
Legs,
And feet.
Breathe in again like this,
Into your feet,
Into your legs,
Bringing gentle tension up your body as you inhale,
All the way up to your head.
And hold your breath as you head gentle tension all over your body now.
Now release this breath,
Relax this tension,
Let your whole body be easy.
One final time now,
Breathing in to the feet,
To the toes,
Letting the breath move up the body with gentle tension that follows.
Up the torso,
The neck,
The head,
Holding the breath,
Holding tension everywhere in the body.
Now breathe out,
Release,
Relax.
Good.
Breathe normal for just a few moments now.
Just noticing the subtle effects of that tension and that release.
We'll move into a belly and box breathing now.
Really focusing on pushing that navel outward and drawing it in as you inhale and exhale.
If it helps,
You can gently place a hand right over your navel.
I hope you remember to breathe low into your belly like this.
So go ahead and exhale.
Now breathe slowly into your nose and your belly for 4,
3,
2,
1.
Now hold for 4,
3,
2,
1.
Breathe out for 4,
3,
2,
1.
Now pause for 4,
3,
2,
1.
Inhale for 4,
3,
2,
1.
Exhale.
Pause.
Inhale.
Hold.
Exhale.
Pause.
Inhale.
Hold.
Exhale.
Pause.
Inhale.
Hold.
Exhale.
Pause.
Inhale.
Hold.
Inhale.
Hold.
Exhale.
Pause.
Inhale.
Hold.
Exhale.
Pause.
One more time,
Breathe in.
Hold for 3,
2,
1.
Exhale for 3,
2,
1.
Pause for 3,
2,
1.
Breathe in for 5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Now hold for 5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Breathe out for 5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Now pause for 5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Breathe in 5,
Forward.
3.
.
.
2.
.
.
1.
.
.
Hold 5.
.
.
4.
.
.
3.
.
.
2.
.
.
One.
Breathe out.
Five.
4,
3,
2,
1 Pause 5,
4,
3,
2,
1 Breathe in 5,
4,
3,
2,
1 1… Hold… 5… 4… 3… 2… One.
Breathe out.
Five.
4.
.
.
3.
.
.
1 Pause 5 4 3 2 1 Breathe in 5 4 3 2 1 Hold 5 4 3 2 1 Breathe out 5 4.
.
.
3.
.
.
2.
.
.
1 Pause 5 4.
.
.
3.
.
.
2.
.
.
Breathe in.
Hold.
Breathe out.
4.
.
.
3.
.
.
2.
.
.
Pause 5 4 3 2 1 Breathe in 5 4 3 2 1 Hold 5 4 3 2 1 Breathe out 5 4 3 2 1 4,
3,
2,
1.
Pause.
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Extending one more time,
Now breathe in for 6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Hold for 6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Exhale for 6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Pause for 6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Inhale 6,
5,
4,
Hold.
Breathe out.
Pause.
Inhale.
Breathe out.
Pause.
Inhale.
Hold.
Breathe out.
Pause.
One more.
Inhale.
Hold.
Breathe out.
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Pause.
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Good.
Now release.
Relax this pattern.
Let yourself be easy now.
Now we're going to move into a kind of slowed down version of psychotropic breathing that incorporates the physiological sigh.
And so to breathe this way,
You're going to take a full breath into the belly.
A full breath into the chest.
And then a slow,
Audible exhale through the mouth.
So it's in through the nose,
In through the nose,
Out through the mouth.
So go ahead and exhale.
Now breathe into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into chest.
Audible exhale.
Inhale,
Belly.
And he'll just.
.
.
Audible sigh.
Into the belly,
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
And chest.
Audible exhale.
Inhale,
Belly.
Inhale,
Chest.
Audible sigh.
Now breathe into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into chest.
Audible exhale.
Inhale belly.
Inhale chest.
Audible sigh.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into chest.
Audible exhale.
Inhale,
Belly.
Inhale,
Chest.
Audible sigh.
Now breathe into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
In the chest.
Audible exhale.
Inhale,
Belly.
Inhale,
Chest.
Audible sigh.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into chest.
Audible exhale.
One more into the belly.
Inhale,
Chest.
Audible sigh.
Now taking a slow,
Deep breath,
Breathe in.
Now whole.
How old?
Hold.
Breathe out.
Pause for just a moment here.
Let's begin another round.
Breathing in deeper,
Expanding further.
So,
Exhaling.
Now breathe into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
In the chest.
Audible exhale.
Inhale,
Belly.
And he'll just.
.
.
Audible sigh.
Into the belly,
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into chest.
Audible exhale.
Inhale,
Belly.
Inhale,
Chest.
Audible side.
Now breathe into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into chest.
Audible exhale.
Keep going.
Inhale belly.
Inhale chest.
Audible sigh.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into chest.
Audible exhale.
Inhale belly.
Inhale chest.
Audible sigh.
Now breathe into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
End of the belly.
Into chest.
Audible exhale.
Inhale,
Belly.
Inhale,
Chest.
Audible sigh.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into the chest.
Audible exhale.
Into the belly.
Into chest.
Audible exhale.
One more into the belly.
Inhale,
Chest.
Now release a little more audibly.
Now taking a slow,
Deep breath,
Breathe in.
Now home.
How old?
Hold.
Breathe out.
Good,
Now let yourself relax.
Breathe normally,
Breathe easily.
As you pause for a moment,
You might notice,
Without changing anything,
Where did the breath land?
Perhaps noticing where did it not reach.
And we've done the active work now.
And so now we just receive what this practice has to offer.
So I invite you to move your awareness inward to that spinal column.
And reach with your awareness into your nervous system.
Notice what feels light.
It feels dissolved.
Noticing to what still feels present,
Without needing to change it,
Just noticing.
We'll move into a closing breath practice now that helps to restore a kind of balance.
Balance with the sun and moon inside of us,
The aggressive and receptive.
The tide coming in and the tide coming out.
As we begin this practice,
I invite you to gently fold your arms over your chest.
Not overly tight,
Just giving yourself a gentle hug.
In a position that supports ease and calm.
And as you hold yourself gently like this,
We'll begin breathing in for six and breathing out for six.
It's that simple.
So exhale.
And now gently breathe in for 6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Breathe out for 6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Inhale 6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Exhale 6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Breathe in 6,
5,
4,
Breathe out.
Breathing in,
The tide comes in.
Breathing out,
The tide recedes,
Leaving you washed clean.
Inhale.
Exhale.
6 5 4 3 2 1 Breathe in 6 5 4 3 2 1 Breathe out 6 5 4 3 2 1 Inhale 6 5 4 3 2 1 Exhale 6 5 4 3 Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Inhale.
Exhale.
One more time.
Inhale for six.
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Breathe out for 6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Now relax your breathing.
Just noticing the effect of this comforting breath.
You can either continue to hold this gentle hug posture.
Or you can release your arms and hands.
As we come to our final practice now,
Bringing our awareness to the throat.
And the quality of spaciousness there.
And the capacity for us to make sound,
To express.
To resonate.
And so with your awareness on your throat,
I invite you to gently breathe in.
And on the exhale,
Breathe out and down from the throat,
Into the chest,
Into the belly.
Breathing in once again,
Into the throat,
Into the chest,
Into the belly.
And breathing out from the belly,
The chest,
And the throat.
And one more time,
Breathing deep in the belly.
Chest,
Throat.
Breathing out from the belly,
The chest,
And the throat.
Now breathe in,
In the same full way.
And as we breathe out now,
We're just gently going to hum.
Again,
Breathing in.
Keep breathing out and hum.
Just a few minutes of this,
Breathing in.
And breathe out and inhale.
Breathing in.
.
.
Breathing out in hum.
Breathe in.
And breathe out and inhale.
Breathing in.
Breathing out and hum.
Breathe in.
And breathe out and inhale.
Breathing in.
.
.
Breathing out in hum.
And one more time,
Breathe in.
And exhale into hum.
And let your breath relax,
Touching into the leftover effects of that resonant hum in the body.
And mind.
Now slowly let yourself return to that full sensory awareness of your body.
The sounds and smells around you.
The feeling of air on your skin.
Of the firmness of the ground beneath you pushing up.
Gently open your eyes without moving the rest of your body.
Stay still.
As you just regain your sense of sight alone.
And now watch slowly as you come back into the room,
Lingering in this threshold between practice and presence.
And as you gently begin to wiggle fingers and toes,
Notice,
Is there a single word,
Color,
Or image that arises?
Not something chosen,
Just there.
Whether there is or not.
It's just a way to help you assimilate and integrate.
Some of what comes from inside.
As you gently awaken your body again.
Take a moment to connect with your heart.
Connect with a sense of appreciation and gratitude.
Gratitude for the incredible capacity that we each have to practice,
To stick with ourselves,
And to use these innate mechanisms for health,
For healing and presence.
Thank you for joining me today in this practice.
And may you take this sense of regulation and balance into your world,
Your relationships,
And the rest of your life off the cushion.
Thank you.
Gratitude.
