Microdose Meditation: The Pause-Breath For Relieving Tension

Hi team this is a simple technique that might sound a little unusual, taking a a pause right on the point of tension when breathing before exhaling. You might find you hit a tension point immediately or you might find you can expand the breath quite some way before reaching a dense, tight area. Wherever you encounter this 'restriction' in the body, I invite you here to simply pause and hold the breath for two or three seconds. This creates a 'reperfusion' effect wherin hydration and oxygen returns to the tissue. By not 'forcing through' the area and trying to break it open we actually signal safety to the body, and this is what helps the area to soften and relax, in time expanding and no longer being tense, but by that point it doesn't matter as much as you are already relaxed and present. This meditation is based on simple science and secular Mindfulness.

Transcript

Hi team. Welcome to a little micro-dose of meditation here. This is something called a micro-apnea. First. Become a what? Of the sensations of breathing. Allow the breath to expand and deflate in the body. Pay special attention. To the area where you first encounter some resistance or tension. Just breathe very naturally with this. And all we're doing here is just noticing. The area where there is some tension or resistance. Develop this sense of Curiosity. Be amused, Be interested. So we're not frustrated. Or worried if we come up against some tension in the body. Sometimes we worry. Is that area tight for a reason? Is something wrong? Or we feel frustrated. I feel like I should be more relaxed than this, I should be able to breathe better than this. That's unnecessary and unhelpful. Instead, Just be interested. With compassion. You can even say thank you to the tension. Thank you for being here. You must be. . . Keeping me safe in some way. Just how interesting this is. There's nothing to be worried about or frustrated by. It's just information, That's all. You can use the breath in this way, It develops insight, Something called interoception your deep awareness of the body. So here. . . As you allow the breath to expand. And just lap up against. The tension, The barrier in the body, Maybe the chest. Feels like a cage, Tight. And the stomach just feels really rubbery. Or maybe the back feels like a hard panel of wood. The breath just doesn't seem to want to go into that area. Here, Don't try and push through, Don't try and break through it. Simply allow the breath to expand and at the point where it comes up against some tension, Pause. And hold the breath. Before exhaling and deflating once again. And just repeat this in this way. So we're not trying to aggressively. . . Smash through that tension not trying to break through the barrier instead we're just using the breath to become very aware of it and at that gentle point of tension you will just start to know the right amount you'll just know It's just in that sweet spot. It feels kind of. . . Feels delicious is the only word I can think to describe it. Just do. Just as the tension is there It's not at the point we're forcing through, But we also haven't stopped short either. Hold it there two or three seconds and then exhale. Now this not only developed deep interoception so that we know these tight areas in the body that we can then do somatic practices and massage and stretching and things to help us in that area. But it also has a deep physiological effect in terms of your blood chemistry. Actually changes the blood chemistry and this actually allows oxygen and hydration to those tissues in that area where it's just become dense, Waxy. Like gel-like. That tissue to just become kind of sticky. Is by just holding on that area it actually allows reperfusion, It gets oxygen and hydration into those cells. And then we just exhale and there's no forcing are forcing and trying to break through. That actually makes the body tighten back up again. That's not what we want. So you can do this throughout the day and just probably five or six breaths in this way, Where we then just take that brief micro apnea. And just see if that changes the nature of how you're holding yourself, Carrying yourself. Let me know how you get on. Hope to see you in the next microdose. Thank you for listening. Take care. Be well. Stay present.