Learning To Play With The Breath

A lot of the practices I share with centre around the breath, and that’s not an accident. Think of the breath as a gateway, opening up the lines of communication between your body and your brain so you can begin to read and influence how they both feel.

This practice plays with the balance between choosing to manage the breath when you want to, but also learning to simply sit back and pay attention it as it does its own thing without our control.

Transcript

Take any movements or adjustments now that you need to ease into the body. Roll through the shoulders, Move through the torso. Find space all around the belly, All around the ribs. Then just coming to settle and find a state of stillness and relaxation. When you find that stillness, Begin to tune into the breath. Coming to notice whereabouts in the body you can feel the movement of the breath. Perhaps there's a light rise and fall of the shoulders. A lift across the chest. A gentle expansion and softening of the belly with each inhale and exhale. See how long or deep each natural round of breath is. And then, Without forcing anything, For the next few cycles of breath, See if you can begin to make each inhale and exhale last a tiny bit longer than the last one. Let them travel a little bit deeper into the body. Take a final, Fuller round of breath. Allow it to return to its natural rhythm. Letting go of any control. Returning just to noticing. Looking for the next breath that comes into the body. And then watching as it leaves. Returning the awareness back into the body as a whole. And slowly returning back to your day.