Welcome to this guided meditation for deep breathing during pregnancy.
Breath is our fundamental source of life.
When we're born,
We breathe our first breath of air,
And when we die,
We breathe our last.
Breathing is also one of the few functions in our body that happens both unconsciously and consciously.
When we can breathe more deeply,
Our nervous systems will tend to relax.
You and the baby both need breath to live,
Of course,
But deeper breathing can also calm you down,
Which is good for the baby too.
Take a moment to find a comfortable position for this meditation.
Seated is best,
But it's fine if you'd like to sit on a cushion or a couch,
Legs crossed or feet flat on the floor.
Close your eyes or soften your gaze.
Begin by inhaling as deeply as you can and exhaling out your mouth.
Later in pregnancy,
Deep breaths can become a bit harder,
Because the baby is taking up space that you would normally have to breathe into.
So we're just going to do the best we can.
Notice how your breath feels right now.
There's no right or wrong,
Good or bad.
Just notice what's happening for you.
Settle into the shape you've taken and gently relax any parts of your body that may be holding a little extra tension.
Soften your shoulders and your jaw.
Relax the space around your eyes.
Notice how much tension you may be holding around your belly.
Are you hugging your baby in?
How would it feel to relax a little bit?
To trust that the baby is just fine,
Right here.
You can let go of your belly,
Maybe even giving baby a little more space to move around in.
It might feel really nice to put your hands on your belly right now.
Go ahead and do that if you want to.
As you relax your body,
Notice if anything about your breath changes.
Again,
It may or may not.
Just notice here.
Notice how your body feels right now.
Notice how your body feels right now.
Now let's begin to lengthen the breath consciously.
Inhale to the top of your lung capacity,
Whatever that may be right now.
Do the same on your exhale.
Just keep exhaling until you get to the bottom of your breath.
Don't hold your breath or go into any feelings of discomfort.
There's no judgment here,
No competition,
There's no place we're trying to get to.
Simply lengthen your breath comfortably and notice how that feels.
If you find at any point you need to change your rhythm,
Pause,
Sigh,
Or breathe in some other way,
That's completely fine.
We're just practicing deepening the breath to a comfortable degree.
Naturally,
Pregnancy can bring up feelings of anxiety along with many other emotions.
Joy,
Gratitude,
Excitement,
Fear,
Sadness.
Along with hormonal shifts,
We can feel a huge range of things during pregnancy.
All of this is normal and okay,
But we can sometimes feel some social pressure around what we think we're supposed to feel during this time.
It's very common to shorten and tighten the breath when we're trying not to feel something that we actually do feel.
As you're breathing a little bit more deeply right now,
You might notice some emotions coming up,
And that's just fine.
In fact,
It's wonderful.
Releasing emotions from your body through the breath can often come with a sense of calm and relaxation after we do,
And that's good for both you and the baby.
Uncomfortable emotions are not bad in and of themselves.
We create stress in the body when we resist feeling something that is true for us.
As you continue to breathe comfortably as deeply as you can,
Welcome any waves of emotion that may arise.
You don't need to do anything about them.
You don't even need to know what they are.
Simply keep breathing.
Now,
Let's explore deepening the breath in some different ways.
As you're breathing deeply for yourself right now,
Notice where the breath tends to go.
Breath is fundamentally a movement.
Your diaphragm goes up and down.
The lungs fill in your chest and the body shifts.
Does your chest lift or expand?
Does your belly move forward or downward?
Can you feel your breath moving anywhere else?
Now,
Bring your attention to the sides of your ribcage.
See how it feels to bend a little bit over to one side,
And see if you can get a little more breath into the lung that is opening.
You could even lift the arm up that's on the side that's stretching open.
Try that for a few breaths.
And then try the other side.
Reach up your opposite arm and side bend over to the other way.
Does it feel easier or less easy to breathe into this lung?
Now come back to center if you're side bending,
And see if you can focus on breathing into your back ribs.
If you can,
Try putting your hands back there.
Breathe into the backs of your lungs,
Puffing up the back with your breath.
Again,
Just a nice relaxed exhale.
Maybe you'd like to see what it feels like to lean forward around your back a little bit,
As you're seeing if you can get more breath into the backs of your lungs.
These are areas where we can feel a little bit more breath when the baby is taking up more space in the front of the belly.
Now if you're leaning or rolling forward,
Just come back to a nice relaxed position once again.
Soften your shoulders and take a nice calm neutral position with your body.
Let go of any conscious breath,
Just let your body breathe how it wants to.
Notice how you feel.
How do you feel in your chest?
Your shoulders?
Your face and jaw?
How is your mood?
If you feel any calmer,
More relaxed,
More energetic,
Brighter,
Just take a moment to be with that.
To really notice what that feels like.
Feel free to practice this deeper breath anytime you feel your breath is shortening,
As the baby grows,
Or anytime you feel some anxiety or any other emotion coming up.
A little breath goes a long way.
Thank you for listening,
And I wish health,
Wellness,
And lots of life force for you and your little one.
