Welcome to this breath practice for a better night's sleep.
So we're going to start just by coming into a comfortable position,
So that could be seated or lying down,
Whatever just works for you right now,
Whatever your body's asking for.
So we're just going to start by getting ourselves comfy,
Closing or lowering the eyes,
And then on your next inhale,
Bringing the shoulders up towards the ears,
Squeezing them up nice and tight,
And exhale to release.
Inhale,
Bringing the shoulders up towards the ears,
Squeeze them up nice and tight,
Exhale to release.
One final time,
Inhale,
Shoulders come up to the ears,
Squeeze them up as tight as we can,
And exhale to release.
Allowing the body to grow even heavier,
Even more relaxed.
And then bringing focus onto our breath here,
Just noticing first of all whether we're breathing in through the nose or in and out through the mouth.
Noticing whether we're breathing into the chest or the stomach.
Really trying not to change the breath,
Just allowing the breath to be as it is.
And then slowly beginning to deepen the breath.
We're going to focus on breathing into the belly,
So as we inhale we'll feel the belly rise,
And as we exhale we'll feel the belly draw back towards the spine.
If it helps,
We can place our hands onto our lower stomach,
And really focusing on breathing into the belly.
We inhale,
The belly rises.
We exhale,
The belly draws back towards the spine.
So as we continue these belly breaths,
Gently beginning to extend the exhalation,
So making the exhales longer than the inhales.
Nice slow exhales,
Telling our minds and our bodies that we're safe,
That we can rest.
We're going to bring in a conscious breath practice here called 4-7-8 breath to help reduce reactivity,
Reduce the mental chatter,
And to allow ourselves to shift even more into a better place for a better night's sleep.
So we're going to be inhaling through the nose for 4,
We're going to be holding at the top of the inhale for the count of 7,
And then we'll be blowing out through the mouth,
Through purse lips for the count of 8.
So first of all we'll exhale everything out.
Then inhale,
2,
3,
4.
Hold,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7.
Exhale,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8.
Inhale,
2,
3,
4.
Hold,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7.
Exhale,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8.
Inhale,
2,
3,
4.
Hold,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7.
Exhale,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8.
Inhale,
2,
3,
4.
Hold,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7.
Exhale,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8.
Last round.
Inhale,
2,
3,
4.
Hold,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7.
Exhale,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8.
Take a big breath in through the nose.
And a big sigh out.
And again,
Big breath in.
And a big sigh out.
One final time,
Big breath in,
Biggest breath of the day.
And release everything out.
Allowing the breath to return back to normal.
Noticing any shifts in how you're feeling in the mind,
The body.
Allowing yourself to grow even heavier,
Even more relaxed.
And whenever you're ready,
Gently opening the eyes.
Thank you for listening.
