Welcome to Being Strategically Resilient.
This is a guided,
Daily,
Coherent breathing practice,
Especially for first responders,
For you,
To prepare you to get your nervous system ready to meet the demands of the day.
It can be done before you leave home,
Or from your desk,
Or in a parked vehicle before you begin your shift,
Or any other time during the day,
Or at the end of the day,
As a decompression exercise.
Okay,
Let's go.
Sit comfortably.
See if your back can be straight without being strained or arched.
Close your eyes if you feel comfortable or maintain a steady fixed gaze on a spot ahead of you.
Place your hands comfortably on your legs.
Now let's begin.
Begin to notice your breath.
Dropping in on your natural rhythm.
Without trying to alter it or change it in any way,
Just feeling the in-breath.
And your out-breath.
And as you exhale,
The next time,
Settle the body softening your forehead,
Your cheeks and jaw and on the next one.
Use that exhale to soften the shoulders and the back Settling the hips and the sit bones,
Sinking deeper into the chair Allowing the exhale to settle the legs and the feet.
Let's bring our attention to the experience of the breath in the nostrils as it enters and leaves.
Where are you feeling the breathing most distinctly?
In the stomach?
The chest?
The lower back,
The middle back See if you can feel the sensation of this one breath without concern for the one that just went by,
Just this one breath.
Okay,
Let's practice some coherent breathing together to a count of four Breathing in through the nose and out through the nose for a count of four Let's do one together Breathing in,
1,
2,
3,
4 Hold at the top,
4,
3,
2,
1 Really inhaling on that next breath,
Filling the belly on your own.
Get to that top,
Hold it,
And then exhale.
Nice and slow.
How slow can you go?
One more,
Breathing in for four nice and slow Holding at the top.
Nice slow exhale,
Really enjoying it You're doing great.
Now return to your natural breathing rhythm.
Just feel the breath as it rides,
Kind of travels up the spine and during the exhale kind of goes down the spine Anytime you discover your mind has wandered,
You don't have to feel like you failed or not getting this right.
This is just a conditioned habit of your mind.
We get distracted.
Our attention strays.
That's okay.
You always have an opportunity to begin again.
Just let go of any kind of thoughts and just begin to focus on the sensation of breathing Breathing in and breathing out.
You're doing great.
30 seconds.
Again,
Just staying with this one breath,
The full range of it.
From the time it begins.
Every time it gets to the top,
Into the exhale.
You can slowly open your eyes,
Gently move the body,
The neck side to side,
Fingers and toes Just notice overall how you feel in comparison to how you started This done frequently,
This practice has the ability to return you to baseline and reduce accumulated stress and anxiety So join me in being faithful to it Thank you,
See you again tomorrow
