Hi,
Welcome to this insight time and meditation.
My name is Ellie Foden and I'm excited to guide you through this breathwork pranayama meditation practice to ease anxiety.
Anxiety is something that we all experience at some point.
I'm sure you know all too well.
And it can feel suffocating,
Overwhelming,
And it really,
Really stifles your creativity,
Your productivity,
And also your mental wellbeing.
The tools I'm gonna share with you today are very simple tools to have in your toolbox,
In your back pocket,
You can do anytime to help find calm amongst the chaos and anchor yourself back into self-assurance so you can really move forwards with clarity.
Make sure you're in a comfortable space,
Whether you're seated or whether you're laying down.
You wanna be somewhere comfortable,
Somewhere warm,
And somewhere you feel supported.
Ideally,
Somewhere quiet,
But anywhere you are is fine,
Whether you're at your desk or whether you're on your commute,
It's absolutely fine.
Now,
Wherever you are,
Take a moment to settle your body.
If you're sat on a chair,
I invite you to uncross your legs so that your feet are flat on the floor.
That just brings a grounded feeling to the body.
It also helps to even out your hips so your spine can lengthen a little bit further.
If you notice pain or notice stiffness in your shoulders and you feel like maybe a gentle stretch or a rolling of your shoulders might help to ease that,
Then take an intuitive movement there.
Roll your shoulders,
Stretch your neck.
And then whenever you're ready,
Lengthen through the back of your neck,
Soften your jaw.
And then you have choices.
You can either half-close your eyelids,
Focus your gaze,
Or fully close your eyes,
Depending on where you are,
How comfortable you are where you are,
And whatever feels most relaxing to you in this moment.
Take that either half-closure of your eyelids,
Focusing of your gaze,
Or closing down of your eyes as your intention to draw your awareness away from whatever else has happened so far today.
And into this moment.
It's almost like you're looking inward,
Turning your eyes inward.
Feel your body where you are.
Take a moment and scan around any points of context between your body and whatever is supporting you at the moment.
You might notice the contact between your feet and the floor,
Maybe between the back of your thighs or hips and your chair.
In a more subtle way,
You might notice the brushing of your skin and your clothes,
Or maybe points of temperature,
Maybe spaces that feel warm,
Spaces that feel a little bit cold.
And then gently start to give your body into the ground,
Almost like you're giving your body permission here just to relax maybe 1% more,
Allowing yourself to be held here by your support,
Or allowing yourself to feel safe where you are.
Safety is the real antidote to anxiety.
Feeling safe where you are is feeling calm where you are.
And once you're ready,
Start to guide your attention towards your breathing.
Breathing in and out through your nose as best you can.
Of course,
If you have any sinus issues going on at the moment,
Breathe how you're comfortable.
But breathing through the nose actually uses more of your lung capacity.
And it signals your parasympathetic nervous system to switch on.
So you're in a more relaxed state when you're breathing through your nose.
Drop any need for control or perfection,
But instead allow your body to breathe itself and see if you can simply watch that breath flowing in and out through your body,
Almost like a wave lapping against the shore As the wave draws in,
So does the breath.
As the wave flows out,
So does the breath.
Invite a sense of curiosity here.
A feeling like you're meeting each breath like it's the first you've ever seen.
Notice how the breath feels in the body today.
Do you feel your breath low at the movement of your belly?
Is it high in your body around the chest?
Or somewhere else?
Do you notice that your exhale is longer than your inhale?
Or perhaps the other way around?
Maybe your breath feels quite even and smooth.
Maybe you're finding it a little bit tricky to connect to your breath at all today.
That's absolutely fine.
From here,
We're gonna move through a very simple breathwork exercise,
Where we simply count the length of the inhale and the length of your exhale.
When we inhale and exhale for the same amount of time,
It brings the body into a state of harmony,
Your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system into balance.
For reference,
When your exhale is shorter than your inhale,
It brings a more energizing feeling to the body.
When your exhale is longer than your inhale,
It brings a relaxing feeling to the body.
But for today,
Let's find some harmony and allow your inhales and exhales to be even in length.
So we'll take 10 breaths here.
Inhaling for a full breath,
But not like you're straining.
So maybe counting your next inhale in for three or four.
One,
Two,
Three,
Maybe four.
And exhale for the same count.
One,
Two,
Three,
Maybe four.
Inhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Maybe four.
Exhale,
One,
Two,
Three,
Maybe four.
Continue like that in your own time.
Eight more breaths like that.
Inhaling for your count,
Three or four.
Exhaling for the same number.
If your mind starts to wander,
Don't worry.
Just come back to your next inhale.
Come back to your count.
Inhaling three or four.
Exhaling for the same number in your own time.
Once again,
If your mind started to wander,
Don't worry.
Come back to your next inhale.
Let's take three more breaths like that.
Inhaling for your count,
Three or four.
Exhale for the same.
And at the end of your next exhale,
See if you can send that breath all the way down to your feet.
Focus only on the contact between your feet and the ground.
If you're quite a visual person,
You might imagine roots anchoring you from your feet into the earth.
Otherwise,
Simply connect to that feeling of support,
Of connection.
Between your feet and the ground.
Allowing with each exhale that connection to deepen.
For your body,
Your mind,
And your nervous system to feel ever more anchored here.
Ever safer.
More present.
Here in this moment,
We're safe.
We're breathing.
Once you're ready,
Just start to guide your attention back up your body.
Maybe start to take some conscious,
Deep breaths.
If you feel like you really need to let go of something,
Exhale out through your mouth.
And whenever you're ready,
Slowly start to open your eyes.
Thank you so much for sharing your practice with me today.
I hope that you found some calmness,
Even if that's 1% of calm.
Take a moment to feel grateful towards yourself for showing up here today.
Keep that breathwork practice in your pocket for whenever you feel stressed or anxious,
You can do it anytime.
I hope to see you again soon.
Enjoy the rest of your day.
Goodbye.
