Somatic Series: Breath Tune-Up

Welcome to the third meditation in this Mini Somatic Series exploring your relationship to your breath.

The breath is one of the few systems in the body that happens automatically, yet can also become a doorway into conscious regulation.

The challenge is that when the nervous system has been living in states of stress, urgency or protection, breathing patterns often adapt without us realising. Breath may become shallow, held, rushed or restricted as the body prepares to respond rather than restore.

Many people are either short-changing their inhale or not completing a full exhale. When we discover we have not been breathing fully for a long time, it can feel like a great relief to finally take a real, full, expansive breath.

This practice is an invitation to realise what breath capacity you have access to.

I invite you to return to this micro-moment of regulation whenever your breath is in need of a tune-up.

Transcript

As your awareness starts to travel inwards. Maybe softening your gaze or closing down your eyes. Notice how you are breathing in this very moment. Resisting the urge to control or change or even optimize your breathing for a moment. Can you notice how your body breathes all on its own? Now as we bring our attention to our inhale. We're going to take a deep breath in through the nose. Pausing. And then slowly through the nose, Release the breath. And again this time breathing in through the nose. Pausing. And then see if you can sip in a little bit more air through the nose. And then slowly release. Final time, Breathing in through the nose. Pausing at the top. Stretching the breath in a little bit more. And then through the lips like a straw, Just a little bit more. And then through the nose, Release. As you come back to a natural breathing pattern. Take a moment to check in with your breath. As we bring our attention to our exhale. Breathing in. And then taking a slow and long, Complete exhale through the nose. Pausing at the bottom. And then breathing in again. This time exhaling through the nose. Hosing at the bottom. And then when you feel empty, See if you can breathe out just a little bit more. And then one more round, We'll inhale. Through the nose, We exhale. We pause. We see if we can breathe out again. Pause. Now imagine a pretend candle in front of you and see if you can blow it out from empty. And then breathe in normally. Breathing naturally. As you welcome back in your breath. Noticing how it feels to have reset the depth. The capacity and the length of each of your breaths. Coming back to the space around you whenever you're ready.