I'm going to introduce you to a breathing technique that will help you come in practice and come into your parasympathetic nervous system that will help you come into diaphragmatic breathing.
All right,
So we have different kinds of breathing techniques that are good to promote the parasympathetic nervous system.
It's Nadi Shodhana,
Alternative breathing,
Breath awareness,
Conscious breathing.
When you do the check-in in the morning,
You are doing conscious breathing.
We have coherent breathing,
You have this diaphragmatic breathing,
Three-part breathing,
And you have the breathing that are in natural urges.
If it's some yawn and sigh,
They're actually really good.
They help you balance the heat and the alertness and everything.
Right now,
What's important is to be more and cultivate your awareness,
Be more alert,
Be more connected.
With that,
The breath is amazing.
We can have it,
Do it anytime,
Anywhere,
Just do a check-in and connect and cultivate that self-awareness and notice what's happening in your body,
Your mind,
Your emotional state,
In your energetic state while you're doing these practices.
One of the questions I want to address is what's the difference between nose breathing and mouth breathing.
If you breathe in through your nose,
You automatically have that little hair in your nose that are little filters,
External things to not enter your body.
Through the mouth,
We don't have it.
It also,
When you're breathing through your nose,
You can regulate more the speed and the volume of the breath.
Let's just try it.
The mouth.
You might notice that when you inhale through your nose,
Same amount of time and inhale through your mouth,
You might feel dizzy when you inhale through your mouth.
What else is there?
When you inhale through your nose,
You oxygenate your brain more than 10%.
Oxygenating the brain means cooling it down.
If you're very anxious or stressed,
You get a heat.
Hot-headed,
Right?
We call it cool down the brain.
It also helps you create some freshness.
When you feel fresh,
We feel more flexible.
We feel more alert.
It's better for memory,
Getting exactly the information that you need to act and it gives you a moment of so depressed pause when you breathe.
Anyway,
It is really good to inhale and breathe through your nose at least and exhale through your mouth.
If you feel extremely stressed or overwhelmed,
By all means,
Use your mouth.
Also,
If you have a cold or you're not used to it or you have something in your nose which enables you to get the sensation to get enough air or even to get enough air,
Please use your mouth.
There's no forcing yourself.
Okay,
So that's a little bit about why we breathe in through the nose and why we breathe in through the nose and why not through the mouth in many of the practices that link you to the parasympathetic nervous system.
I'm going to invite you to a conscious breathing exercise and we're going to do this through a rock and roll breathing.
I'd like you to sit in a comfortable position.
If you're sitting on the mat,
I'm sitting on one of those yoga meditation bolsters.
If you're sitting on the mat,
You might want to put something underneath your hip to rock your hips a little bit forward so you're not lying backwards.
Or simply sit on the edge of a pillow.
Put your hands on your knees,
Cross leg if possible.
If cross leg isn't an option,
You can sit on your shins,
On your knees.
Also put a pillow maybe underneath so your knees or shins are protected or in between your calves and your thighs if that feels more comfortable.
Alright,
In this position,
Aligning the spine and your chin parallel to the ground.
Close your eyes.
Inhale as deep as you can and exhale through your mouth.
Dropping your chest towards your belly,
Your shoulders last,
Your head and inhaling again through the nose.
Stretching that back,
Shoulders,
Chin parallel.
Really rock and roll.
I'm showing you from the side.
Chest out.
Towards.
Pull the air out,
Belly button in,
Conscious collapsing slowly and in.
Staying connected with your breath in the present moment,
With each movement in your body and repeat.
Relax your body as you do so.
Inhale.
Like the lotus opening each morning with the sunrise.
Relax.
Chest out.
And exhale.
Take your time.
Until there's no more air and inhale through your nose.
Relaxing the shoulders.
Notice how your chest expands,
Ribcage expands,
Your lungs take up more space.
Notice maybe the temperature of the air when it leaves your body.
At your own speed,
Repeat.
Does your spine feel right?
Is there anything shifting in your body?
Observe.
Maybe it helps to put a hand on your head.
Maybe it helps to put a hand on your belly to notice how you expand on the inhale or how it deflates on the exhale.
Stay connected.
Keeping your body relaxed without forcing it,
Take your time to get used to it.
And slowly make the movements smaller.
Keeping your breath as deep as possible,
Taking your time between each movement.
And repeat.
Slowly coming into stillness with your spine tall,
Your chin parallel to the ground and breathe.
Repeat.
Come back to your natural breathing.
Keep your eyes closed for a moment.
Notice what has shifted inside of you.
Bring your awareness to sensations,
If they're physical,
Energetic,
Mental,
Emotional.
Maybe you feel you have more space,
Maybe you feel you're sitting more tall,
Maybe you have more oxygen.
You feel it rushing through your veins,
You feel your energy flowing.
And slowly open your eyes.
Namaste.
