Welcome to our crocodile breathing practice.
This is a really calming,
Grounding breathing technique.
And for this one we lay down on our bellies.
So you could lay on the floor.
I tend to prefer that.
It's just a little bit more firm and it can give you a bit more feedback.
But if the floor feels kind of crunchy,
You could always do this laying on your bed too.
So just laying down on your belly.
Maybe you rest your forehead or chin on stacked palms with your elbows out to the sides.
Just make sure it feels like you can breathe here.
And let yourself start to settle.
Soften the face.
Let the eyes rest on one point or maybe they close.
Consciously softening the body.
You could even squeeze your glutes and then soften.
Let them release.
And sometimes we hold some tension there that we're not aware of.
That just helps us to relax a bit more.
And tops of your feet could be down.
Let yourself land.
Without changing anything,
Check in with your breath.
Notice how it feels to breathe here.
For a lot of us,
Just laying on our bellies can be really grounding,
Really soothing.
Really relaxing.
So maybe you stay here and you just rest.
If you're feeling good,
You could turn off this recording and just stay here.
If you want to deepen your awareness of your breath and start to tune in to the belly.
As you breathe in,
You'll feel the belly press a little bit more into the earth.
And as you breathe out,
You'll feel it soften and release a little.
Use whatever is underneath you as your tool for a bit more feedback.
Try to press your belly using your breath into the ground a little bit more.
Deepening that belly breath.
Just breathing on your own rhythm here.
Once we're here,
We can start to find the breath being a bit more 360.
So you might start to feel the breath start to fill up the side ribs,
The waist,
Into the low back.
And so when the belly can't push out forwards,
You'll find a bit more space here.
The back of the body,
The sides.
And drawing that breath down low in the body.
And so a lot of the time,
The body starts to harden from the stress,
The demands of the day.
We can start to breathe just through the body,
The muscles,
The muscles,
The muscles,
The muscles,
The nerves of the day.
We can start to breathe just through,
Really it feels like the chest,
The collarbones.
But when we're here,
We're able to draw that breath in a little deeper,
A little lower,
Allowing the breath to be slow and mindful.
Really nice place to be.
So as you focus on the breath moving into the belly,
Low in the abdomen,
We'll start to add on account.
We'll breathe in for four.
We'll pause for a beat.
We'll breathe out for four and pause for a beat.
So start with your own inhale,
Your own exhale through the nose.
Inhale two,
Three,
Four.
Pause.
Exhale two,
Three,
Four.
Pause.
In two,
Three,
Four.
Pause.
Out two,
Three,
Four.
Pause.
In two,
Three,
Four.
Pause.
Out two,
Three,
Four.
Pause.
In two,
Three,
Four.
Pause.
Out a little longer.
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Pause.
In two,
Three,
Four.
Pause.
Out two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Pause.
In two,
Three,
Four.
Pause.
Out two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Pause.
In two,
Three,
Four.
Pause.
Out two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Pause.
Breathe in on your own and out on your own.
Let the body start to breathe itself.
See if you can just watch it for a few more rounds.
Whenever you're ready,
You can come on out of this.
You might roll onto your back or into a child's pose.
You could even stay here a little longer and just soak up all this relaxing goodness.
Thank you so much for practicing with me today.
Take care and stay well.
Peace.
