Welcome to this guided breath work for expression.
We are conditioned from a young age to believe that to express one's emotions is weak and even to express our truth or our needs is selfish.
And so we end up keeping inside what actually needs to live outside of us.
The opposite of expression is suppression.
And what goes left unsaid,
Unfelt or unexpressed in any way,
Our bodies end up paying the price.
So my intention for this practice is to help you become more comfortable with self-expression through the breath.
We will be using two different breath patterns.
The first I will guide you through is a simple conscious circular breath.
Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.
And to the best of your ability and comfort level allowing that exhale to be audible,
To really allow yourself to make sound through that exhale.
We will then shift into our three-part breath that is done entirely through the mouth.
So it is two inhales into the belly,
Into the chest and out.
Again making that exhale nice and audible.
Now remember you get to dictate the speed and the depth with this breath.
I will always invite you but you know what is best.
If you want to stick with one breath pattern you can.
Find what feels good for you.
But I really encourage you to allow yourself to express audibly through the exhale and even to incorporate movement in a way that feels good for this practice.
As always making sure that you are as comfortable as possible and arriving into this space,
Into this practice and maybe even setting a little intention.
Giving your body permission to show you anything that needs to be released,
Anything that needs to be felt,
Anything that needs to move and anything that needs to be brought forward or brought to your attention and meeting it with compassion and kindness.
The beauty of breath work is that it allows your body to express itself and we don't really always need to understand why or intellectualize it.
It's just about being with what is,
Feeling it and letting it go.
Begin by taking a couple of deep cleansing breaths.
Nice,
Slow and steady in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Beginning with our conscious connected circular breath.
Finding your unique rhythm,
Depth and pace.
Just allowing that breath to be powerful.
Allowing it to be audible and you might be beginning to feel sensations move throughout the body.
Just know that this is all part of the process and you are in complete control.
Let your body be your guide.
It will show you how it wants to breathe.
It will show you the way.
Can you give yourself permission to let that breath take up space?
Let your voice be heard through that exhale.
Beautiful,
Stay with it.
You are not alone.
I am right here with you.
You've got this.
Allowing that breath to bring a sense of flow into the body.
Allowing movement,
Bringing in space.
Using that voice,
Expressing through sound,
Through movement,
Through breath.
Can you give yourself permission to express in any way that feels good and releasing the judgment,
The shame around it.
Meeting that expression with compassion.
And whenever you are ready,
Inviting you into that three-part breath.
Breathing into the belly,
Into the chest and exhaling all out.
Belly,
Chest,
Exhale.
Allowing that exhale to be nice and audible.
And we're only with this breath for a couple of minutes.
You've got this.
It is safe for me to express myself.
It is safe for me to express my emotions,
My joy,
My sorrow,
My voice,
My needs,
All of it.
And in these last few moments of this practice,
Can you even just give it 5% more?
Can you go a little bit deeper?
Beautiful.
Inviting in a more gentle,
Natural breath now.
Releasing that three-part breath and allowing the body to continue to express in any way it needs to.
And slowly in your own time arriving in a place of stillness.
And just being here with what you have created through this practice.
And if it feels comfortable,
You can place one hand or both hands over the heart.
Feeling into a sense of gratitude for yourself,
For your body,
For your entire being.
I choose to honor myself.
I choose to honor my self-expression.
And I give myself permission to release any shame or judgment around that.
And the greatest gift that I can give myself and the world around me is my own unique self-expression.
Gently bringing some movement and wakefulness back into the body now.
And whenever you are ready,
Slowly opening the eyes.
