Squirrel Cheeks - Grounding Breath Technique

Taking control of our breath is a great way to bring calm and grounding to any situation. This fun and surprisingly helpful breathing exercise helps calm frazzled nerves and invite good energy to the present moment. Polyvagal exercises such as this one can help us take control of our internal environment and find great relief.

Transcript

Hello there, My name is Heather and I am so glad you're here today because I just learned I think one of the silliest and one of the best. Exercises to do to help you bust through when you're feeling nerves in your body or you're just feeling a little antsy and you need to calm down. It's the funnest thing I've ever done. And today we get to use our imaginations to be squirrels. To do this. Are you ready? Okay, So I want you to sit down. I really want you to be able to focus on learning this one because it's pretty silly, But it's so good. So let's sit down and let's relax. You can sit on the floor with your legs crisscrossed like I am. You can sit in a chair or on the couch, But you want to be able to sit upright so you can take some good deep breaths. Okay, So we're gonna pretend that we're squirrels. I have squirrels all over my yard. Do you guys have squirrels at your house too? And in the fall, They like to run around and they collect different things. That they can store up and eat throughout the winter. So in some places, Maybe acorns at my house, It's pine cones. They like to collect pine cones. But we know that squirrels can store stuff in their cheeks. So that's what we're gonna do, Right? We're gonna pretend that we're squirrels collecting acorns and shoving them in our cheeks to take back to our homes. Okay, So here's how we do it. We're going to put air in our mouth and puff out our cheeks. We're just like that. It doesn't matter which side you want to do, Just choose one of your cheeks. We're going to put air in it. While we have the air in our cheek, We're going to breathe in through our nose. And then we're going to let the air come out of our mouth. We're just going to part our lips a little bit like this. I'm just gonna let it come out. And as our air comes out, It deflates out of our cheek. And we'll do one side, Then the other side, And then we do them together. Okay? So you can close your eyes if you want, Or you can keep your eyes open and watch me. I'm going to close my eyes. I feel like I can use my imagination a little bit better when my eyes are closed. Okay so. . . Little squirrels that were running up and down the tree. And we need to fill our home with acorns. Acorns fit in our cheeks a little bit better. So we're going to scamper down a tree and run over and we have found an acorn. We want to take it back up to our home. So let's shove it in our cheeks. Fill one of your cheeks up with air. It's like a little balloon. Okay, Now we're gonna breathe in through our nose while our cheek is full. Now we're going to let the air out, But don't open your lips too much. As you let the air out, Let it out of your cheek too. Good job. Now let's put an acorn in our other cheek. You ready? Shove it in your cheek. Is your cheek all filled up with air? All right, Now let's breathe through our nose, Ready? All right now, Gently part your lips just a little bit and release your air. Good job. Okay, We got two acorns in our home. Let's run back down our tree and let's go see if we can find two more. Here we are, Little squirrel, And we've got two more acorns we need to take back up to our home. So let's put one in one cheek and one in the other cheek and fill your cheeks up with air. And with that, Let's breathe in through our noses. And just slightly part your lips and let all of your air out. Good job. Open your eyes. That's all that it is. How silly is it? It's my favorite breathing technique that I have learned so far. With it, Every time you let your air out, You can let your shoulders relax. Let your body relax. I'd probably only cycle through it once because that's some pretty good deep breathing. And you should definitely share this with a friend or a family member. I'm sure they would love to pretend that they're squirrels with you. So anytime you're feeling those nerves, Feeling just a little bit wonky. This is a great trick that you can use to help take control, To help bring some joy and happiness back into your mind, To your body, To your everything, Just to feel a little bit calmer. I'm so glad that you were here today and I cannot wait to share more fun tricks with you and be able to use our imaginations again. Talk to you guys later. Bye.