In this practice,
We will be putting our bodies into a parasympathetic state.
So get comfortable,
Find a lying position,
Perhaps you want a pillow underneath the knees.
And we're going to begin with a three-part breath,
One of the most effective breathing exercises for the nervous system.
This breath will encourage proper breathing habits,
Open up the diaphragm,
And send signals to your body to relax.
So place both hands on your belly,
And begin breathing deeply into your belly,
Allowing it to expand,
Hands go up.
And exhale,
Let that breath go.
Again,
Deep inhale into the pit of your belly,
Allowing it to rise and fill up like a balloon.
Exhale,
Release.
Again,
Nice and slow,
Send that breath all the way down to the pit of your belly,
Sending in all that fresh oxygen,
Pushing the belly outwards.
Hold on full.
And exhale,
Feel the belly fall.
Beautiful,
Let's do that breath again,
Deep inhale all the way down,
Pushing the belly outwards.
And this time,
Breathe a little bit further into your chest.
And exhale,
Chest softens,
And belly goes in.
Again,
Deep inhale all the way down to the pit of your belly,
Pushing it outwards,
Feeling the palms on your belly rise.
And breathing even further into your chest,
Into your heart space,
Opening up any tight areas of tension here.
Hold on full.
And slow exhale,
Chest softens,
Belly goes in.
Last one like that,
Deep inhale all the way down,
Down,
Down,
Down to the pit of your belly,
Pushing it outwards.
And another big,
Deep breath into your chest,
Breathing into any tight areas.
And exhale,
Chest softens,
Belly goes in.
Beautiful.
And again,
Deep inhale all the way down into your belly,
Into your chest,
And taking an extra sip of air into the top of your lungs,
So your shoulders should go up a bit.
Hold.
Exhale,
Shoulders drop,
Chest softens,
And belly goes in.
Again,
Deep inhale all the way down,
Pushing the belly out.
Breathing further into the chest,
And even further into the top of the lungs,
Breathing into any tightness in the shoulders and the neck,
Sending that breath to those areas.
Hold.
And exhale,
Shoulders drop,
Chest softens,
And belly goes in.
Again,
Deep inhale,
Send that oxygen to every tight crevice and area in your diaphragm,
Pushing the belly outwards.
Breathe into your heart space,
And into your shoulders,
Into your neck.
Hold on full.
And exhale,
Shoulders drop,
Chest softens,
Belly goes in.
Now,
Do three more just like that on your own time,
Creating a smooth ocean wave with your breath into your belly,
Into your chest,
And into the top of your lungs.
Take your time with it,
Nice and slow.
Finishing up your last round,
And now we're going to transition into a simple concentration meditation with the breath.
We're going to inhale for three,
Hold for three,
And exhale for six.
Try to continue to send your breath to the pit of your belly,
Feeling it rise up and feeling it fall.
Ready?
Inhaling in through the nose for one,
Two,
Three.
Hold for one,
Two,
Three.
Exhale six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Breathing back in for one,
Two,
Three.
Hold for one,
Two,
Three.
Exhale six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Continuing with this pace.
With each exhale,
Allowing the body to relax deeper and deeper.
With each inhale,
Fueling your body with fresh oxygen,
Fresh life force.
Holding in stillness.
And with each exhale,
Melting further and further into the surface beneath you.
Continuing with this breathing pattern,
I am now going to mention certain body parts.
And as I do,
Simply bring notice to those parts and relax them.
So bring your focus to the soles of your feet.
Send your breath all the way down to the soles of your feet.
Feel your toes,
Your ankles.
Thanking your feet for keeping you grounded all day long.
For your ability to walk,
To go to your favorite places,
To move.
Feeling into your calves and your shins.
Feeling into your knees,
Sending your breath to those areas.
Feeling into your thighs,
Front and back.
Thanking your legs for being strong,
For holding you up.
And again,
Giving you the ability to move,
To train.
Thanking them for all that they do for you.
Send your legs and your feet a breath of gratitude and thanks.
Now feeling into your hips,
We tend to carry a lot of tension here.
Send a deep breath down to your hips.
Let that breath go.
Notice if any emotions come up in this area.
This is where we tend to hold our emotions.
Deep breath into the hips.
And letting it go.
Feeling into your torso,
Your tummy.
Thanking your digestive system for all that it does for you all day long without a second thought.
And now giving your body the permission to rest and digest.
Sending your breath to this area.
Thank you for absorbing all of the nutrients that I need to have the energy to take on the day.
Feeling into your chest,
Your heart space.
Thank you for my ability to love.
Sending your breath into your chest,
Allowing it to melt down with compassion.
Feeling both arms weighing heavy.
Feeling your hands.
Thanking your hands and your arms for all that they do for you.
Sending your breath to those areas.
Feeling into our shoulders.
Send a deep breath into your shoulders,
Into your neck.
And exhale,
Giving them permission to drop and let loose.
Now scanning the head,
Feeling into the jaw.
Relax your jaw.
Dropping the tongue.
Relaxing the eyes,
All of the tiny muscles by the eyes.
Relaxing the eyebrows,
The area in between the eyebrows.
The head,
The scalp.
Allowing it all to melt and relax.
Continuing to lay here for as long as you'd like.
Taking nice,
Slow,
Deep breaths.
And giving your body permission to rest and restore.
