Hello friends and welcome.
My name is Holly and today I'm going to guide you through a breath technique called the balanced breath.
It is a great technique for calming the nervous system.
You can practice it here with me in a comfortable safe space.
And once you've got the hang of it,
You can use this breath anytime you're feeling activated in your real life.
Perhaps a stressful situation might come up at work or in the car or even shopping for groceries.
This balanced breath can help you.
When your nervous system is activated and you're shifted into the sympathetic,
That's the fight or flight nervous system,
This breath can bring you back to your calm center,
Shifting you into the parasympathetic nervous system,
The rest and digest nervous system.
I hope you find this breath technique to be a useful tool as you go about your hectic life.
But for now,
I invite you to come to a place that's comfortable with a long spine.
That could mean sitting upright in a supportive chair.
It could mean sitting on a yoga bolster on the floor.
You may prefer instead to lie down with your spine long.
The choice is yours.
Make yourself comfortable.
Once you find your way to that comfortable position,
Take a big breath in through your nose.
Open mouth exhale,
Let it go.
And now let yourself just notice your body and your natural state.
How are you feeling right now?
Is there any stress in your system?
Any tension in your body?
Focus on an area that feels a little uncomfortable.
Take a big breath into that area.
Then open mouth exhale,
Let the tension go.
One more time,
Big breath in.
Open mouth exhale,
Let it go.
Now let your breath begin to flow naturally in and out through your nose.
And take a few breath cycles to simply watch your breath.
Notice how it feels to breathe right in this moment.
Does it feel spacious or constricted?
Now begin to lengthen your breath.
Let your inhales become a little longer.
Let your exhales be a little more complete.
Again,
Still breathing in and out your nose.
Now we're going to stretch the breath out even longer.
Take a big breath in for 3,
2,
1 and exhale for 3,
2,
1.
Again,
Inhale for 3,
2,
1 and exhale for 3,
2,
1.
Take a few cycles just like this on your own.
Seeing if this feels easy or challenging.
How does it feel to control your breath in this gentle way?
Now we're going to lengthen the breath even more.
Inhale for 4,
3,
2,
1.
Exhale for 4,
3,
2,
1.
Inhale for 3,
2,
1.
Exhale for 3,
2,
1.
Keep going with your breath.
Slow 4-count inhale.
Slow 4-count exhale your balanced breath.
If this feels easy,
Then go ahead and take your count to 5.
If the 4-count balanced breath seems challenging and is adding any stress into your breath,
Then come back down to the 3-count.
Honor what's going on in your body right now,
Knowing that it can be different from where you were at yesterday and yet again still different from where you may be tomorrow.
Take a couple more rounds of that slow,
Deep,
Balanced breath.
And with your last exhale,
Open your mouth and sigh out all your air.
And then gently come back into a little movement of the body,
A wiggle of your fingers and toes,
A gentle rock of your head.
Know that the balanced breath is here for you anytime you need it,
Anytime you want to calm the nervous system and come back to that grounded space within.
Thank you so much for joining me today and I hope to see you again soon.
