Just taking a moment now to settle into this breath work practice.
Sitting on the floor or in a chair,
Your back supported,
Shutting the eyes down,
Tuning into the breath and becoming aware of the fact that you are breathing.
Perhaps becoming aware of the belly as it expands and as the chest expands as you breathe in.
Then drawing the belly back in towards the spine as you exhale.
So we breathe in,
We expand and as we exhale we let go.
Perhaps we let go of the day,
Perhaps we let go of our stress.
Breathing in and expanding.
Breathing out through the nose.
The sense of letting go,
Just allowing yourself to be here in this space.
Just allowing yourself to be here and be present for this practice and allow yourself to leave the day behind.
Becoming completely aware of your breath.
Perhaps following the breath as it enters the nostrils,
Enters the throat and the chest and the belly.
And then follow it as it makes its way back out from belly,
Chest,
Throat,
Nasal cavity and out of the nostrils.
Perhaps becoming aware of the air as it hits your nostrils.
So just following the breath all the way to the end of the inhale,
All the way to the end of the exhale.
Slow steady breaths.
And if the mind wanders that's okay.
The mind will wander and we just gently direct it back to the breath.
Pick up a bit of a count now.
So we're going to start with a bit of box breathing.
So just breathing in for four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Holding the breath.
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhaling.
Three,
Two,
One.
And holding the breath at the bottom.
Three,
Two,
One.
And inhaling in through the nose deep into the belly.
Three,
Two,
One.
And hold.
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhaling through the nose.
Three,
Two,
One.
And hold.
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale.
Expanding the chest.
Expand the lungs.
Three,
Two,
One.
Holding at the top.
Three,
Two,
One.
And exhaling.
Three,
Two,
One.
And hold.
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale.
Three,
Two,
One.
Holding at the top.
Three,
Two,
One.
And exhaling.
Three,
Two,
One.
And hold.
Three,
Two,
One.
Just letting go of the count.
I'm just stabilizing the breath.
In through the nose,
Out through the nose.
Letting the body become heavy.
Letting the body relax.
Now we're going to take our pointer finger and middle finger and placing that on the eyebrow center.
And we'll be blocking our right nostril with our thumb.
Just breathing in through the left nostril.
Long and slow and steady.
Block left and exhale right.
Block right,
Inhale left.
Block left and exhale right.
Block right,
Inhale left.
Block left,
Exhale right.
So for this practice,
Just concentrating on the one side.
So inhaling left,
Exhale right.
Inhale left if you can.
Exhale right.
And drawing the breath deep down into the belly as you breathe in.
Exhale right.
Breathing in left,
Exhale right.
I'm going to pick up a count now.
Breathing in left.
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
And we're going to hold at the top.
Three,
Two,
One.
And exhale.
Three,
Two,
One.
Block right,
Inhale left.
Three,
Two,
One.
Block and hold.
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhale right,
Block left.
Three,
Two,
One.
Block right,
Inhale left.
Three,
Two,
One.
Block and hold.
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhale right,
Block left.
Three,
Two,
One.
Block right,
Inhale left.
Block and hold.
Exhale right,
Inhale left.
Block and hold.
Exhale right,
Block left.
Inhale left,
Block and hold.
Three,
Two,
One.
And exhale right.
Three,
Two,
One.
Now we're going to extend our exhale on this one.
So breathing in left,
Block right.
Three,
Two,
One.
And we're holding.
Three,
Two,
One.
And exhale for eight,
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Big inhale in left.
Three,
Two,
One.
Block and hold.
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhale right,
Block left.
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Block right,
Inhale left.
Three,
Two,
One.
Block and hold.
Two,
One.
Exhale right,
Block left.
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Block right,
Inhale left.
Block and hold.
Exhale right,
Long and slow and steady.
And just find your own rhythm.
In left,
Long,
Slow and steady.
Block and hold.
Exhale right,
Long and slow and steady.
Block right,
Inhale left.
Block and hold.
Exhale right.
Last one.
Inhale left.
Block and hold.
Exhale right,
Long,
Slow,
Steady exhale.
Just taking the hand down.
Just breathing in and out through the nose.
Stabilizing the breath.
Emptying the mind.
Imagining that your torso is like the trunk of a tree.
Solid and steady.
Even if the branches flap around,
The trunk of the tree is always steady.
Long,
Slow,
Steady breaths.
Seeing if we can even slow the breath down even more,
If that's available to you.
The mind wanders,
Just gently coming back to the breath.
If it feels too much,
Just come back a little bit.
We don't have such a big inhale,
Such a long exhale.
Just finding your own parameters.
When you are ready,
Open your eyes.
Perhaps taking a moment to thank yourself for taking the time to do this practice.
When you are ready,
Open your eyes.
Thank you for practicing with me.
