Hello and welcome back to another meditation here on Insighting.
Today's session is all about learning how to shift your inner state.
How to move from chaos and to calm using nothing more than your breath.
I want to begin with a beautiful quote from the author Jung Pueblo.
When the world outside is full of chaos the wisest thing to do is build peace within.
And that's what this practice is here to help you to do.
Even when life feels overwhelming,
Even when your mind is busy or your emotions feel scattered,
You can build your capacity for calm.
You can train your brain,
Your body and your senses to move from turbulence into stillness.
Today we're going to practice a simple but powerful technique called diaphragmatic breathing.
This is where we're intentionally going to engage the muscles of the breathing system,
The diaphragm,
The ribs and the deep core to create a slow,
Full,
Steady breath.
And when we breathe this way the nervous system softens,
The mind begins to quiet and the body shifts from stress into safety.
This practice becomes a bridge from chaos to calm,
From overwhelm to clarity and from tension to inner peace.
So let's take a moment now just to find a comfortable position,
Allow the spine to lengthen,
Let the shoulders relax and gently close down the eyes.
Let's begin with a soft breath in through the nose and a long easy exhale out through the mouth,
Letting everything soften.
Again inhale through the nose and slowly fill the lungs,
Exhale through the mouth,
Releasing the noise of the day.
One more time,
Breathing in and sighing out.
Allow your breath now to settle into its natural rhythm,
Forcing nothing,
Not trying to perfect anything,
But just simply observing the rise and fall.
So bring one hand towards your lower abdomen,
Just above the belly button,
One hand to your chest and as you inhale see if you can gently expand the lower hand just above the abdomen,
Breathing into this hand as you breathe in.
Feel the ribs open,
The chest open,
Keep breathing,
Feel the chest expand,
Exhale the chest softens,
The ribs soften and the belly.
Breathing in we feel the abdomen expand,
Feel the ribcage widen,
Feel the chest open,
Exhale softly breathing down again and like this wave we breathe in,
The belly expands,
Feel the ribcage open,
The chest opens last,
Exhale slowly everything falls back down,
Keeping a really steady,
Gentle,
Easy pace and rhythm.
Breathing into your hands,
Really focus on making the hand move away from you and away from the body as you breathe in and as you breathe out feeling the hand moving closer towards you again.
Breathing in the hand moves away,
Breathing out everything softens.
Breathing now on your own,
Inhaling the belly expands,
The ribs open and the chest lifts,
Exhale the chest softens,
The ribs release and the belly gently deflates.
Continuing now on your own pace,
Long,
Smooth,
Slow breaths.
Imagine each inhale gathering in your energy,
Breathing into your body,
Feeling the body expand and each exhale is washing away anything chaotic or overwhelming.
Breathing in,
You expand,
Breathing out,
You soften and release.
With every breath you're teaching your nervous system that is safe,
You're reminding your body that it can let go and you're choosing calm over chaos and if thoughts arise let them float by like leaves on a river.
You don't need to follow them,
You only need to breathe.
Stay with it now,
Breathing in,
The belly expands,
The ribcage lifts,
The chest opens,
Exhale everything falls back down again.
Creating a steady,
Gentle rhythm,
Each inhale creating spaciousness,
Each exhale releasing tension,
Inhale clarity,
Exhale softening.
Feel the shift happening inside of you,
Moving from chaos to calm,
The body settling,
The mind opening,
The heart becoming lighter.
So on to our next rhythm,
We're going to try and expand the breathing a little bit more.
So now moving your hands to the bottom of your ribcage and just wrapping your hands around you almost like you're giving yourself a nice gentle hug and feeling yourself breathing into this area with your hands lying just at the bottom of your ribcage as you breathe in.
Feel the chest,
Feel the ribcage open,
Feel the chest lift,
Pause,
Exhale.
Inhale for 4,
3,
2,
1,
Pause,
Exhale 6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1,
Inhale for 4,
3,
2,
1,
Pause,
2,
1,
Exhale 6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1 and let go.
Every cycle you're moving away further from chaos and into calm.
Breathing in now for one more round,
Hold and exhale.
When you're ready,
In your own time,
Allow the breath just to return to its natural effortless rhythm and just anchor your awareness inward.
Notice how different the body feels now,
Notice the quiet,
Notice the space in between any thoughts that you may be having,
This calm that you're feeling.
It's not an escape,
It's a return home to your inner state,
A place that you can come to anytime,
A place built from practice,
Awareness and breath.
Taking one final,
Final,
Slow inhale,
Really slowing it down as most as you can and soft,
Gentle exhale,
Let go.
Bringing some movement back into the body,
Wiggling the fingers,
Rolling the shoulders and when you're ready,
Slowly opening the eyes.
Thank you for joining me today and for choosing Calm over Chaos.
If this session supported you,
I would love to hear how you feel in the comments and please know that you can come back to this practice anytime you need a moment of reset or a moment of stillness.
Thank you.
With love,
Jake.
