Breathwork To Release Stress & Tension

This is a guided meditation for you to release stress and tension from the body! Designed to clear away any anxiety and overwhelm that is living in the body and mind, this 2 part practice will leave you feeling calm, connected, and at ease with life! Learning to use the breath to clear the energy that's stuck & influence the nervous system is one of the most transformational teachings I've experienced, and so that is what we dive into and practice today!

Transcript

Oh,

We've got a beautiful practice lined up for us today.

Stress release thing,

I know I've needed this a lot in the last few months and for me it's ever so important to know that I can have a sense of influence and control over my nervous system over that stress state.

To know that it's not going to be the thing that controls me and what I actually care most about.

I'm going to chat here just for a minute at the beginning to let everyone trickle in.

I'm going to let some people show up,

Get Adam,

Good to see you brother,

Good to see you here.

That profile pic of your dog kills me every time,

I absolutely love it.

Relationships really are the reason that I do breath work.

You know,

Breath work has so many different applications and so many unique and nuanced reasons to use it,

Whether that's for health,

Managing stress,

Elevating energy,

Decompressing the nervous system,

Bringing focus and clarity to the mind,

Helping with trauma,

Clearing old healing,

Spiritual connection mechanisms.

It's an abundant source of application and one of the things I genuinely believe is that we're here in this experience to be in relationship.

To be in relationship with the earth,

Relationship with ourselves,

With our bodies,

With food,

But also with other people and breath work has been the tool for me that has most drastically transformed the quality of my relationships.

Why?

Because when I enter a triggered or stressed or fight or flight state,

I'm able to use my breath and I've learned to use my breath to regulate my system so I can then communicate with love,

Compassion and clarity.

And when I have to have tough conversations in relationship,

My breath is the thing that guides me through that and it gives me the courage and the strength and the presence to show up for that as well.

Now,

Stress can come from so many different areas in our lives.

We know this,

Whether it's financial stress you're feeling,

Relational stress,

Health.

If health isn't at its,

For me,

Health is one of the biggest stressors when I'm not feeling well,

If I'm coming down with a cold or if I'm feeling something's off in my body or my gut with bloating or gas or anything like that,

Stressful,

Stress.

And so these,

Oh,

So many different stressors can slowly weigh or quickly weigh,

And it becomes overwhelming,

It can become debilitating.

And one of the greatest ways to release some of this stress and this tension is through breath.

That's what we're going to be doing here today,

Is we're going to be doing a two part breath,

One a clearing round.

We're going to clear everything on the surface,

We're going to start with big,

Long,

Deep inhales and big,

Deep exhales.

And we're going to be using sound as one of our main tools here to move this energy to move some of this tension and this stress.

So really putting an emphasis on the depth of the broad inhale,

Drawing in as much energy,

Vitality,

As life as we can.

And then exhaling out using sound using our voice as an audible way to move that energy and move that stress and move that tension,

Release,

Letting go with each exhale.

So it's going to be not forcive,

But rather just releasing.

And so that's going to be part one,

We're going to do a breath hold this time at the bottom,

Then we're going to transition into a box breath.

Box breath is really interesting,

Induces a slight buildup of carbon dioxide in the system,

Which was once thought to be a waste product,

But we now know actually has a myriad of benefits.

So we're going to use that to give our mind something to grab hold of.

And it's also going to help our system just come to this balanced,

Rhythmic flow that will reset our system.

One of the things a lot of people struggle with is actually breathing consistently.

And I've found that when it comes to doing a box breath,

Because there's a hold,

It brings an awareness to my mind of when I'm holding my breath in my day on accident,

Because I'm like,

Oh,

I'm not supposed to be doing the box breath right now.

But for some reason,

I'm holding my breath.

And so we're going to do clearing round breath hold box breath.

And this is going to help clear and reset our systems,

It's going to give us a liberation of energy,

Or perhaps it's going to remind us of just how tired we actually are,

Which is okay,

Too,

Because whatever appears on the flip side of this practice is what actually needs to be felt most.

So inviting us now to close down the outer eyes,

Get comfortable in the seated position,

Finding either seated,

If we are seated,

Back supported,

Head free,

So that we're not resting our head on anything.

Or if we're lying down.

That works as well.

So just get comfortable,

Closing down the eyes if they aren't already.

And beginning to tap into the breath here,

Finding a circular wave like motion where we're breathing first down into the belly,

So you feel the belly expand,

And we're going to breathe up into the chest,

Feeling the full expansion in the chest,

And then we're just going to let that go without effort,

Belly,

Chest,

Exhale,

Belly,

Chest,

Let it go.

Find this rhythm on your own pace,

Taking some at your own time here.

And getting used to using the audible exhale,

This can be extremely uncomfortable or awkward or weird at first.

I know I felt it,

But get used to using sound to move energy,

You'd be incredibly surprised at how well sounding moves,

Anger moves,

Stress moves overwhelm.

And so here we are,

The eyes closed down.

I'd like for you to bring an intention to today's session.

Why are you here breathing today?

What is it that you're here showing up for?

What is it that you want to receive from this practice?

When you are done,

When this is complete in 20 something minutes,

My intention is that I will feel blank,

Peace,

Calm,

Trust,

And try to go with the affirmative term instead of the opposite.

So instead of saying,

I don't want to feel this anxiety anymore,

In my chest,

Perhaps I feel peace and spaciousness in my chest.

So I intend to feel like where my intention is compassion,

Confidence,

Clarity,

Beautiful,

Find that word,

Grasp it loosely,

And it'll come back and be with us for the remainder of this practice.

So here we go.

The eyes closed,

We're going to spend a minute and a half deep clearing breaths together,

Starting in 3,

2,

1 inhaling in,

Out,

In,

Out,

In,

Out,

All through the mouth in,

Out,

In,

Out,

In,

Out,

In,

Out,

Beautiful,

Keep this rhythm going.

Deep expansive inhale,

Audible clear on the exhale,

Dropping it,

Letting it all go.

The intention here is to clear all of the stress from the last hour,

The last day,

The last week,

The last month,

We're clearing it here and now,

Breathe with that intention in become full,

Exhale,

Release it all,

Drop the shoulders,

Shake the body,

Move on the exhale,

We're clearing actively.

One more minute.

Here we go.

Keep that flow.

Keep that rhythm,

Belly,

Chest,

Big,

Deep,

Expansive inhale more important than the pace is the depth at which we're inhaling beginning to feel some tingling,

Some energy coursing in the body.

Beautiful.

Do not be afraid of temperature change of a lightheadedness of some sensation.

This is all very natural.

Exhale,

In,

Out,

Three more breaths in,

Out,

In,

Out,

In,

And exhale out for a hold at the bottom become empty.

Sitting here,

Sit in this stillness,

Become calm,

Become still and become present,

Bringing your attention,

Your focus into your body.

Notice the coursing of energy,

The surging of life,

Of God,

Of source of energy,

Spirit,

Whatever you call this profound amount of energy sourcing through the system.

Hold it.

And when you're ready,

Taking in a deep inhale and holding at the top.

Holding here for 321 and exhaling out completely allowing the shoulders to drop down the jaw and the face to soften for a moment,

Taking just a few recovery breaths in its natural rhythm.

Switching to nasal breathing now in and out through the nose.

If we have access to it,

We're going to be doing a box breath in for five,

Hold for five,

Exhale for five,

Hold for five at the bottom.

It may take a moment to get your rhythm and to get your pacing here,

But the goal is to get to where this feels natural,

Where you've got enough rhythm and pace and oxygen in the body at the whole time.

And so here we go together in 321,

Inhale five,

Hold five,

Exhale five,

Hold five.

Inhale five,

Hold five,

Exhale five,

Hold five.

Inhale,

Hold,

Exhale,

Hold.

Inhale,

Hold,

Exhale,

Hold.

Beautiful inhale,

Inhaling in,

Keeping our attention on the tip of our nose as the breath comes in,

Hold at the top for five,

Sitting in this fullness and the stillness of the space between breaths,

Exhale five,

Letting the shoulders drop down the cheeks and jaw soften with each exhale and hold at the bottom for five in the emptiness.

Be present here with your body.

Inhale five,

Hold five,

Exhale,

Hold,

Inhale,

Finding pleasure in the inhale,

Hold,

Finding stillness at the top,

Exhale,

Finding release and relaxation in the exhale,

Hold at the bottom.

Keeping this rhythm,

Inhale five,

Hold,

Exhale,

Hold,

Inhale,

Hold,

Exhale,

Hold.

Each passing round,

Our body becomes deeper and deeper,

Relaxed,

Inhale,

Hold,

Feeling the tension,

The stress,

The overwhelm wash away,

Exhale,

As we realize there is enough time in a day,

Hold,

And that everything is going to be okay.

Inhale,

Hold,

Exhale,

Inhale,

Hold,

Exhale,

Hold.

Feeling that everything will work out,

Inhale,

It's all going to be okay,

That you're guided,

Supported,

Hold,

Exhale,

Hold,

And that you can just be present and you can be here now.

Hold,

Exhale,

Hold,

Three more rounds,

Inhale five,

Hold five,

Exhale five,

Hold five,

Inhale five,

Hold five,

Exhale five,

Hold five,

Final round,

Here we go.

Inhaling in all the way to the top,

Holding here,

Becoming still,

Taking one more small sip in and releasing everything,

With a sigh,

A hum,

A moan,

A big release,

And letting go of this breath entirely,

Allowing yourself to just be breathed here.

As you sit in the stillness and tune into your body,

The eyes closed,

Just notice what's present right now,

You might take a few recovery breaths as it's coming out of this pattern,

Your breath may be soft,

Spacious,

Could be choppy,

It could be loose,

Who knows,

You know,

Just witness it,

There's no right or wrong,

Witness it.

Stay here,

Stay present,

The mind begins to wander,

Gently pull it back and refocus it on the body,

Stress dissolving,

Tension releasing,

Overwhelmed dissipates.

As you're here right now taking this time to breathe,

To slow down,

To devote this to yourself,

To your own well being.

There's beauty in that there's strength in that there's so much love in that act of showing up today for yourself.

Take a moment now to check back in with yourself.

These breathwork practices are also self inquiry practices,

How am I doing now?

How do I feel?

Maybe not everything is perfect.

Maybe there's been a very subtle shift.

What can you notice that's different now?

Maybe there's a spaciousness of mind and of body.

Maybe there's a softness in your being.

Maybe there's a little more trust.

Find two words to best describe how you're feeling right now.

Now lifting the edges of the mouth ever so slightly,

Bringing a grin to the face.

Not because everything is perfect,

Or we've got it all sorted out,

But because somewhere deep inside we know that we're being supported,

We're being led and that what we're going through now is ultimately leading us to a better,

More whole and loving version of ourselves.

Taking a moment of gratitude for yourself for showing up here today and for these bodies for leading us through miles and miles of walking for the feet that carry us through each day for the hands that build and create and cook and hold the world that we get to live in for our hearts that feel so much,

Such a range of emotions,

Gratitude for each and every one of them.

And for everyone else on this call today,

Breathing here with us,

Not in this alone.

We're here because the title was to release stress.

I'm sure each and every one of us are fighting our own battles or walking through our own,

Our own seasons of change and of challenge.

So know that you're not alone in this process.

Reach out to me,

Reach out to the other members,

To family members,

To friends,

To colleagues,

You name it.

You are not in this alone.

Taking a moment now just to begin to bring some soft and gentle movement to the body.

Maybe it's rolling the shoulders,

The fingers,

The toes wiggling and coming back into this space for the final few minutes here.

Inviting anyone to drop into the comment section,

Just what it is they're feeling now.

Those two words at the end,

Peace,

Calm,

Softness for myself.

I'm feeling connected.

I'm feeling grateful as well.

Opening this moment up for some Q and a,

There's any questions that have come up about this practice,

About the activating sequence,

The holds,

The breath,

The rectangle or the square breathing that we did today.

And while I leave that open,

I'll share briefly just a deep thank you to everyone who showed up as well as just a little bit about me.

I think that's one of my,

I noticed this as well as the,

The,

The teachers who I follow and really love most,

Their practices are great.

Their practices are fine,

But them as a person,

That's who I've fallen in love with.

That's who I'm really following along with is I support them as an individual and I look to be that same leader and mentor for a lot of the men in my world.

A few years ago,

I had a relationship and a long-term relationship that,

That fractured and cracked me wide open and watching the deterioration of that has led me into men's work and into breath work in a capacity I didn't know I needed.

And so I show up here now with this mission to,

I say,

Hug my bros,

To hug your bros,

But it's really to hold the men in my life and to hold space for them so that they can become these strong,

Masculine leaders that the women,

The feminine and the child in our world feel safe and protected and provided for by,

You know,

These are powerful men.

And that's what I'm really working on here is I've,

I was doing so many other things for work and I just continued to feel this call to work with men and to help support them in becoming incredible partners,

Fathers,

Husbands,

Colleagues,

Friends,

Especially to other men.

I have a vision for this world where men are strong,

Confident and loving leaders,

You know,

That the world is grateful for.

And when I say the feminine and the child feel safe,

Protected,

Provided for and led,

I'm not just talking about women and children,

I'm talking about the feminine within each and every one of us,

The feminine energy that wants to be tender and receptive and mushy and chaotic and wild and expressive,

That when that comes out in each and every one of us,

A strong masculine leader holds that respects that and approaches it with curiosity and love before judgment and criticism.

That when the child in each and every one of us feels that giddiness or that playfulness or that wild expression of carefree doesn't make any sense and just wants to blah.

That the masculine,

The strong masculine leader has range and capacity and the freedom to hold that so the child feels loved and open and so that when men when we want to do that too,

And we want to be playful and free and do karaoke and not care how it sounds or to dance and to not care how it looks,

That you're not going to be met with judgment.

That's one of the biggest things I want men to be able to exemplify on our world is curiosity before judgment.

And these strong masculine leaders,

These incredibly loving and profound and confident men are not made,

They don't just happen by accident.

It takes training,

It takes intentionality,

And it takes so much love and compassion to be able to get to that point.

Ashley,

Absolutely push your masculinity more and feels lacking and there are beautiful ways we can breathwork is one of them to help cultivate this masculine core.

This masculinity is the assertiveness.

It's the structure.

It's the order.

It's the decisiveness.

It's the grounded calm mountain.

One of my teachers says this Sophie Josephina she says the masculine is like the stone on the edge of the shoreline.

It's this masculine says rock,

And the ocean is the feminine.

It's the waves crashing up against it.

And the masculine is like that capacity to hold here to be firm and to be steady and to be still and steadfast.

So that when the feminine storm comes and the chaos arises,

There's a trust,

And there's a confidence that we can lean into.

And breathwork is one of these things that I know is a necessary use as I was mentioning at the beginning,

Breathwork has single handedly changed my relationships in ways that nothing else has.

Yes,

Communication is important,

But if I can't regulate my system and approach situations or conflict or confrontation with calm,

Grounded and present energy,

Then it doesn't matter what my communication skill sets like if I'm stuck in a fight or flight or freeze state.

And so my work and my mission here is to help build a world full of these men,

And to build communities all over the place where these guys can meet in person,

You know,

And to develop that masculine core and to have access to their feminine to have access to their child and to allow that to heal this world.

And so I just want to say thank you so much for all of the donations that come in that allow me to continue to do this work and to spread this mission and this vision.

And for you guys coming and engaging and doing this work for yourselves,

Because more important than ever is,

Is this here.

So thank you so much.

So much love.

I have so much gratitude and appreciation for y'all.

And I hope you head out into your day and have a beautiful,

Beautiful,

Expansive and wonderful day.

Not this eased some of the stress,

The tension,

The overwhelm that might be present or lurking underneath the surface.

I'm here,

You're supported,

You're loved,

And we will see you tomorrow.