Hello and welcome to your breathwork practice.
Thank you for being here and you can go ahead and thank yourself for being here,
Taking this time,
Creating this space for self-care.
We're going to practice two types of breathwork today that are going to support the rest and digest response system in your body.
So I'm going to go into a little bit of description about these breathwork practices before we go into the actual practice.
So while I'm speaking,
Go ahead and just create a comfortable space for yourself.
It can be in your chair with your feet on the floor or perhaps on a couch or a bed in a reclining position and you might want to place some support,
A pillow under your knees and maybe a blanket.
Just make sure you are in a temperature comfortable place,
Maybe have some water next to you.
But otherwise,
You don't need anything else for this practice and you will continue on with your next activity or the remainder of your day,
More present,
Feeling energized,
Revitalized,
Focused and hopefully a little bit happier even.
That's what happens when we are connected.
Alright,
So we will be moving into diaphragmatic breathing and it's also known as belly breathing or abdominal breath,
Same,
Same.
So the diaphragm is your primary breathing muscle and when you inhale,
It tightens and moves down so that the lungs can expand and take in oxygen.
And so conversely,
When you exhale,
The diaphragm opens up and moves up,
Expelling the carbon dioxide out of the lungs.
So it's a beautiful synergy between the diaphragm and the lungs and then of course that's all connected to the heart.
And so a little bit more of the science behind this is that this kind of breath is going to stabilize your heart rate and blood pressure.
It supports more rhythmic circulation throughout your body,
Oxygenated blood.
And now go ahead and place your hands right over your low belly,
Your abdominal area where we'll be focusing.
So both hands there and just feeling this space.
All of our vital organs are here,
Well most of them,
And certainly the diaphragm.
Another really important piece to this is the vagus nerve connects down right above the belly button and the vagus nerve is a control signal to the brain.
So by doing diaphragmatic breathing,
You are actually helping to stimulate and tonify the vagus nerve,
Which is our rest and digest or fight or flight activation versus calming signals from the body and the brain.
So by helping regulate the nervous system,
We are also supporting emotional digestion,
Regulation and enhancement as well as cognitive function performance and memory.
So this is a very comprehensive method and technique and I'm excited to get started with you now.
So with those hands there on the low belly,
Go ahead and breathe into the hands,
Expand the belly,
The abdominal area.
Really fill up,
Ballooning out almost the tummy.
And then exhale,
Draw the belly button back towards the spine and even pull it up a little bit towards the ribs.
Again,
Inhale,
Fill up and exhale,
Pull in.
You can let your exhale be audible as long as no one's around you,
But even if they are,
Maybe that'll encourage them as well to take a deeper breath.
Inhaling,
Expanding,
Exhale,
Expel.
So we're gonna continue this deep belly breath for a full three minutes and I will call out the minute mark.
Feel free to move your hands around,
Maybe to the sides.
Or even moving one hand up to the low ribs.
And as far as your eyes,
You can keep your eyes closed or open.
If your eyes are open,
Just focus on one particular area in front of you.
Maybe it's an image or an object.
Try to relax the eyes,
Whether they're closed or opened.
Allow the ocular muscles to relax.
And we are at the minute mark.
And notice,
Are you breathing in and out through your nose or your mouth or both?
Maybe experiment,
Try out,
Breathing just through the nose,
In and out,
Or just through the mouth,
In and out.
Exhaling,
Any shifts.
So we have one more minute left.
Feel free to speed up or increase the power of the inhale or exhale.
And finishing up with your final breaths.
And then just allowing yourself to breathe normal.
Go ahead and move your hands off of the torso.
Maybe turn your palms up.
Just let the energy and the sensations radiate from your body.
We're gonna be moving into a finishing sequence of breath,
Which is equal parts inhale,
Holding,
Exhale,
Holding.
We're just gonna do this for one minute.
So wherever you're at,
Go ahead and inhale.
Hold,
Exhale,
Hold.
Inhale,
Hold,
Exhale,
Hold.
Inhale,
Hold,
Exhale,
Hold.
Inhale,
Hold,
Exhale,
Hold.
Inhale,
Hold,
Exhale,
Hold.
Inhale,
Exhale,
Hold.
And releasing the hold and just starting to breathe organically,
Naturally.
Being with any shifts.
Being present with your body.
Have a beautiful and harmonious rest of your day.
