20 Minute Releasing Breathwork Practice With Retentions
by Jess Ryan
This is a releasing and rewiring breathwork practice starting with seated, gentle movement to open the central energy channel and connect with the nervous system. You'll set an intention of what you want to release and move to a reclining position for the breathwork practice of three rounds of 20 active breaths with external retentions. Get ready to release what isn't serving you anymore, rewire your nervous system, and align with your truest Self.
Transcript
Hello and welcome to this releasing and rewiring breathwork practice.
Please find your way to the floor and we're going to start in a seated position.
You want to make sure you have a yoga mat or a blanket behind you to pad the back body and keep it warm.
You might also want to place a slight blanket under the head.
We don't want a pillow or anything to lift the head up.
We want to keep the air passageway and the energetic channel from the tailbone to the crown of the head in a straight line.
Make sure you have those things behind you.
And then coming into your seated position,
Whatever works for you,
We're going to start just by taking an inhale and an exhale out through the mouth.
Again,
Deep breath in and exhale out.
This time as you inhale,
Get a little taller through the crown of the head and then exhale twist to your right.
So getting a little bit of movement in your diaphragm,
In your rib cage,
Your intercostal muscles.
With an inhale at your pace,
Come back to center.
Exhale and twist to your left.
Stay here,
Breathe in.
So again,
A little massage of that diaphragm muscle,
A little bit of movement in the intercostal spaces.
Next breath in at your pace,
Come back to center.
As you inhale,
Extend and lift your chin forward and arch your back like you're sending your heart forward and up.
Squeeze the shoulder blades together.
And then as you exhale,
Round the back,
Tuck the chin to the chest,
Tuck the pelvis under.
If you're familiar with yoga,
This is like a cow and cat.
So as you inhale,
Shoulder blades come together,
Look up like you're in a seated cow.
Exhale,
Round the back,
Shoulders come forward,
Chin comes to chest.
Inhale,
Come back up to neutral.
And as you exhale,
Slowly start to roll down the back onto your mat,
Onto the ground,
Onto a blanket.
As you make your way onto the ground,
You can keep the knees bent,
Feet flat on the floor.
You might choose to put a bolster under the knees or let the knees come out long,
Whatever feels best in your body for these 15 minutes.
Make your way into this position and start by softening the eyes to your level of comfort.
And once again,
Checking in,
Setting the intention,
Opening the sacred space,
Arriving for your body,
Your spirit,
Your mental body,
Emotional body,
The greatness of you,
Whatever is releasing,
Rewiring,
Healing,
Resetting.
And as you slowly find a whole body breath,
Breathe into low belly and maybe feel the low back just gently press into the earth a little more than the heart.
And exhaling,
Just even breaths right now.
Tune in to what it is that is in your system,
What is in the process of releasing,
What is in the process of rewiring.
Can you ask your highest self,
Your core self,
Your wise self,
Your guides,
Your guardians,
Sources of your understanding,
Ask them to be here,
To be present.
All of this is within you.
And this practice is to help you come into union with it.
Set whatever intentions,
Meditations,
Prayers that you need to in your heart right now.
Take a full whole body breath in through the nose.
Exhale out through the mouth.
So you can't breathe out anymore.
Two more times.
Inhale,
Breathe into that intention.
Exhale.
And one more time.
Exhale.
Smile at the eyes.
Smile at the lips and the heart.
And now heading into that whole body breath.
We're going to do about 20 rounds of breath and then hold the breath out.
I'll guide you through it.
And then we'll take a breath,
20 rounds of breath,
And then we'll hold the breath in.
And then we'll do 20 rounds of breath and hold the breath out.
So as you are ready,
This whole body breath,
You might place one hand over the belly,
One hand over the heart,
Like I demonstrated in the introduction.
And as you're ready,
Exhale the air out and begin.
Breathe in through the nose,
Belly,
Heart.
Without stopping,
Exhale out the mouth.
Again,
Breathe in.
Out through the mouth.
Circular breath in.
Out.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
Go at your pace if you need to.
In.
Out.
Breathe in.
Out.
In.
Out.
Out.
Let the earth support you.
In.
Out.
Breathe into your heart.
In.
Out.
Halfway there.
First round.
Out.
In.
Out.
Keep going.
In.
Out.
Notice sensation.
Can you be with it?
In.
In.
Exhale out.
Maybe starting to feel that coolness.
Out.
Maybe feeling a little tingle.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Even and easy,
But full in.
Exhale.
Three more.
In.
Exhale out.
Really be present.
Inhale.
Exhale out.
Last one.
Inhale.
Exhale out.
This time,
Inhale.
Just even breath.
Exhale out to your level of comfort.
And then hold.
Still your mind.
Still your thoughts.
Still your body.
Your heart rate will start to slow.
Even thoughts take energy.
What can soften in the jaw,
In the face,
In the legs,
In the feet.
At any time you need to breathe,
You can.
We're almost done with this hold.
Slowly release.
Take a full breath in through the nose.
Exhale gently,
Maybe through the nose or the mouth.
And breathe naturally.
Again,
We move into those 20 rounds of circular releasing breath.
And then we're going to do an intrinsic retention.
As you're ready,
Exhale the air out.
And begin.
Belly,
Heart.
Exhale out.
Breathe in.
Exhale out.
Even effort to the inhale.
And exhale out.
It's a little more forceful than your regular breath.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Inhale.
Through the mouth out.
Nose.
Out.
Whatever is there,
Let it be.
In.
Out.
What are the doubts that come in?
Exhale.
Can you be with them?
Can you realize your spirit is bigger and stronger?
In.
Out.
In.
You're over halfway there.
Out.
In.
Out.
Whole body breath in.
Out.
In.
Out.
Again.
Out.
You're probably feeling sensation.
Keep going.
Exhale out.
There is light in your being.
Light in this breath.
Inhale.
Exhale out.
We are rewiring,
Resetting old patterns in.
Exhale.
Break through that old pattern.
Three more breaths in.
Exhale out.
In.
Exhale out.
In.
One more.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Maybe a ha.
Take a full,
Slow,
Even breath in.
Gentle breath out completely.
Remember,
Internal retention.
Breathe in.
Hold at the top to your level of comfort.
We're going to hold this.
And again,
Soften your thoughts.
Soften the shoulders.
You don't hold the breath by clenching.
Find space in the face.
Let the energy of the universe circulate around the system.
You have everything you need in here.
And if you haven't already,
Slowly release the breath out.
We have one last round.
Circular breaths with an external retention.
Come back to whatever it is you're holding.
To whatever it is that needs healing with compassion.
And last round.
Belly,
Heart.
Inhale through the nose.
Exhale through the mouth.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Exhale.
Without a pause,
Breathe in.
Out.
Find your rhythm.
In.
That might be different than my cues.
In.
Out.
In.
There is healing in here.
Out.
There is rewiring.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
There is hope.
Breathe in.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
You are bigger than you could ever imagine.
In.
Out.
Expand.
In.
Exhale.
We're over the halfway mark.
In.
Your sources,
Your guides,
Your guardians.
Exhale.
The wisest part of you is breathing you in.
Exhale.
Out.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
In.
Almost there.
Out.
Three more deep breaths.
Exhale.
Out.
Breathe in.
Exhale.
Out.
In.
Out.
We're going to do two releasing breaths.
Breathe in.
This time,
Yell,
Sigh,
Do whatever you need to.
Ah.
Inhale.
Breathe.
Do what you need to.
And again,
Deep breath in.
Exhale.
Breathe out.
Sigh.
Scream.
Make whatever sound you need to.
Let it move.
Take an inhale.
Slowly belly,
Heart,
Head.
We're going to hold the breath out.
Exhale.
Release until you find your place of comfort.
And the throat softens,
Yet closes.
Eyes soften.
Unless you're still releasing,
Keep letting the emotions flow.
Laughter,
Tears,
Or hold the breath out.
Notice shaking.
Never strain here.
And then release.
Inhale.
Exhale.
If you need to,
You can lift your arms and your legs up to the sky and shake them out.
Shake them out.
And then slowly release the hands back down.
Place one hand over the belly,
One hand over the heart.
Legs maybe extend long.
Let the eyes soften.
This being.
Maybe you return back to an image of light.
Your guides,
Your guardians,
Your supports of your understanding.
And as you breathe in,
There is such a radiant source of light in front of you.
And you breathe that in.
You pull it into the heart,
Into the belly.
And as you exhale,
You realize that that light is in you and it gets brighter,
Lighting up the central channel of your being.
As you inhale,
You see that light source outside of you,
Around you,
Above you,
Below you,
Behind you.
Breathe it in.
Exhale.
You get brighter.
You are deserving.
You are healing.
You are repatterning.
Inhale this new level of consciousness.
Exhale.
It's already in here.
One more time.
And then we're going to integrate for one moment,
One minute.
Maybe you keep the hands on the body and lay on the back or you roll to your side.
Let your system,
Your nervous system,
Your energy system,
Physical body,
Receive.
Slowly notice the sensation of the breath,
The tip of your nose.
Notice as it moves through the nose,
The soft palate,
Becomes almost invisible,
Yet breathes you,
Your spirit,
Your essence,
Your physical being.
We are all of it.
Start deepening that breath with the gentleness.
Exhale maybe through the mouth.
If your legs were long,
Place your feet flat on the ground.
Feel your presence on this earth.
The earth holding you.
The earth supporting you.
And also,
You are meant to be here,
To be here,
Supporting whatever is happening in this earth plane right now.
Roll to the side of your choosing.
Let your eyes slowly open.
Reorient in this time.
Gently press yourself up to seated.
Rub the palms of your hands together.
Bring the hands into Anjali Mudra or prayer position,
Or one hand over the other at the heart.
Deep breath in.
Deep breath out.
4.8 (48)
Recent Reviews
Heidi
November 2, 2024
What a lovely start of my day; with intention and attention. Thank you🌷
Anne
July 8, 2023
A beautiful way to enter the weekend with breath, intention, and light ✨
Marissa
April 10, 2023
This left me feeling clear, spacious, refreshed, and renewed. I was in a low mood when I started and I feel much better, more level, and present now. Thank you!