Your heart is creating the external nervous system.
The nervous system is responsible for everything that happens to us from the time that we're born until the time we die.
Everybody's nervous system is calibrated differently.
From that point of view you can see your nervous system.
Welcome to the protocol episode for week three of nervous system mastery.
Okay,
In this episode I'll be guiding you through a practice that combines the bellows breathing with CO2 tolerance building.
These can be used separately,
But for the purposes of this morning practice we will combine them.
And as a reminder,
It's ideal to practice this in the mornings and as we say drinking coffee,
I wouldn't recommend this any time in late afternoon as it will affect your sleep.
And I'll also mention again that if you identify as someone who easily moves into a state of anxiety or overstimulation,
I'd strongly recommend keeping your morning practice as cadence breathing from week one or the alternate nostril breathing and toning from week two.
So this protocol is only for when you already feel grounded and would actively like to increase your capacity.
Okay,
I'm going to guide you through two rounds of bellows breathing followed by three breath holds on exhale.
And I'll also add a maybe obvious but important safety precaution that you must never practice this around water as there's a small chance of dizziness or fainting.
So it's best to be seated and definitely on dry land.
So find yourself in a comfortable seat,
Either in a chair or sitting cross-legged and make sure that your lower back is supported.
And as always,
We'll begin by tuning into any external sounds you might be able to hear either in the room or outside.
And now bring your attention to the contact points you have with the floor.
What quality of sensation is present here?
And now bring your awareness internally.
See what's alive in your body right now.
Slowly scanning from your feet upwards to your calves and thighs and to your belly and your chest.
If you notice any tension or holding,
Just be with that.
And finally bring your awareness into your upper chest and shoulders and just spend a moment to see if you can feel your heartbeat.
See if you can sense your impulse.
And finally,
Just observe the breath.
How is your body moving as the breath enters and then leaves your body?
You can bring your right hand to your belly and perhaps feel it gently expand as you inhale and then fall back down softly on exhale.
And just see if you notice anything else about your breath here.
Okay,
So the bellows breathing technique involves inhaling and exhaling rapidly from your belly through your nose and keeping the mouth closed but relaxed.
And each time you exhale,
The belly will expand.
And your breaths in and out should be roughly equal in duration and as short as possible.
This is generally a pretty noisy breathing exercise and it sounds a little bit like this.
Okay,
You get the idea.
We'll try this for 40 rapid inhales and exhales,
Roughly at a pace of 2 per second.
And then we'll hold the final exhale out,
So an exhale retention.
And then we'll take a deep inhale and hold there for a little longer.
Okay,
Let's try it.
Breathe in and hold the breath out.
And take a deep inhale and hold.
And let it go.
And now pause here.
Let the nervous system settle.
Maybe make any small movements or stretches.
And now let's practice this for one more round.
Okay,
Inhale.
And hold the breath out.
And take a big inhale.
And hold,
Tucking the chin.
And let the breath go.
And once again,
Pausing and just noticing how you feel.
Feel the increased energy and activation in your system.
Okay,
Well as we mentioned in theory,
This bellows breath has the effect of off-gassing the CO2 in our body.
So to restore the homeostasis,
We're going to practice breath holds on exhale.
So on your next exhale,
You're going to relax your body.
And see how long you can hold the breath out for before a strong need to breathe in.
And this is a superb time to practice interoception.
Because there's a lot of changes happening in the body.
Your CO2 levels are increasing.
And you may even experience an involuntary kick in your diaphragm towards the end.
And it helps to remember that this urge to breathe is not a lack of oxygen.
But it's an increase in your CO2.
And the higher your tolerance to the CO2,
The healthier you'll be.
Okay,
Let's start the first hold in 3,
2,
1.
Breathe in.
And exhale all the way.
And hold.
And inhale.
Take a couple of stabilizing breaths.
And we'll practice two more rounds.
Inhale.
And let it go.
Hold the breath.
And inhale.
Take a couple of breaths to restore.
And we'll do one final round.
3,
2,
1.
Inhale.
And let the breath go.
And hold.
And inhale.
And relax.
Okay,
This practice is complete.
And I encourage you to try this in your own time.
And as a final reminder,
If you're feeling strong effects of the increased adrenaline and dopamine in your system,
You can always practice a few rounds of the alternate nostril breathing and the VU Hum toning from last week.
And if you do,
You may well end up feeling very vibrant and alive at the end of this practice.
Okay,
Enjoy.
