Breathwork For Stress Relief

My goal with this breathwork class is to offer you space to go deep within to release stress that’s being held within your body. When we feel less stressed, we feel lighter. When we feel lighter, we can get to a place where we can truly rest.

Transcript

Through your nose just and relax deep full breaths in and out settle in forget anything going on in your life just be here be with the breath be with the body we all go through the hard stuff it's part of being human we've all experienced some form of heartache loss betrayal loneliness sadness shame guilt pain often when we feel the hard stuff we don't allow ourselves to truly feel it we don't allow ourselves to process and release the heavy emotions as they come up we feel drained exhausted stressed and we need rest but these heavy emotions keep us from truly resting this breathwork practice helps us get out of our heads into our bodies where these emotions get stuck giving ourselves the space to release leads to greater rest and all you have to do is keep breathing okay let's begin the three-part breath now deep into the belly deep into the heart out through the mouth builds up energy for our first breath hold breathing pattern helps us get out of our heads and into our bodies just trust the process in times we choose to stuff our emotions or distract ourselves or numb out we convince ourselves the emotions will just go away by themselves if our emotions and feelings don't get processed they can become stuck in the body and our bodies remember everything right now I just want you to keep breathing and trust that your body will work through and process what it needs so that you can truly relax and heal just stick with it you're doing great sometimes early on in the session we start to get resistance coming in that's that's your mind saying I can't do this or you fidget or you yawn maybe you feel like you need to go to sleep those are all forms of resistance and all I'm asking you to do is just keep breathing in in out deep into the belly deep into the heart out through the mouth just keep breathing we're almost ready for that first breath hold push through any resistance let anything that may be coming up arise without any shame or judgment and guilt just keep breathing just keep breathing okay just a few more breaths and we're gonna be ready for our first breath hold pick it up a little bit deeper a little bit deeper into those areas gentle exhalation bring some energy into this breath hold we're about to do together you go almost there almost there take your last deep breath in and fully out just lay here for as long as you can now remember when you have to breathe inhale fully and hold for as long as it feels good then exhale and get back to the three-part breath but stay here empty for as long as you can this isn't always a comfortable state to be in laying here empty but it's good to put ourselves into uncomfortable states from time to time there's our body a chance to reset going as long as we can if you've already inhaled and held and then exhaled and you're back to the three-part breath great if you're still holding that's okay too everybody is different every session is different if you're back to the three-part breath remember deep into the belly deep into the heart out through your mouth as we get deeper into the breath work allow your feelings to come up without any shame or judgment or guilt recognize that you are a work in progress as we all are know there is a space for you here to have as many moments of human imperfection as you release and get deeper into the subconscious let go of any need to control what's happening right now let go of any need to be perfect it's okay to make mistakes it's okay to not know it's okay to feel deeply and strongly it's okay to have wants and desires all of those things are part of this journey of being human keep breathing stick with it chances are there's lots of energy swirling around inside of you right now just let it be what it is commit to the breath building up energy for that second breath hold oh and the breathing and the doing the breath holds the longer we go in the session the longer you're gonna be able to lay there empty don't get focused on the amount of time that you're holding your breath for laying empty it doesn't really matter right now all you need to be doing is building up for that breath hold deep into the belly deep into the heart out through the mouth again settle into a pace that works for you let anything that may be coming up come up without any shame or judgment or guilt I can't stress that enough we're almost ready for that second breath hold so close more breaths here breathe a little bit deeper a little bit more energy buildup we're almost there here comes just a few more you got this next breath take a full deep breath in and fully exhale laying here empty for your second breath hold sometimes we think that we've emptied all of the oxygen out of our belly but we haven't so if you feel like there's still a little bit left in there take a little sip of air just up and then fully exhale just to make sure we get all that air out of the belly and hold this empty as long as you can remember when you have to breathe inhale and hold for as long as it feels good then exhale and get back to the three part breath since this is our second breath hold I want you to pay attention to when you feel the urge to breathe and sit with that feeling for three moments before you actually breathe in so when you feel the urge to breathe pause for just a few more seconds before you give in and actually inhale and do the hold for as long as it feels good absolutely have to breathe go for it trying to stay in that discomfort for a little bit longer change your body change your nervous system to be able to handle the stresses that are naturally gonna arise in life allows you to to heal to release more into an inner state to better work to better heal helps your immune system your digestive system you're still laying there empty crate if you're not get back to the three-part breath into the belly and to the heart out through the mouth if you're back into the breathing doing that three-part breath we're building up energy for that third breath hold this is where it usually starts to get a little bit more intense but again just trust the process stick with the breath you're doing great I want you to know that you can love again you can heal I want you to know that you can forgive you can grow you can choose to put yourself and self-care first you can do all this even if you're scared and thinking that you're worth it triggers the tender parts within you you can do this even if others have let you down or people don't quite understand you I know this is challenging but the work is so worth it you're worth it and all you have to do is keep breathing and trust the process we should have all sorts of energy swirling around us now just stick with it just stick with it we're building up for our third breath hold deep into the belly deep into the heart out through the mouth settle into a pace that works for you a little bit longer energy you build up now the more release you have during the breath hold you're doing great a few more breaths stick with it stick with it pick it up bring up the intensity there we go one a few more breaths all right take a full deep breath in and fully out remember we're laying here empty now and if you feel like there's still a little bit of oxygen in your diaphragm take that little sip of air that I said and fully exhale just to clear it all out to make sure that we're empty you want to be in this state of discomfort for a little bit we want to allow our body to do what it's supposed to do and this time being that it's the third breath hold and we have all this energy all this oxygen in our bloodstream when you feel the urge to breathe I want you to sit with it for five moments before you actually inhale so you're gonna have that moment where it says it's time to breathe but you're not gonna do it for five more moments I know that you can be strong and do that you can do it and remember when you do have to breathe inhale fully hold for as long as it feels good exhale and get back to the three-part breath it was long as you can you're still holding your breath great if you're back to the three-part breath that's okay too I said every session is different every session is unique I read once that the breath is as shallow as the nervous system is overstimulated meaning when you're stressed out you can't breathe deep how often do you catch yourself unconsciously holding your breath or breathing shallow quick breaths clenching your body and holding tight bracing for whatever might be coming next this is your nervous system's response to fear grief tragedy shock and living on high alert takes its toll on you mentally and physically when you're this tight and wound up you're definitely not getting the proper rest your body needs to heal restore and grow you feel exhausted so keep breathing trust the process to release trust this process to help you rewire your brain trust this process to help you relax and rest build up energy for that fourth breath hold I know it gets intense but all you have to do is stick with it all you have to do is keep breathing a little bit longer just stick with it build up some energy we only have two breath holds left a few more breaths deep into the belly deep into the heart out through the mouth pick it up almost there full deep breath in with me and fully out being that this is the fourth breath hold I want you to stick with this for eight to ten moments when you feel the urge to breathe there's gonna come a point where you're laying here empty and your body says it's time to breathe your brain says it's time to breathe and I don't want you to give in right when that happens I want you to hold on for eight ten twelve moments hold on as long as you can before you give that breath to your body you're gonna be okay it's okay to sit in the state of discomfort for a little bit longer and then think of the appreciation you're gonna have the gratitude for that breath and the life that it gives you and stick with this as long as you can empty laying fighting for as long as you can go before you give in to breathe if you have to breathe and you hit that point where you just can't go any longer remember take a full deep breath in hold it for as long as it feels good exhale and get back to the three-part breath we just have one more breath hold that the work is almost done my friend if you're back to that three-part breath that's great if you're still laying here empty that's okay too every session is unique everybody is unique when your breath empty remember we're doing the three-part breath deep into the belly deep into the heart and out through the mouth find any spots that are tight or tender breathe some air into those spaces send some energy there and remember anything that might be coming up for you just let it come without any shame or judgment or guilt all you have to do is breathe and trust the process building up energy for our last breath hold in space for rest releasing what might be holding you back this breathwork practice is a good counter to the tightness the holding on to that you may be feeling in your day-to-day life breathing this way moves us out of our sympathetic nervous systems where our fight-or-flight or freeze response lies and into our parasympathetic nervous system where digestion restoration and healing takes place all the power and tools to heal within and right now you're doing the work slowly unpacking the triggers slowly rewiring your brain know that the best you've got right now is good enough it always is just keep showing up for yourself keep breathing breathing building up that energy for our last breath hold the work is almost done I promise we're so close now breathe a little bit deeper into those spaces deep into the belly deep into the heart almost there trust me we're getting there bring up the intensity more breaths the full deep breath in and fully out this is our last breath hold and this time because it is the last one I want you to give it everything you've got when your body says it's time to breathe in see if you can go for 15 seconds or so before you actually give in see if you can go longer or if you find yourself with a little bit of air still in that belly take a sip of air a little and then fully exhale fully release it all laying there empty for as long as you can I want you to get to the point where it's uncomfortable and maybe you start to vibrate because your body is craving for you to breathe in but you're just sitting with it for a little bit longer to go for as long as you can here you can do it and remember when you absolutely have to breathe breathe in and hold for as long as it feels good and then exhale fully and this time instead of getting back into the three-part breath I want you to just return back to a normal in and out breath through the nose hold on as long as you can if you're still laying here empty holding your breath great if you've done your inhale and exhale just remember get back to a gentle full breath in and out through the nose if you're back to breathing in and out through your nose just laying there letting all of the work just kind of soak in just chillin just relaxing I want you to fully breathe in like super deep and on the inhale I want you to press your belly out fill up that diaphragm with as much oxygen as you can and on the exhale I want you to suck it all back in and make sure that you're clearing your belly full of air we call this horizontal breathing where your belly is going out on the inhale and in on the exhale so often in life we breathe vertically where the air never really makes it to our belly we're breathing in and out through our chest our chest will rise and fall you'll find your shoulders come up and down on your inhale and exhale and when you breathe vertically it's very shallow it puts tension on your neck and shoulders and when you choose to breathe horizontally where you're filling up your belly with air on the inhale and fully emptying it on the exhale you're moving stale stuck air that maybe you don't clear out very often because you breathe shallow breathing this way gets you better blood flow relieves tension in the neck and the shoulders and it helps your body deal with anxiety it helps your body get to a place of rest also as you're laying here you might find your mind start to wander that's okay the point of meditation is not to clear your mind it's just to be aware of the thoughts that are going on up there this way and you choose to not react to those thoughts you're aware of them but you're not reacting you're just letting them come and go just witnessing the thoughts and just breathing in and out through the nose filling up the belly with the air on the inhale and fully emptying the belly on the exhale the more we practice breathing this way the more we train ourselves to breathe this way when we're conscious when we're awake just out and about begin to start moving your hands and toes just kind of wiggling them a little bit coming back into your body no there's no hurry here at all you have nowhere to be take your time a lot's happened a lot of energy moved around a lot of things have shifted just wiggle your hands wiggle your feet kind of slowly starting to come back into yourself and make sure before you sit up you roll over onto your right side but again take your time there's no hurry and if you need more time laying here before you get up that's okay too this is your practice this is for you to put your body into a space to release to heal allow yourself to not feel quite as exhausted to again lay here for as long as you need and just make sure you roll onto your right side before you do actually sit up a few moments here to be proud of yourself for sticking with it for making it all the way to the end for putting yourself into this state of discomfort and not giving up all of the times all of the experiences you've had where you've grown as a person as a parent as a worker as a lover as a fighter any any worthwhile growth that you've experienced has probably came from a state of discomfort and the more often you can revisit these states of discomfort and put yourself into a state of discomfort the more growth you're gonna have the healthier you'll be you'll be better equipped to handle stress better equipped to not react to things that piss you off so thank you for taking the time for yourself thank you for doing the work and thank you for trusting me to guide you and if you're still laying down great enjoy it savor it thanks again for showing up for yourself

Reviews

Thanks for the meditation.

How often would you recommend practicing it?