Basic Breath Awareness

Basic Breath Awareness practice is a way to become more intimate with the sensations of breathing. For beginners or experienced practitioners alike, this practice directly impacts the nervous system, encouraging balance and calm. In this track, we explore different areas of the body and what sensations are present as we inhale and exhale.

Transcript

Hello and welcome. My name is Katie Kamalameh and today I would like to lead us through a basic breath awareness practice. Our breath has almost instantaneous effects on our overall health and happiness and it's one of the most effective ways we know of how to influence our nervous system and our mental state. Ancient wisdom tells us that every mind state also has a breathing pattern associated with it and science has also been able to verify this, That what happens in the mind influences our breath and vice versa. How we breathe impacts our minds. The breath is the link between our inner and outer bodies. It is the bridge between our minds and our physical being. It is a window into our nervous system. So let us begin. If there's any movement that's needed, A stretch of the arms, A rolling of the neck or the shoulders, Please do so now. And finding yourself in a comfortable position, A position that embodies an energy of being alert and awake yet relaxed and easeful. We will begin this practice with three physiological sighs. How we do this is we take a deep inhale through the nose. At the top of that inhale, We suck in a little bit more air through the nose and then we do a long, Slow, Complete exhale out of the mouth. So let's do this three times together. Inhaling deeply through the nose. At the top, Sipping in a little more and then long, Slow, Complete exhale. Two more on your own. Now sensing into the body, Notice the parts of you that are touching the surface beneath you. Feel your seat, Connected to the earth, A sense of being supported and allow for a subtle smile to come to the face, Sending a message to the body to soften and a message to the mind that it's okay to relax. As the awareness begins to shift from the external world to the internal world, Tune into the mind, Taking a moment here to just notice if it feels busy, Distracted, Dull. Allowing what's here without judgment, Just noting. The attention now moves to the breath, Allowing the breath to be natural. Noticing if the breath is smooth, Choppy. Slow. Just noting. Experiencing yourselves here just exactly as you are in this moment. Shifting from thinking to feeling. Gather the awareness to your upper lip. See if you can feel the breath as it passes over the upper lip. Can you feel the air move through the hairs on the upper lip? Can you sense the temperature of the air? Awareness of the breath at the upper lip. The attention now moves to the nostrils. Sense the breath as it moves in and out of the nose. What do you feel here? The air may feel cool on the way in. It may feel warm on the way out. You sense the little hairs within the nose and how they move when you breathe. Awareness of the breath in the nostrils. Follow the breath through your airway now to the back of your throat. Can you sense the breath here in the back of the throat? Maybe you sense a swirling or a subtle oceanic sound. Awareness of the breath in the back of the throat. Awareness now to the chest. How does the chest move when you breathe? Allowing yourself to be aware of the chest. Allowing your attention to be captivated by the sensations of breathing here. And broaden the awareness not just to the chest, But also the upper back, The shoulders. How does the whole upper torso receive the breath? Feeling, Not thinking. Awareness of the breath in the chest. Awareness now to the belly and the lower torso. What sensations are present in the belly, The low side waists, The low back, As you inhale and exhale? Simply observing, Open, Curious. How does the belly move when you breathe? Expansion outward in all directions on the inhale and a softening back on the exhale. Awareness of the breath in the belly. From here, Allow the attention to spread to the entire body. Feel into the feet, The legs, The torso, The arms, The hands, The head. Sense the whole body breathing. As if each and every pore of the body could take in an inhale and let out an exhale. The entire body inflating and softening. Whole body breathing. Become familiar with the quality of presence that is here. Take some moments to simply rest in spacious awareness, Allowing whatever arises in your body or your mind to freely come and go. Knowing this natural awareness is the innermost truth of what you are. The breath, What an amazing thing. It's always here with us. We breathe approximately 17, 000 times a day, Giving us thousands of opportunities to remember to come back to our bodies, Back to the present moment, And back to loving awareness.