Hello and welcome to this guided breath awareness and relaxation practice.
Begin by bringing your body into a really comfortable position where you can find a lot of ease and rest.
You might like to sit upright with your pelvis resting on some support,
Your legs and feet relaxed,
Maybe even leaning back against a wall or the back of a chair,
Or you might like to lie down with the entire back of your body supported,
Resting on the floor,
Bed,
Couch,
Wherever you're able to find some ease today.
Then move around a little bit,
Make any adjustments or refinements that you can so that you're really comfortable.
If there's a little piece of hair you can brush off your face or a last little wiggle you can get out of your fingers or toes,
Adjust any wrinkles on your clothing,
Make these little adjustments so you can really rest.
And then when you feel comfortable,
Close your eyes or find a drishti,
A focal point where you can let your gaze rest and your eyes soften and relax.
During this practice we'll use our breath as a guide,
As a way to explore and invite our body to find a deeper sense of rest and ease.
So start by just directing your attention to your breathing.
You might notice where in your body you feel movement as you breathe.
And just in general how your breath feels in this moment.
The pace,
Length,
Depth of your breath.
And then start to pay extra attention to your exhales.
Let your inhales still happen,
But really focus on each exhale and begin to explore what that feels like,
What it feels like to breathe out.
Each time we exhale it's another chance for our body to release tension,
To rest,
To find extra ease and softness.
The exhale is the cleansing part of our breath,
Where we're taking what was inside,
The air,
The nutrients,
The energy that we've used,
And it's time to release that.
So the exhale lets us cleanse and let go of anything that no longer serves us.
And you can invite this or notice this on different levels of your being,
In different layers.
You might feel the physical body releasing tension or effort as you exhale.
And you might notice that there is some cleansing,
Releasing of thoughts in your mental body.
Maybe some tight emotions or tension in your heart,
Your emotional body.
Take another few breaths,
Focusing on your exhales,
Really letting your body rest into this experience of releasing,
Letting go,
Cleansing.
Let your exhales shift to the background of your awareness now and focus on your inhales.
So each time you breathe in,
Let that become your focus.
Notice how this feels in contrast with the exhale.
The inhale has a lot of beautiful qualities that are balancing to the exhale.
So where the exhales each are a chance to let go and release,
The inhales are where we counter that by bringing in.
You're inviting in the new air,
Energy,
Life from the space around you,
From your environment to come into your body and to nourish you.
Each time you breathe in,
All of that goodness that is around you that will support you comes into your body and your body expands,
Opens,
Creates space within for all of this nourishment to flow.
Continue focusing on your inhale and just notice where and how you can connect with this sense of nourishment,
Of bringing in what you need from around you to within you,
Letting your body become expansive,
Opening,
Creating space within.
You might feel this in your physical body.
Your body literally expands,
Creates space.
You might notice this sense of nourishment coming into your mind,
Your mental body,
Some nourishing thoughts or into your heart.
You might invite some warmth,
Some gratitude to come into the space of your heart.
Let your heart nourish your emotional body.
We'll stay here another few breaths,
Focusing on just a couple more inhales.
Feeling that expansive,
Spacious quality of each breath in.
And now,
Bring your exhales into your awareness as well.
So you're paying attention to both parts of your breath now.
This is where we integrate awareness.
We focused on each part of the breath individually.
Now we bring them together to experience the fullness,
The wholeness of breath.
Pay attention to the feel of your exhale.
The cleansing,
Releasing,
Softening.
And how that flows naturally into your inhale.
The experience of opening,
Nourishing,
Creating space.
And then that beautifully and seamlessly transitions back to the experience of cleansing,
Releasing,
Letting go as you exhale.
And the cycle continues.
So let your breath continue to flow gently.
And just sense how these two parts of your breath move and dance together.
Exhale becoming inhale,
Inhale becoming exhale.
And rest in that awareness for another couple breaths.
Feeling the gentle flow and rhythm of your breathing in this moment.
And then gently begin to deepen your breath.
Exhale a little bit longer,
Slower,
Deeper.
Inhale a little longer,
Slower,
And deeper.
After you've done that a couple times,
Then let your breathing go back to its natural rhythm.
Check in with the feel of your breath.
Notice if you can sense any shifts in your breathing from when we first began.
Do you notice that your breath is a little longer,
Slower,
Deeper?
Or does it feel a little more hurried,
Rushed,
Or choppy?
Or anywhere in between?
And then as you're ready to begin waking up,
You can start to gently move your fingers,
Your toes,
Your ankles,
Wrists.
Rock your head,
Roll your shoulders.
And stretch however it feels good for you to bring movement back into your body.
And as you're ready,
You can slowly open your eyes if they've been closed.
Blink quickly a few times to let the light back in.
Or open your eyes into the darkness of your hands.
Gradually lower your hands down.
Come on back to your space.
Thank you so much for joining me for this practice today.
I hope you have a beautiful rest of your day.
