Hi and welcome to this calming breathing exercise to bring you to a more peaceful state of mind.
This simple yet powerful breath meditation can help ensure our minds are prepared to respond from a place of calm and mindfulness and to let go stress throughout our systems.
For this practice you can use an eye pillow or something else to cover your eyes,
A blanket and a bolster or a pillow for support on your knees.
So gather your props and lie down on your mat and make sure you are as comfortable as possible.
With this guided breathing exercise you are shown a gateway into a deeper state of presence.
This is where the magic happens.
The whole system is being reset and refreshed.
Welcome home to yourself.
Move your awareness through your body from the soles of the feet to the top of the head.
Scan your body.
Notice if there is gripping and tension somewhere and if there is,
Allow yourself to soften,
To let go.
Maybe sense a feeling of open spaciousness and freedom.
The breath breathing itself.
Notice how your body is placed from the inside.
Feel the weight of your heels touching the floor.
Allow yourself to be completely still as stillness is one of the doors into the temple.
Just notice the sensations in the body grounding and arriving.
Feel the breath in and out of your nostrils.
There is nothing you need to do right now.
Just notice.
Observe the feeling of breath in your body like a whisper of the wind.
Inhale and exhale.
Now place your hands on your lower belly and start to take a few breaths here.
Let your shoulders,
Upper arms and elbows relax towards the mat.
Inhale and feel your belly.
360 degrees all the way around to your hips,
Lower back and gently exhale.
Just notice how it feels to breathe deep like this in the belly today.
One more breath here.
Now move your hands and place them on your rib cage.
And slowly start to feel your rib cage.
You can let go of the belly now.
Just focus your breath right here.
Just like you did when you was breathing in the belly.
You breathe all the way around and back.
Feeling your rib cage to the sides,
Towards the sky and down towards the earth.
Gently exhale.
Take a few breaths here.
Now let's move your hands to the top of the chest so that your fingertips are touching your collar bones.
And start to breathe here.
Really fill up words to your collar bones,
To your armpits,
All the way back to your shoulder blades.
Take a few breaths here.
Widening and expanding at the top of your chest.
And gently relaxing and letting go with each exhale.
Now you can choose where you want to place your hands,
Either on your belly,
Your rib cage,
Top of the chest.
Or if you just want your arms by the sides of your body,
Resting towards the mat.
And we start to breathe through all these three parts.
So let's inhale and start to feel your belly and slowly and softly continue to feel upwards,
Rib cage and chest,
All the way up to your collar bones and armpits,
Widening to the sides of the body,
To your back.
No pushing,
Just gently opening up and expanding.
And exhale,
Melt towards the earth,
Upper chest,
Rib cage,
Belly,
Navel softly to spine.
Inhale,
Belly,
Ribs and the top of your chest.
And exhale,
Top of your chest,
Ribs and belly.
Explore these wide and full breaths as they rise and fall.
Just tap into your own rhythm.
Let's add a silent mantra to this breathing exercise.
We will use the mantra Sat Naam,
Truth is my essence.
Let these mantra vibrate your whole system silently within you.
You inhale for sat and exhale for naam.
And as we weave together these techniques mantra and breath,
We become more aware in the moment in our bodies.
And keep going a few rounds like this.
Slowly,
Gently.
This breathing stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system that restores the body to a calm and composed state.
Last breath like this.
And come to your natural breathing.
Take a couple of breaths together just to balance it out.
Take a deep inhale.
And pause at the top.
And gently exhale.
All the breath out.
Then come to your natural rhythm.
Let go and indulge yourself in loving awareness.
Your whole nature is boundless.
Feel the clarity and the connection to the calm,
Steady nature that is you,
Never changing.
Sense the entire body as a radiant sensation.
Feel an inner smile radiate from your heart.
Feel this quality of well-being wash over you.
Thank you so much for joining me today.
Namaste.
