Hello and welcome to Levitate.
I'm Ryan Null and today we're going to explore the breath.
Now perhaps you've had a stressful day or week or month or year or you're simply finding yourself in this moment feeling challenged or uncomfortable with something and if so you've come to the right place.
Together we're going to take a breath and take a pause and soothe that agitated nervous system.
Now you may have heard that your autonomic nervous system splits into two branches.
There is the sympathetic nervous system which includes fight and flight and it is really associated with activation and arousal of the senses and what tends to happen when the sympathetic nervous system is activated is that your heartbeat speeds up,
Your blood pressure increases,
The blood is redirected from any non-essential organs to your heart and muscles and a surge of adrenaline rushes through your system really enabling you to better deal with the threat or whatever it is that's caught your attention.
Now there is of course that second part of the nervous system which we're really interested in here.
It is the parasympathetic nervous system what you may know as rest and digest.
It is the part of the nervous system which is concerned with rest and recovery.
So digestion,
Your immune system,
Reproductive system,
Your ability to heal wounds,
All of these things start to come online when the parasympathetic nervous system is activated.
So that rapid heartbeat will begin to slow,
The blood pressure will begin to fall and I think most crucially you'll begin to experience deep relaxation and relief.
Now if you want to have a quick experience of those two states,
We can do it just now simply by taking a breath.
So on your next breath out just let go all the air and then take a deep breath in really filling up your belly and chest.
Really feeling the energy kind of rise in your body and then let's take a long slow breath out.
Just feeling things slowing back down.
Now athletes know this which is why often the star athletes will take some really deep breaths before performing because that elevated heartbeat and increased blood pressure and the blood being redirected to the muscles it's going to stand them in really good stead for whatever's coming their way.
And you may also have noticed in meditation and yoga classes that very very often the teacher is really drawing your attention and focus to those long slow exhales for the opposite reason which is to soothe that rattled nervous system.
In mindfulness the breath is often used as a hook for our attention.
Somewhere to come back to each time we realize our attention has wandered.
You could think of it kind of as an anchor holding a boat steady as the waves try to take it in one direction or another.
And we're just gonna play with that idea now.
I want you to find a really comfy upright position and close your eyes and take some nice deep slow breaths.
And take some nice deep slow breaths.
It may help to breathe in and out through your nose.
You can do whatever feels comfortable.
Just letting go of any tension in your body.
As you breathe in calm and breathe out any stress.
The goal here is not to escape from whatever you've got going on but rather to find more comfort exactly where you are.
And this can take a little practice.
You might like to just take a hand and place it on your belly.
And just begin to notice the movement of your breath beneath your fingertips.
Just noticing how amazing it feels to breathe.
You might notice how an inhale feels different from an exhale.
And how each breath is a little different from the one before.
Now you'll almost certainly notice that your attention is inclined to drift.
To sounds and sensations and thoughts.
Which appear like waves on the surface of that ocean causing the boat to rock a little backwards and forth.
I want you to take each one as an invitation to gently drift your attention back to your breath.
Let's just practice that now for a moment.
Let's just practice that now for a moment.
Doesn't that feel incredible?
Mindfulness is not a practice of focusing on one point the exclusion of everything else.
Rather it is an invitation to connect ever more deeply with the moment we find ourselves in.
Together let's take a deep breath in.
And let that go.
And again this time releasing any tension with a sigh.
As you gently open your eyes.
Thank you so much for your practice and I'll see you back here for the next class soon.
