Welcome friends.
Over the next few minutes,
We'll be exploring our breath through a practice called Circle of Breath.
You're invited to find a comfortable seat or stance,
Really whatever would feel most supportive for you right now.
As you begin to settle in,
Take in your surroundings.
Whether that means looking around or feeling around.
Just orienting yourself into the space you're currently in.
You're welcome to close down the eyes if that feels comfortable to do so.
Or softening the gaze,
Resting the eyes down.
Let's begin by taking a deep breath in through our nose and exhale out through the mouth.
So in this moment,
There's nothing you have to do.
Just take into account maybe scanning through any sensations present in the body.
Any shifts that would feel supportive.
Any wiggles or shakes.
Rolling of the neck or shoulders.
Opening the jaw.
And you're invited just to place your palms wherever you can feel your breath.
So try out bringing maybe one palm to the heart space and one palm to the belly or the abdomen.
And allow this to be like an experiment.
You can move the hands from side to side or up and down,
Discovering where you might tap into the physical feeling of your breath with your palms.
And if the palms don't work for you here,
You're welcome to just tap into the feeling of the breath moving the body,
Moving the torso or the heart space.
There's nothing you have to change.
Noticing the natural rhythm of the breath traveling in and traveling out.
Knowing that my rhythm of the breath might be quite different than yours.
So we're not comparing.
We're just going inward.
And tuning into our own experience.
Maybe adding in some descriptive words.
What does the breath feel like?
Maybe there's a rising of the hands as they meet the belly on the inhale.
Perhaps a falling of the hands as the belly draws in on the exhale.
Maybe there's a temperature to the breath as you drink it in.
Maybe a softening as you let it go.
And if not already,
Let's try breathing in through our nose and out through our nose.
And if at any point that feels too restrictive or not serving you,
You're welcome to come back to whatever breath will be most supportive for you.
So as we breathe in,
We're inviting the energy into our bodies,
Fueling us just as we nourish our bodies with delicious food or fresh water.
We're fueling our bodies with a fresh breath of air,
Oxygen,
Traveling in and up.
And as we find our exhales,
Finding that sense of reprieve or release.
A sense of grounding down.
Letting go of the rest.
Letting go of the CO2.
Filtering.
So this dance of the circle of breath,
You might even imagine an era like a partial circle or half moon traveling around one side as we inhale on the left perhaps of this circle or half moon up and around.
And back down and around as we exhale.
Following the rhythm of the circle.
So our body as we inhale,
We're inviting prana.
We're inviting life force fueling the body.
As we exhale,
Traveling down the other half of the circle,
We're grounding down.
Feeling into the downward energy.
Upon.
You might even notice again anything else in the body as we travel in and up.
On the inhale,
Expanding,
Maybe an opening through the heart space.
As we exhale,
Finding upon a softening.
A releasing.
A drawing in.
And just taking a few more moments to play with this dance of the breath.
You can pause at any moment if you need.
Sometimes just bringing one hand to the heart,
One hand to the earth can also be supportive if you want a break from this breath awareness practice.
So as it feels supportive for you,
Just continue to flow with this rhythm of the breath.
Just for a few more moments.
And if your body is craving more movement,
You might add in some drawing of the arms up and around as we gather,
Reach and open.
And then playing with the palms,
Turning down in front of you,
Bending the elbows,
Like placing a veil around the face.
Exhaling out,
Grounding down.
So playing with that dance,
Reaching the arms around and up.
Inhale.
Exhale,
Palms turned down.
Move even slower than you want to.
And your rhythm.
And if at any point you find yourself taking this breath work too seriously,
You're invited to draw the upper lip and the edges of the lips up just gently.
A soft smile to the face if it feels comfortable doing so.
Breathing in one more deep breath.
Let it go out through the mouth.
Rinsing out.
Bringing the hands maybe to heart center.
And then coming yourself back home to your body.
Thank you so much for practicing with me.
