Hello and welcome to 10 minutes of breathwork to relax,
Release stress,
Anxiety and depression.
And this is such a beautiful practice that has been shown in so many studies over the last decade to be really effective for reducing stress,
Anxiety and even helping with depression.
And what we're going to do today is just a really simple breathing practice.
So we'll begin by finding either a comfortable spot sitting or lying down.
And when you're there,
Just beginning by noticing your natural breath.
And taking a few slightly deeper breaths,
Really breathing into the belly,
You could even put a hand there.
Really focusing on breathing into the whole body.
Consciously filling the whole body with air,
On the inhale and exhale fully breathing out.
Just a couple more of these deep conscious breaths.
Letting go of any tension in the neck,
The jaw,
The shoulders,
Letting your body relax.
And what we're going to do today is called Ujjayi Pranayama,
Which is basically a slight constriction in the back of the throat.
And this really easily allows us to extend our inhale and exhale.
What it is,
Is like if you're imagining you're going to fog up a window like this,
Except you're doing it with the mouth closed like this.
And you can make a noise with the breath or you can be quiet if you want,
Just whatever feels best for you.
So we'll begin by exhaling out together,
Fully exhaling out any air.
And then beginning with that Ujjayi breath,
Lengthening the inhale,
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10.
Fully in,
Exhaling out,
9,
8,
7,
8.
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
All the way out and inhaling in again,
1,
2,
3,
4.
Finding this gentle rhythm with the breath,
7,
8,
9,
10.
Exhaling out,
9,
8.
And if the count is too long or too short for you,
You're welcome to find your own natural rhythm with the breath,
Just really focusing on inhaling long,
Exhaling long,
1 fully out.
And inhaling,
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10.
Exhaling out,
9,
8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Inhaling in,
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10.
Fully in,
Exhaling out,
9,
8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
And inhaling again,
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10.
Exhaling out,
9,
8,
7.
Slow breath,
Telling your body it's okay to relax,
It's okay to slow down,
It's okay to let go.
1 fully out,
Inhaling again,
1,
2,
3.
Noticing if you can relax and let go even more,
Let go any more tension in the body.
9,
10,
Fully in,
And exhaling out,
9,
8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Exhaling again,
Really lengthening that inhale,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10.
And really lengthening that exhale,
9,
8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Inhaling 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10.
Exhaling out,
9,
8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Inhaling again,
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10.
Fully in and exhaling out,
9,
8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Inhaling 1,
2,
3,
Really letting your body relax,
8,
9,
10.
Exhaling letting go,
Fully breathing slowly out,
4,
3,
2,
And 1.
Exhaling again,
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10.
Fully in and exhaling out,
9,
8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Inhaling 1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10.
Exhaling out,
9,
8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Inhaling again,
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10.
Exhaling out,
9,
8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Exhaling just a couple more breaths,
4,
5,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10.
Exhaling breathing out,
9,
8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Full breath breathing in,
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7.
Fully breathing in,
9,
10,
And exhaling,
9,
8,
7,
6,
5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Fully out,
Letting go.
And now on the next inhale,
Letting your breath just return to normal.
Just taking a few breaths here,
Taking a moment to notice how your body feels after these few minutes of conscious breathing.
Noticing the sensations in the body,
Noticing the breath,
Maybe the breath's a little bit deeper now after bringing this awareness to the natural breath.
And that's really good,
And there's so many great benefits for your health from this breathing.
And if you're interested in learning more,
You can check out my video on all of the science of breath work,
Basically,
All of the recent studies that have been done showing how powerful the breath really is.
And this could be a great practice to do,
Maybe,
In the evening to let go of a stressful day,
Or it could be really good to do right before bed to really deeply relax and let go of the day for a restful,
Relaxing,
Peaceful sleep.
Thank you for taking the time to do this practice for yourself,
And thank you for practicing with me today.
Hope this was good for you,
And hope you have a good rest of your day.
