Being Present | Relaxing With Our Breath

Being present through our senses is a easy and yet highly effective way of bringing ourselves into the present moment. This session we focus on our breath. A simple practice of balancing our breath in and out. A gentle and relaxing state to offer you a few moments to simply observe your own natural rhythm, the subtle movements and your own unique flow. Can be practiced seated, stood or lying down and can be indoors and out.

Transcript

This recording is going to bring you through a very quick guided breathing practice that's designed to bring you into a balance. So whether you're feeling quite manic at the moment or feeling quite lethargic, It should bring you up or bring you down to bring you into that most balanced state. So firstly get yourself really comfortable. You can do this seated, You can do it standing up. My preference is to lie down. And by lying down you can really relax your body. So just take a moment in whatever position you are to just feel your body. Just noticing any tension parts, Just seeing if you can just relax the muscles around those areas. Might be helpful to start from your crown and work all the way to the tips of your fingers. The tips of your toes. If you're seated or standing, Just paying attention to really making sure your shoulders are not hunched up to your ears, That they're nice and relaxed. That your feet are nice and sturdy on the floor. Can really feel the earth beneath you. Like your head's in a nice straight but comfortable position and your chin is parallel to the floor. And if it feels comfortable to do so, I really invite you to close your eyes and place one hand on your belly and one hand in the middle of your chest. And the aim of this exercise is we're going to be breathing fully, Fully into our bodies. So it's to feel the rise and fall with the hand on your belly. But very limited, Very little movement with the hand on your chest. And just bring into your attention, As always, That when we breathe in, Feeling that belly rise and allowing your belly to fall with your out-breaths. So just take a few normal breaths, Maybe just noticing how it feels to breathe within your own Maybe just noticing how it feels to breathe within your own body. I wonder where you feel that rise and fall right now. And for this practice, We breathe both in and out using our nose. And all we're going to do is breathe in for four and breathe out for four. And everybody's breath rate is completely different. If four is too much, Breathe in for three or even breathe in for two, But then breathe out for exactly the same number. So if you breathe in for three, Breathe out for three, Breathe in for four, Breathe out for four. You just want to be in a nice, Steady, Relaxed breath mode. I'll give you an example. First to guide you, I'd breathe you in for one, Two, Three, Four, And out for four, Three, Two, One. Do that again, Breathing in for one, Two, Three, Four, And out for four, Three, Two, One. So I'm going to let, Just allow you, Give you time even to just breathe at your own rate. This is not a race. This is to help bring your parasympathetic activity of your nervous system into action. Or you're sympathetic if that's what's needed for you. So just gently breathing in. So see if you can do 10 rounds of this. And I'll just give you little reminders as we go through that. So in your own time, If you'd like to start your breathing pattern, Remembering to feel that rise and fall from your belly, And very limited movement from the hand on your chest. Rising on the in-breath, And falling on the out. Just allowing that flow with an ebb and flow, With your breath, Breathing in and breathing out. Just bringing you to your last couple of breaths. And then just bring yourself back to breathing in your own natural rhythm. Just noticing how it feels in your body right now. Just noting if, If you feel a little bit of a pain, A little bit of a numbness in your body. Just noting if, If your natural rhythm has slightly changed. Maybe your breath is a little smoother, Or longer. Noticing maybe how you're feeling yourself. Would you feel more relaxed? Or maybe it's got a little bit more get up and go, Whatever it was that it needed to be for you. And you know, You can practice this particular breathing exercise at any time, In any place. Ideally, You want to do 10 rounds of whichever breath you're doing. But even if you do 4 or 5, At lots of different intervals throughout the day, That's really going to help. So in your own time, If you want to open your eyes and have a stretch. And I'd just like to say thank you for joining me, And I'll see you on our next recording. Thank you.