This is Joshua Young and you are listening to Befriend the Breath,
The chest edition.
Start by finding a comfortable space in which you plan to breathe and meditate.
Take the next few moments to gather any items you might need to support yourself.
And just take this time to really ground yourself into a room,
Into a space.
Really make this space your own and start to get into a position which is comfortable for you and your body's needs today.
Maybe you support the head,
Maybe you support underneath the knees or the ankles,
Maybe you sit upright.
Whatever you decide to do,
Trust yourself.
And when you find yourself in the position that works for you,
Just allow the breath to breathe you.
Just allow the breath to move naturally throughout the body.
Inhaling through the nose,
Exhaling through the nose,
Allowing the body to shift and move and fidget until you find yourself in deep comfort.
Continue breathing in through the nose and out of the nose,
Allowing the breath to fill the belly and the side body.
Bringing the attention to the belly,
Inhale and exhale on your own for five breaths,
Allowing the breath to fill the belly up on the inhale and allowing the breath to release on the exhale.
Three more breaths.
Just bring the attention to the side body,
Inhale,
Allowing the breath to expand the ribs,
Exhaling and allowing the ribs to come back to a neutral space.
Continue this for five breaths.
Three more breaths here.
Take the next five breaths to combine the two,
Inhaling and inflating the belly,
Inflating the side body and exhaling,
Allowing everything to fall back into place.
Again,
Inhaling through the nose,
Filling up the belly,
Filling up the side body and when you reach the top,
Exhaling through the nose.
Continue this for two more breaths.
Bring the attention to the collarbone and to the chest.
On the next inhale,
See if there's an opportunity for you to breathe,
Allowing the chest to rise on the inhale.
It may feel as though you're pulling the air from the belly on and up into the collarbone.
Continue this breath for three more breaths,
Inhaling and pulling the air up into the chest,
Exhaling and allowing the chest to fall.
One more breath here.
Now we will combine all three breaths,
The belly,
The side body and the chest.
You might inhale the belly for two seconds,
The side body for two seconds and the chest for two seconds.
You might explore the breath,
Figuring how it feels in the body and if it's necessary to slow down or move a little more quickly.
Whatever you decide to do,
Take the next seven breaths and really allow the breath to move you,
Inhaling,
Allowing the belly to rise,
Allowing the side body to stretch and allowing the chest to rise.
And on the exhale,
Allowing the body to fall back down towards the earth.
Continue breathing at your own pace.
Really taking this moment to explore the breath,
To befriend the breath and to allow the breath to befriend the body.
Five more breaths.
One more.
Continue letting this breath flow.
If you choose to,
Continue this breath as long as you would like.
Really trust your body here.
Really be attentive to your own needs.
Otherwise,
If you are ready to get up,
To continue with the moment,
Start to move the fingers and the toes,
Just bringing some gentle movements back into the body.
Maybe rolling over onto your left or your right side and taking a moment here to just breathe.
And when you're ready,
Pushing yourself up into a comfortable seat,
Taking a few inhales here,
A few exhales here.
Maybe bringing the palms to touch at heart center and taking this time to acknowledge yourself in the best way you see fit.
Thank you for breathing with me.
