Hello and welcome to this morning's session.
My name is Michael.
I run Room to Breathe.
And as I was saying last week,
The reason why I decided to start doing these sessions on a Tuesday morning is because.
There's a lot happening in the world at the moment,
And very often we absorb the stress and the worry,
The anxiety from other places that are external to us,
Regardless of the amount of stress we already have existing in our own lives.
And I felt that I was becoming tenser.
I wasn't as relaxed and my nervous system was a bit more on edge than it normally is.
So I thought if I'm feeling it,
Then I know other people are feeling it.
So I upped my breath work practice and I wanted to offer these sessions for free to help other people to do the same.
So thank you very much for coming.
The session is going to last about 45 minutes.
And it's going to be very calm and relaxed.
The first section is going to be all about that.
We're going to be slowly bringing you into the present moment,
Into here and now,
Helping you to connect with your body,
Noticing where you are at the moment and just relaxing.
We're going to do some coherence breathing,
Which is the same style breathing that we do on the morning lives on Instagram.
So breathing in for the count of four and out for the count of four.
We're not just going to be breathing into our chest,
We're breathing deep into our lungs.
So filling from our stomach,
Essentially,
All the way up,
But nice and slowly.
And then we're going to take that through into the next section where we are going to be doing the wave breathing.
We call it the wave breathing because it feels to me like a wave of breath riding up my torso and then back down again.
So how we do that breath is we'll be breathing through the nose.
We won't be doing any mouth breathing today,
Unless you really want to,
Then you can,
But I'm going to encourage you to breathe through the nose.
Pulling the air down with your diaphragm so you're breathing into your stomach and you feel your stomach move.
And then as you continue to inhale,
You'll feel your ribs move,
Your chest move.
You may even feel some movement in your neck and throat as you completely fill with air.
And then as soon as you're full.
Letting go,
Letting the exhale happen.
The inhale is something we do.
The exhale is something that happens.
The exhale does itself,
We just allow it.
So we actively pull the air in.
And then let go.
We don't need to force it out,
Just see how it goes on its own.
And also like a wave,
We go,
We inhale and we exhale in and out without pausing at the top or the bottom of the breath.
And throughout this,
I'm going to be guiding you,
Reminding you how to breathe.
But it's called consciously connected breath because we are going to be watching the way we breathe.
We're going to watch the impact that it has on our body,
Our minds,
Our emotions.
So whenever your mind starts to wander,
Just bring it back to an awareness of your breath.
OK.
So.
Let's get started,
Allowing yourself to get into a comfortable position.
And we're going to start by taking three deep breaths with a pause at the top,
So breathing in through the nose.
Feel in the lungs and at the top,
Just hold for a moment.
Take a sip more.
And.
And slowly letting go.
Just notice any impact,
Any effect of that way of breathing has had on your body.
And let's do another one.
To breathe in.
Fill in the lungs.
And at the top,
Hold.
And take a sip more air.
And let's take a final one.
Breathing in deeply through the nose.
Sip more.
One more.
Allowing everything to relax.
Noticing how your body feels in this moment.
Noticing anywhere you're holding on to tightness.
Just realizing that.
Allowing the entire weight of your body.
To sink into the surface beneath you.
I want you now to become aware of the sounds that you can hear.
You don't need to go outside of yourself looking for them.
Just let them gently land in your ear.
The sounds of the music.
Maybe you can even hear.
The sound of silence.
Underneath it all.
Being aware of the waves of sound as they enter your ears.
Now letting go of the sound.
And with your eyes closed,
Being aware of what you can see.
Maybe it's just blackness.
Maybe there's colors or shapes.
Maybe there's movement or stillness.
Is there an edge of your field of vision with your eyes closed?
Or does it just go forever?
With your vision.
Becoming aware of any scent you can pick up.
There may be an obvious scent of food,
Cooking.
But maybe you have to look a little harder.
And taking your awareness away from scent now.
And bringing it to your taste buds.
Notice what you can taste in this moment.
It may be toothpaste.
Or your breakfast.
And maybe again you have to.
Really focus and observe.
Bringing your awareness away from your taste.
To the sensation of touch.
Noticing everything you can feel against your skin in this moment.
Maybe the coolness of the air.
The hair of your head against your scalp.
Maybe glasses.
The weight of clothing.
The different texture of material.
Notice where skin is touching skin.
Your fingers touching each other.
Your toes touching each other.
And bringing your awareness to your breath.
We're going to start taking coherence breaths.
So let's breathe in.
In 3,
2,
1.
Inhale.
2.
3.
4.
Exhale.
2.
3.
And allow yourself to continue breathing in this rhythm.
Maybe you want to go faster,
Maybe slower.
And as you continue to breathe this way.
Becoming aware once again of the sounds you can hear.
And as you stay with the sounds.
Also become aware of what you can see with your eyes closed.
And staying with what you can hear.
And what you can see.
Also noticing what you can smell.
Add in to what you can see.
What you can hear.
What you can smell.
Add what you can taste.
Being aware of those four senses at the same time.
And you may come in and out of awareness.
And you may lose one and pick it up.
And that's fine.
We're just exploring.
Remembering to breathe the whole time.
Now to those first four senses let's add.
The sensation of touch.
Against our skin.
Being as fully aware of each of those five sensations.
As you can.
And noticing any emotions you have with you.
We don't need to name them or categorize them.
Just notice where they are.
What they feel like.
What do they look like.
Noticing if there's any movement.
As if we're sitting next to the emotion.
Now letting go of that emotion or emotions.
And bringing your awareness back fully to your breath.
I now invite you to change the way you breathe as the music changes.
We're going to start doing the wave breathing.
So breathing deeply into your lungs.
Noticing the movement in your stomach.
And as you continue to breathe in the movement goes to your ribs.
Your chest.
Maybe even your throat.
Still breathing through the nose.
Observing any sensations or emotions or thoughts that arise.
But always coming back.
Noticing any emotions that arise.
You don't have to become the emotion.
You can just observe it.
Like watching a wave move.
And after your next exhale.
Knowing you can breathe whenever you feel you need to.
Just noticing your heartbeat.
The energy in your body.
And if you're ready you can take a deep breath in.
And at the top hold.
And allow yourself to breathe however you feel you need to breathe.
However feels comfortable.
As we continue a few minutes of silence.
And as any emotions arise.
Just asking if there is anything it wants you to know.
Maybe the emotion has a message for you.
Maybe suggesting a boundary for you.
Maybe it's reminding you to be compassionate to yourself.
Noticing any wisdom or understanding that you want to take out of this session.
And breathe into that understanding.
And just coming back to your breath.
And as the music starts.
We know that that means it's time to start our journey back.
So just take in a moment or two to remind yourself of what it is you're bringing back with you.
And what maybe it's time to let go of.
And maybe you don't have an answer to either of those things.
And that's okay.
But just stay open.
Maybe now noticing where it is in your body you feel called to move.
You don't need to open your eyes yet but you may want to start moving fingers or toes.
Maybe you want to stretch your neck and shoulders.
Maybe you want to give yourself a little hug.
Or shake your hands gently.
Maybe you want to move the muscles of your face.
With a smile.
Or some gentle tapping.
But there's no rush.
We have another minute or so.
Remembering before you open your eyes what the room around you looks like.
The position that you've left objects in.
The colours of your clothes.
The shades of colours on the wall.
Is it as you remembered?
Or are there things you forgot about?
Are the colours as you remembered or are they slightly different?
Thank you very much for being part of today's session.
As we go on about our days after this make sure you're kind and gentle with yourself.
Make sure you give your body the things it needs whether that's nutrition or hydration or rest.
And maybe just deciding that as the day happens,
As things happen to us,
Remembering to come back to our breath every time we feel a little bit lost.
Thank you very much everyone.
I appreciate you being part of today's session very much.
