Hello everyone.
Massive welcome to you all.
Thank you for being here at today's sessions.
My name is Michael and I'm the founder of Room to Breathe.
I started these sessions as I say at the start of each of them so far because I noticed that with everything that's happened in the world,
With all the messages that we receive,
All the things that we're told about ourselves,
I was getting very anxious and I wasn't processing a lot of the emotion that I was generating and more and more I was living in that anxious,
Stressed state even when there was nothing to be anxious or stressed about,
Even when I was completely safe.
So I realized that if I was feeling that way then I know that other people must also be feeling that way.
So I wanted to start these sessions as a little bit of an antidote to everything that we perceive to be happening outside of us and for us to remember who we are and to step inside our own sense of power,
Our own sense of agency.
So that's what today's session is about.
The session will be no longer than 45 minutes long and it's going to be a gentle session.
I'm going to invite you to breathe at your own pace but also reminding you to breathe slowly.
There's no rush,
There's no race to get anywhere.
We're going to do a technique called wave breathing which is essentially conscious connected breathing but I really want you to focus on breathing into the bottom of your lungs so that the muscles around the bottoms of your ribs extend and that you feel the air almost as if it's been breathed into your stomach.
So you'll feel the movement in your stomach and then you'll sense that that movement as you continue to inhale rises up from your stomach,
Your ribs,
Your chest and you may even feel the movement in your neck and throat as you completely feel with air on the inhale and that's why I think of it as a wave breath because it's like a wave of an inhale as it rises up your body and as soon as you get to the top,
As soon as you're full,
You just let go.
So the technique is very yin and yang.
So there'll be the action,
The work we've got to do,
Pulling the air in on the inhale but then we also have to just let go on the exhale which sounds easier said than done but sometimes we struggle to let go.
Sometimes we think we have to be doing all the time and that's way to do things right but sometimes we have to have a balance between action and just allowing what needs to be to be and that's what this technique is.
So feeling the wave of breath rising up the body as you inhale through the nose.
As soon as your lungs are full,
Letting go and just letting the exhale happen however it wants to happen.
You don't need to force it,
You don't need to control it but just have some curiosity as to how the air leaves your body.
There's no pause between the inhale and the exhale.
Keeping your awareness on your breath,
Noticing its impact on the sensations of your body and also your thoughts but not getting lost in either.
So occasionally throughout the session I'm just going to remind you to let go of any thoughts and turn your awareness back to your breath and to your body.
So today we're going to be talking or breathing with the idea that we are already enough.
If you spend 10 minutes on social media you'll see there's a whole array of messages telling you what you should look like,
How much money you should be making,
What your body shape should be,
What you should be eating,
What you should believe in and it's more than exhausting,
It's disconnecting.
It disconnects us from ourselves,
From who we really are and so this is our opportunity to just go beyond all that thought that we process about how we're not good enough and bypass that story and go straight with the breath to our bodies,
To the truth,
To that connection.
So if you're not already I invite you to get comfortable.
Whether you're sat with your head supported or you're laying flat we're going to start by taking three long stretch breaths.
So we're going to breathe in through the nose,
Breathing deeply and once your lungs are full at the top just hold,
Take a sip more air and hold and slowly release through the mouth.
Just notice any impact that that breath has had on your body and let's take another deep breath in through the nose fill in the lungs and at the top hold taking a sip more and hold and slowly release through the mouth allowing your body to relax further and let's take our third and final deep breath through the nose fill the lungs at the top hold and a sip more air and hold and a sip more and hold and slowly release noticing the effects of those three breaths on your body on your body on your mind becoming aware now of the muscles of your face,
Your forehead,
Your cheeks the muscles that control the movement of your jaw just letting them all gently relax allowing the muscles of your neck and shoulders to let go becoming aware of your arms the muscles the skin of your arms the muscles and bone your heartbeat and your pulse points and your hands and just to the muscles of your back allowing them to melt into the surface that supports them feeling the muscles of your chest relaxing your abdominal muscles soften your pelvis and hips just letting go feeling the weight of your legs with each breath allowing them to relax more and now taking your awareness to your feet your toes as even they begin to soften and if you notice that any tension has returned to any part of your body if your body has gone back to holding on then that's okay just notice and allow yourself to relax again how are you breathing?
In this moment notice the sensation of the air as it enters your body how far down your airways can you keep your awareness on the breath?
We're going to do some coherence breathing for a few minutes so the inhale and the exhale be in the same length and I'm going to count your breaths with you to start with and we're going to inhale together in 3,
2,
1 inhale 2,
3,
4 exhale 2,
3,
4 4 exhale 2,
3,
4 inhale just staying with your breath maybe noticing who it thinks who you think you need to be in this moment in this moment notice where judgments about yourself may arise maybe there's thoughts of having to be more or do more and we all have those thoughts from time to time that's not a bad thing maybe all we need to do is observe those thoughts staying with your breath noticing as emotions and thoughts arise breathing deeply breathing deeply I'm going to invite you now to start to take the wave breath to breathe in deeply filling your lungs from the bottom to the top before letting go before letting go before taking the next breath now we're not breathing fast we're just getting used to this rhythm breathing through the nose and watching the wave of breath as it rides from your stomach to the bottom of your ribs your chest and your neck noticing when thoughts such as you should be doing this breath in a certain way or you're not doing it right arise just notice breathing deep into your lungs your chest slowly filling and instead of breathing faster I invite you to breathe slower without pausing and as you breathe noticing being open to seeing that part of you that isn't trying to become or to grow but is happy to just be noticing if you can breathe any deeper any deeper any slower but always staying comfortable in your body knowing that you can change the way you breathe whenever you need to breathing deeply through your nose just breathe this way for another 2 minutes before I invite you to do a short breath hold and we have a period of silence but for now just keep breathing this way notice the speed at which you're breathing so in a moment I'm going to invite you to hold your breath after an exhale with your lungs empty it's only an invitation after your next exhale hold your breath on empty lungs noticing your heart knowing that you can breathe whenever you need to if you didn't need to improve yourself or to grow or to become who would you be?
When you're ready you can inhale taking a full breath and holding at the top and then letting go when you're ready allow yourself to breathe in a way where you only take the air that you need allowing yourself to pause as long as you need if nothing was missing what would be left?
How would it feel to allow yourself to be exactly who you are right now in this moment who is that version of you?
Where are you ready to stop pretending that you're not enough?
With the music starting shortly deciding now what it is you would like to bring back with you from today's session and as the music begins knowing that it's time to start to come back there's no rush at the moment recognising what it is you want to bring back with you what you're ready to leave behind if anything and when you feel ready you can start to bring gentle movements to your body maybe first of all just the muscles of your face maybe the muscles of your fingers and hands but there's no rush you can take as long as you need and only when you're ready start to bring more movements to your body gently at first slowly allowing it to grow to larger movements but always taking it gently and whenever you're ready gently opening your eyes looking around re-familiarising yourself with the environment and as you go on with the rest of your day remembering to look after yourself remembering to stay hydrated and well nourished and rest when you need to rest remember to be kind to yourself and every time you have a thought that you're not enough or someone tells you you're not enough just remembering that that may not be the true story thank you very much for being part of today's session
