Welcome to your practice today.
I am so happy that you are here.
This is a practice that's all about your breath.
We are always breathing but don't usually pay attention to it that much.
Our breathing nourishes our organs,
Our muscles and our brains.
It can calm us down or it can give us energy.
So it's actually quite healthy for us to take some time and pay attention to our breath on purpose.
Let's begin.
Sit tall and proud of who you are.
Can you sit an inch taller with your shoulders down?
If you're hunched over,
It's actually kind of hard for your body to take in a full breath.
We'll press our lungs and that's where we take the breath in.
So that's why it's good to sit up as tall as you can.
First,
Place one or both hands on your belly under your belly button.
Take a deep breath in and see if you can feel your breath all the way down under your hands.
Breathe out and feel your belly under your hands pull back into your body.
Let's do that again.
Take a deep breath in through your nose way down deep into your belly.
Your belly will get big.
As you breathe out,
Gently pull your belly back into your body to press your breath out.
Try one more like that on your own.
Now check in and make sure you are still sitting tall.
Now put your hand on your rib cage.
So both hands on either side of your rib cage as high up on your rib cage as you can.
It's as if you have a belt on that's way too high.
Now take a deep breath in and feel your ribs move apart from each other.
As you breathe out,
Notice how your ribs move down and back together.
Our lungs are behind our ribs.
So when our ribs move,
That's our lungs filling up with breath.
Let's try that again.
Breathe in and notice what you feel under your hands.
Breathe out and notice what you feel.
We'll do that one more time on your own.
Maybe this time see if you can feel the muscles in between your ribs moving.
Now take one hand and place it just in front of your mouth.
Take a deep breath in through your nose.
When you breathe out,
Open your mouth and make a soft sound as if you are fogging your mirror.
Can you feel the breath on your hand?
Let's try that one more time.
Take a deep breath in through your nose.
Breathe out as long as you can and feel your breath on your hand.
Maybe you can notice the temperature of your breath.
Now you try one more like that on your own.
Now let your hands rest comfortably in your lap.
Soften the muscles of your face.
Just breathe naturally and see if you can feel the breath coming in and out of the tip of your nose.
Your mouth can stay closed or if that's not comfortable,
It can be slightly open.
Just noticing the breath come in and out of your nose just with your normal steady breathing.
Really nice work.
The more you practice feeling your breath,
You'll be able to use your breath as if it's your superpower to help you when you feel stressed out,
Worried or overwhelmed.
I will ring the chime.
When you are ready,
You can open your eyes and lift your head and finish your practice for today.
