Welcome to our three part breath practice for today,
Also sometimes called the complete breath.
I'll invite you to find a nice comfortable position either lying down with your back against a chair or lying down.
Our three part breath is a breathing practice commonly used in yoga or to supplement meditation or other daily practices.
It's a pranayama exercise,
One of the eight limbs of yoga.
Its aim is to teach to breathe fully and completely while helping to bring oxygen to the body and to lower stress and anxiety.
Focusing on your breath lets you be able to focus inward during this practice.
Once you've found your nice comfortable position,
Begin to notice your breath.
Not doing anything quite yet to change it.
Just noticing how it feels in your body in this moment.
On your next inhale,
Begin filling up the belly like a balloon and exhale letting it deflate.
The first part of our three part breath,
Filling up the belly.
So with the inhales,
Filling up the belly as if it was a balloon and exhale letting it deflate.
Keep breathing just into the belly for a few more breaths.
Breathing into your stomach or your abdomen can help with easing tension and lowering stress and anxiety.
So keep inhaling into the abdomen,
Exhale letting it fall.
On your next inhale,
This time filling up the belly and letting the breath come up into the ribs.
Exhale let the ribs come down and the belly follow.
The second part of our three part breath.
Inhale fill up the belly,
Into the ribs,
Exhale release the opposite way.
Keep breathing into your belly,
All the way up into your ribs,
Exhale release.
Breathing into the ribs lets the body fully absorb the oxygen,
Helps calm the nervous system and really helps to boost the immune system.
Taking a few more breaths,
Inhaling the stomach into the ribs,
Exhale let the ribs fall down and the belly.
On your next inhale,
Adding in the third part.
Inhale the belly,
All the way up into the ribs,
All the way up into your chest as if it were coming up to the collar bone and exhale release the chest,
The ribs and the belly.
Exhaling blowing up the belly,
All the way up into the ribs,
All the way up into the chest,
The collar bone,
Exhale release the opposite way out.
The chest comes down,
The ribs come down and the belly flattens.
Now completed,
A complete breath,
Keep going inhaling the belly up,
The ribs all the way up into the chest and exhale release the opposite way out.
These complete breaths can help soothe panic and sadness and can help with regulating your heart rate.
Keep following these nice complete breaths,
Inhaling into the belly,
All the way up into the ribs,
The chest,
Exhaling opposite way out.
Following a few more of these complete breaths.
When the breath wanders the mind is also unsteady but when the breath is calmed the mind too will be still and the yogi achieves a long life therefore one should learn to control the breath.
So now coming back to a nice natural breath not putting as much thought into our complete breath,
Our three part breath and noticing if there are any differences in your breathing from the beginning of practice to now.
Noticing how your body feels and trying to take with you this feeling for the rest of your day and always knowing that you can come back to the breath.
The light in me honors and sees the light in each and every one of you.
Namaste.
