Breath Work And Future Self Visualisation

This active breath work includes two rounds of 'two part' breathing following by a guided visualisation written by Greg Giesen in which you'll meet your future self and can gain some wisdom from some time spent with them.

Those who are pregnant or suffering from epilepsy, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease or a history of serious health issues like heart failure or stroke should avoid the breath holds.

Transcript

So starting off you can either lie down or be seated,

Whatever is most comfortable for you.

If you're sitting don't worry about any fancy posture.

Just think about having your feet flat on the floor,

Sitting up nice and tall,

Relaxed but alert.

Fingers back,

Chest proud.

I like to think about a piece of string on the top of my head,

Maybe just pulling me up that little bit taller.

So again I'm relaxed but I'm alert.

I'm going to rest my hands on my lap and just gently close my eyes.

Starting out we're just going to stick with our normal breath,

Not changing anything.

Just going to bring awareness to how I feel in this moment.

We live a fast paced life,

We don't often get that chance to really check in with ourselves.

So the first thing I'm going to consider is how I feel physically.

Do I feel tired or relaxed?

Do I feel energetic?

How does my body feel physically?

Any pains?

Any soreness?

Fatigue or energetic?

What am I feeling?

The second area I want to check in with is how I feel mentally.

So how is my mind?

Is it busy or quiet?

Are the thoughts supportive or critical?

Without judgment I'm just checking in and seeing how I feel mentally.

And thirdly I just want to check emotionally how I'm feeling.

Sometimes when someone asks how we are the instant response is I'm good or I'm fine.

But as we bring our awareness internal I'm going to go a little bit deeper on that and ask myself how do I feel in this moment?

From here keeping the eyes closed I like to place one hand on my chest and one hand on my belly.

In a few moments we're going to get into that breath sequence that we talked about,

Two breaths in,

One breath out.

Again the breaths in will come through the nose,

Two sharp breaths,

First filling my belly.

So that hand I'm trying to expand my belly as much as possible,

Then breathing into my chest,

Then letting go.

So when you're ready we'll begin,

Two breaths in.

Finding a pace that works for you,

Keeping it going.

Again I'm looking at filling my belly,

Filling my chest,

Then just letting go.

We're going for about 40 breaths in here.

We're looking to go a little bit deeper on each breath,

Again really filling the belly,

Breathing in deep and sharp as I go.

Good work,

Keep this going.

We're going to go for about 20 more of these breaths,

Again think belly,

Chest,

Let go.

Belly,

Chest,

Let go.

As we get into this you may feel some tingles in your body as the oxygen uptake increases.

Again if that pace is a little fast just find the pace that works for you.

Really just thinking about deep breaths here,

Fill the belly,

Fill the chest,

Let it go.

We're going to go for 10 more.

Belly chest let go,

Belly chest let go,

Belly chest let go.

Last five breaths now.

Four and three,

Second last big breath in,

Last breath in and all the way out.

Just hold it at the bottom,

No air in the lungs,

We're just going to hold here for 30 seconds.

Nice and comfortable,

Nice and relaxed,

No stress,

No tension,

Trusting your body has everything that it needs.

Just noticing any changes I feel in my body,

I feel more energy.

We've already held for 20 seconds,

We're going to try hold for 10 more.

At any point you need to breathe just take a big breath in,

We're into our last five seconds here.

Three,

Two,

Big breath in and hold at the top.

I hold it at the top,

I'm going to squeeze my belly,

Imagine squeezing the energy up toward my forehead.

We'll hold this for another couple of seconds then we'll let it go and we're just going to repeat that sequence once more.

Okay letting go.

40 breaths,

Let's go.

Good work guys,

Keep this going,

So fill the belly,

Fill the chest,

Let it go.

Fill the belly,

Fill the chest,

Let it go.

We're trying to go that little bit deeper on this second round,

Really filling the body,

Really noticing any slight changes that are starting to happen.

Maybe the mind is settling a little bit,

Maybe the body is starting to feel a little bit different.

Again,

The tingles are normal sometimes,

Fingers,

Toes,

Lips and nose.

I'm just going to keep that cadence going,

So belly,

Chest,

Let it go.

Belly,

Chest,

Let it go.

This is our second and final round of this breath work,

So really keep the focus here.

Allow yourself this time.

Again we're busy people,

This is you reinvesting in yourself.

We're going to take 20 more breaths here,

So belly,

Chest and let go.

Belly,

Chest and let go.

Belly,

Chest and let go.

Deeper with each breath,

Really filling the body.

Again oxygen increase,

We're going to go for another,

Let's say 15.

Really filling ourselves up here for the breath retention.

Belly,

Chest and let go.

Last 10,

Keep the focus,

Allow yourself this time.

Really checking in with yourself,

Going deeper with yourself on every breath.

Sometimes people like to imagine white light filling the body as the breath comes in and imagine letting go of any stress or tension on your exhale.

We're coming into our last five breaths here.

Last three.

Last two.

Last breath in and let it all the way out.

All the way out.

And again just hold it here.

Again we're looking to hold it for 30 seconds but no stress,

No tension.

Trusting my body has what it needs.

Noticing any changes I'm experiencing here.

We've held for 15,

We're going to try hold for another 15 seconds,

Nice and easy.

Leaning into that discomfort slightly,

Last five seconds.

Three,

Two,

Big breath in,

Hold it at the top,

All the way in.

Hold it at the top.

We're going to hold here for 10 seconds,

Squeeze the belly again,

Imagine pushing the energy up towards your forehead and letting go all the way out.

Now keeping the eyes closed,

Relaxing my hands whatever way you feel comfortable and just allowing my breath to come back to whatever feels natural.

Again transitioning from that active breath to just coming into the present moment,

Noticing any changes that I feel,

Be it physical,

Mental,

Emotional.

What impact has that little bit of breath work had?

Just a couple of minutes but those couple of minutes can make a big difference.

Again ensuring you're in a comfortable and relaxed position,

Focus your awareness on your natural breath.

Breathing in easily and effortlessly and breathing out.

Again breathing in easily and effortlessly and breathing out.

Working with each natural breath,

Allow yourself to go deeper and deeper inside,

Really connecting with yourself.

Going from an outer world of distraction to the inner world of connection.

As you allow yourself to go deeper into a state of relaxation,

Try to remember a time when you stood in front of a pond,

Noticing how quiet and peaceful it was.

You may have dropped the pebble into the center and notice the ripples rippling out,

One ripple after another,

Flowing outward further and further,

Before slowly the water returned to its original calm and peaceful way.

Now I'm going to invite you to imagine that your body is like that body of water,

As you drop a pebble into the center of your body.

Some ripples of relaxation rippling out throughout your body,

Up through your torso,

Into your chest and your back,

Up through the vertebrae,

Spreading out into each and every muscle of your back,

Through your shoulders and arms,

Up through your neck,

Your jaw,

Your face,

Your scalp.

Feel those ripples just relax as your muscles let go and become soft and loose.

You can now feel the ripples of relaxation flow down through the bottom of your torso,

Flowing through your abdomen and your pelvis,

Down through your thighs,

Calves,

Ankles and toes.

Know that each time you drop a pebble in the center of your body,

You become more and more relaxed.

And as you become more and more relaxed,

You find yourself becoming more quiet and peaceful.

I want you to imagine yourself standing in a beautiful forest.

Off into the distance is a big log cabin.

You can see smoke coming from the fireplace as you approach.

And something seems very familiar about this place.

It should.

You see,

The cabin belongs to your future self,

Yourself several years from now.

Notice what it looks like.

What smells are you picking up on?

What noises are you hearing?

Get a good sense of this place.

Walk to the door and know that on the other side is your future self,

Waiting to greet you.

As the door opens,

What do you see?

What do you hear?

What do you feel?

Greet your future self and notice the way your future self returns your greeting,

Welcoming you into this time and place several years into the future.

Take in this person,

Your future self.

What do they look like?

Notice how they stand and what they're wearing.

Get a sense of their essence.

Notice how you're feeling while you're in their presence.

Now look around at the inside of the cabin and ask what kind of person lives here?

Now move with your future self to a comfortable place in the cabin for a conversation.

Perhaps your future self offers you something to drink or to eat.

Really settle in,

Make yourself comfortable.

Begin your conversation by asking the following two questions.

Ask your future self,

What do I need to pay attention to most right now in my life?

What do I need to pay attention to most right now in my life?

Take a few moments now to hear the answer.

Now ask your future self the following question.

Knowing what you now know,

Is there one piece of advice you can give me?

Listen to what your future self has to say.

Now take a moment and ask your future self your own question,

Whatever it is that you want to ask.

Listen to what your future self has to say.

Ask your future self your own question,

Whatever it is that you want to ask.

Wait for the response.

Unfortunately it's time now to bring your visit with your future self to a close.

Thank your future self for being with you today and for sharing their wisdom with you.

Say goodbye and head out of the cabin.

As you begin to walk away,

Turn around and look at the cabin one more time.

What was said and what will you remember the most about your experience?

As we come toward the end of the breath work and visualization practice for today,

You might want to start wiggling and moving your fingers and toes,

Maybe stretching a little bit.

Perhaps rub your fingers together or your hands together to generate a little bit of heat and cup your hands over your eyes gently,

Slowly opening the eyes and coming back to the room.

Again getting a little bit of a stretch,

Moving the body whatever way feels comfortable,

Coming back into the body.

If you want to take some extra time to relax maybe press pause on this one.

Maybe you'd consider taking pen and paper and journaling about whatever it was that came up for you with those questions that we asked.

What do I need to pay attention to the most of my life right now?

What is the one piece of advice you can give me and whatever your own question was.

Reviews

This was perfect! Beautiful combination of breath work and visualization! Thank you!

Beautiful 💚

Amazing!

Thank you Pat for all you have thought me and all you continue to do unknowingly for me. That was again an amazing mix 🙏