Hi,
This is Pats,
And you're welcome to this practice,
Which is called the High Triangle.
So this practice,
We're going to have three sides to the breath.
You'll be breathing in,
Holding the breath at the top,
And then breathing out.
And each side of the triangle,
The in-breath,
The hold,
And the out-breath will be for the same count.
So it's slow and steady.
And it's a good one for when your head is busy and you want to feel settled and clear drifting off to sleep.
So the hole at the top is where the work happens.
As you pause there,
Carbon dioxide builds a little bit and the body starts asking to breathe.
So you might feel a tug in the belly or a flutter in the diaphragm or a tightness in the chest or the throat and that's all normal.
And the practice is learning to soften around the feeling rather than bracing against it.
And that's a skill that follows you off the cushion and into your day.
You need to breathe through your nose the whole way through if you can,
Keeping it gentle.
And if a hold ever feels like a fight,
Make it shorter,
Or skip it and rejoin the next round.
There is nothing to prove here.
So let's find a comfortable cease or lie down.
Let your eyes close.
And just breathe naturally for a moment,
Not changing anything.
Notice where the breath moves in your body.
Maybe the belly.
Empty the ribs.
Maybe the chest?
Allow your jaw to soften.
Let all your shoulders drop away from your ears.
Allow the face to relax and go easy.
Feel the weight of your body being held by whatever's underneath you.
And we're going to begin with a count of four,
So I'll count you through.
Gonna breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And out,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four.
And out,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Again,
In,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Four,
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
And out,
Two,
Three,
Four.
Good,
And as you continue with this,
On the hold at the top just check the shoulders.
They might want to creep in,
But allow your shoulders to stay down and heavy.
Allow the breath to be held by a soft body,
Not a clenched one.
And if this is feeling comfortable,
We're going to stretch the triangle to five.
If four feels like your edge,
Four is okay,
Both are perfect.
But if we're gonna try five,
Let's try that together.
Breathing in,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
And out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
Hold,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
And out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five.
2,
3,
4,
5.
Breathe in 2,
3,
4,
5.
Hold 2,
3,
4,
5.
And out 2,
3,
4,
5.
I'll keep this rhythm with you now,
Just naming the sides.
So in,
Out.
Hold.
In.
Old,
Hold.
In.
Home.
Just continuing yourself with this triangle.
5 seconds on each part,
In,
Hold and out.
You might notice an urge to breathe arriving.
You don't need to do anything with that,
Just let it be there.
See if you can soften the belly.
And soften the throat.
If the body's asking loudly for breath,
Just allow the hold to be a little bit shorter.
Allow the exhale to be slow and smooth,
Like you're letting go of something.
Last couple of rounds now,
Let them be your smoothest.
And now let go of the count completely,
Allowing the breath to find its own natural rhythm.
Notice how you feel compared to when we started.
Noticing the quality of mind.
The body.
The space behind their eyes.
And that feeling of staying calm while the body was asking for air,
That's something we're training.
And the more we practice softening in that space,
The easier it gets to soften when life gets loud.
Let's take a nice deep breath in through the nose.
And a slow breath out.
And then gradually,
In your own time,
Whenever you do feel ready.
Allow your eyes to open.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
I'll see you next time.
