Breathing - Twenty Minute Meditation

Welcome to this longer Breath-Work introduction and practice. Breathing practice is superb for releasing the tension we generally hold in our bodies, assisting with healing, assisting better sleep, increasing health and vitality, and calming our busy mind, which are important tools for our meditation and spiritual growth.

Transcript

All welcome and greetings.

Today we're going to be looking at a little bit more depth into the breathing processes and I'd like to get started straight away with some simple easy practicing.

So I'd like to invite you to sit comfortably with the back straight,

Either cross-legged or on the back of a cushion or even in a chair.

Keep the chest up slightly,

Shoulders back so that the chest is as open as possible.

The first thing I'd like to do is just relax and rest and especially the face.

So we want to take the tension out of the eyes,

Make the eyes soft.

Innocent eyes,

The ears,

Relax the jaw,

The tongue,

Almost giving oneself an easy smile.

The smiling action,

Inner smile,

Is wonderful for releasing the nervous system and helping us to feel a bit calmer.

Let's come present-minded,

Be here now and immediately we'll come to notice the breath.

So breath flows in and breath flows out.

Make this process as easy,

As comfortable as possible.

The observer mode is very important.

So we are watching,

It's awareness watching,

In this case the body,

A function of the body,

And we notice where we are breathing.

For some folk it will be more in the sort of center,

The middle part of the chest and body,

Upper body.

For some folk it will be deeper down,

Naturally,

A more belly kind of breathing.

And for some folk it will be a little higher in the chest,

Almost as if the middle and the lower parts are a little bit blocked.

We may experience that in the physical body,

It tends to be tight and feel a little bit blocked.

So we're wanting to notice without any judgments,

Notice where we are breathing,

Notice the flow in and the flow out.

Calm,

Easy,

Comfortable breath without trying to change anything.

We will do that just now,

Always keeping things easy,

Comfortable,

Accessible,

Relaxed.

So this is a meditative process to begin understanding how to work with the breathing.

This in itself can constitute a very good practice,

A very good foundation,

Regular practice,

To sit quietly for five to ten minutes and simply notice the breath flowing in and flowing out.

Relaxing tension in the physical body,

Calm,

Easy and comfortable.

So as we've done that for a little while,

We can now gradually begin to make the breath more equal.

So if we breathe in,

We want to breathe out more or less for the same measure.

If it helps you,

You can count one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Whatever's comfortable for you,

And then breathe out one,

Two,

Three,

Four.

The thing is to be able to continue.

So we want a continuous flow of breath,

Almost like a rhythm,

A little bit like a gentle wave.

And this is also very calming.

Don't try to force the breath in any way.

As I mentioned in the five minute introduction meditation to breathing,

The breath fans just like we fan a fire.

It fans the contents of our attention.

So whatever we're focusing on and what our intention is in that focus,

The breath will amplify it.

So let's make sure that our intention and our attention as well is focused towards calm,

Centered,

Balanced,

Comfortable and easy.

We're embarking on this breath work journey and exploration for health benefits,

To learn how to balance emotionally,

Physically and mentally via the breath.

So it is essential to always keep it easy,

Comfortable,

Aim for calm.

In the simple processes of concentrating in this way,

Focusing,

Watching,

Watching,

A calmness will automatically come more present minded.

So our attention is away from the busy mind,

Analytical mind.

Our attention is away from the common issues,

Outside world.

Our breath is almost like a point that we can focus on,

A little bit like a pendulum swing.

And we all know that the pendulum swing is very hypnotic.

So we can lull ourselves,

Calm ourselves into a quiet,

More relaxed state by just watching the breath rise and fall,

Without judgment,

Without self-criticism.

If we feel tightness somewhere,

We simply note tightness.

If it feels easy,

We note easy.

Our purpose and our aim is comfortable.

So perhaps by now we could slightly deepen the breath.

So if you were breathing in an approximate rhythm of four counts,

Try to make it five counts.

If this feels in any way forced,

Simply relax and go back to the four counts or the three counts.

Or if it's very easy for you,

Maybe six,

Seven or eight,

Or even nine count.

What I would say is that at some point,

We'd need to drop the counting and try to just keep a natural rhythm.

If it helps you to count,

You can carry on with that.

But all techniques are simply tools to leverage us into a slightly different place emotionally,

Physically,

Mentally.

So in that regard,

We need at some point to drop the tool,

To stop using the tool,

In this case,

The counting.

If you need to have a short break for a moment or two,

That's absolutely fine.

There's absolutely no point in forcing any kind of meditative process,

Forcing the breath,

For that matter,

Forcing the body.

We want rather to be guiding,

Regulating,

Channeling.

In yoga,

We call this nirodha.

So after some time,

Again,

Has gone by with this practice,

We'll want to start noticing that there might be a natural pause.

So we breathe in full and deep,

Slow,

And there's a natural pause for a moment or two moments maybe,

And then the outflow of breath.

So we're going to start noticing that there is a natural outflow of breath.

And then we may notice that there is a pause after the exhalation.

And then we naturally,

The body,

Breathes in again.

If we can slightly accentuate that pause,

We can make it a pause.

So if the pause is one count,

Try to make it one and a half or two counts.

Keep it as natural and easy,

As comfortable as possible.

And we want to be noticing into that pause,

Almost as if we're looking,

Looking into that little space,

That little space.

It's almost like a little doorway.

It's a little crack in duality.

It's a bit like dusk and dawn,

Twilight zone.

It's a moment's pause.

All sorts of interesting things become available once we explore deeper into that pause.

Remember that breath is very tied up with consciousness.

It's tied up with awareness,

Attention,

And so naturally with our intention.

So the fabric of consciousness is built from base awareness,

How we then use our attention,

The items that we place our attention on,

That interact with our views of the world,

Our belief structures,

Our intents and purposes.

And this is a lot of the reason why it's so important to have good command of the observer,

The inner observer.

Throughout the day,

We need to be noticing,

Observing,

Observing our states of mind,

Of body,

Of emotion and feeling.

When we are secure in the observer mode,

We are less likely to fall asleep into deep identification with emotional situations,

Physical situations,

Mental situations.

So our breathing has become a four-part breathing.

Breathing in slow,

Smooth,

Controlled,

Gentle,

Pausing for a few moments,

Breathing out slow,

Smooth,

Steady,

Controlled,

Pausing for a few moments,

One,

Two,

Three moments,

And then breathing in.

Now,

This could potentially be quite difficult.

So if you need the breaks,

Please take a break.

Keep it very comfortable and easy and natural.

If you're only breathing in for a count of two or three,

That is fine.

If that is in harmony and balance with wherever we're at physically.

So just on that very physical level,

The heart is a muscle,

The lungs are muscles,

And all muscles can be exercised,

Strengthened,

And so on.

So let's all of us just pause for a few moments here,

Have a short rest,

And then I'm going to just look at a very important function of the exhalation.

And that is for calming,

For releasing tension,

Letting go,

Emptying out,

Resting.

So for many folk in European or Western society,

The physical body carries a lot of tension.

It reflects our mental,

A-type personalities,

And it's really,

Really imperative that we have ways that we understand and that work of releasing that tension and coming to neutral.

So the sigh and the gasp are two,

And the yawn is a third one.

So it's three common,

Commonly understood ways that we use breath.

And we all know why would we take a gasp?

So suddenly we're given some news,

We see something,

Experience something,

And we gasp.

The sigh,

That usually associated with not such good news,

Or something depressing or something,

And we sigh,

We lost an opportunity.

Something is happening with the breath,

Emotional relationship,

And of course the yawn,

Not only when we're tired.

So yes,

There is oxygenation that happens when we're in any kind of breathing.

So that yawn,

That deep gathering of breath,

It's an oxygenation process.

But there's also a psychological implication to the yawn.

So let's practice breathing.

For this practice,

We want to take a relatively faster inhalation,

But not a gasp.

So just draw the breath in full,

Fairly rapidly,

Right to the top chest.

Lift the chest as you breathe in,

And control long,

Slow,

Steady exhalation,

And try to make it longer than you can breathe.

And then breathe normally to follow.

And then we can take a second one.

So breathe in fairly rapidly,

Full,

Deep,

And a slow,

Smooth,

Steady,

Controlled exhalation.

Keep the chest lifted as long as possible to help you control that exhalation.

And breathe normally and relax.

So this is a technique that we would use to help calming,

Releasing anxiety and stress,

Releasing tension in the body,

Combined with the observer,

Combined with present-minded attention,

Harmonizing the body,

And then releasing tension.

So I trust you've enjoyed and benefited from this little exploration,

Introductory exploration of breathing.

And I'll continue in deeper,

Probably with a number of different meditations into breathwork,

For different purposes.

Thank you for joining,

And have a beautiful day and rich blessings for your continued journey into health,

Vitality,

And spiritual growth.

Namaste.