Hi,
I'm Peter Dawson and today we're going to focus on our breath and specifically rhythmic breath.
There are many things talked about breath,
But rhythmic breath,
Breathing with a particular rhythm has been shown to be the most beneficial in terms of reducing stress and increasing mental clarity,
Presence and the ability for us to make good quality decisions.
This practice is based on the work of Dr Alan Watkins at Complete and in our work with executive leaders and elite athletes we have seen that this simple practice can have a profound impact not just on the performance of these individuals but also on their well-being.
So we're going to really focus on how we actually achieve that and the first step is really noticing how we currently breathe.
So I'd just like you to notice your in-breath,
Take an inhale and then take an exhale and then just notice the nature of those.
Were they smooth?
Were they even?
Were they jagged?
Was there tension in there?
So just take an inhale,
Take an exhale and just notice what your own breath is like.
What we're looking for is a nice even rhythm.
Doesn't matter what the rhythm is,
What matters is the fact that we repeat that rhythm.
So if we breathe in for three seconds and out for five seconds that's fine as long as the next breath is in for three and out for five.
If we breathe in for four and out for four that's also fine as long as the next is in for four and out for four.
It's about repeating the rhythm and keeping that rhythm constant.
So I'd just like you to notice the rhythm of your own breath.
Just take a moment.
Count using the fingers on your hand how many seconds you're breathing in and then how many seconds you're breathing out.
See if you can begin to just keep that rhythm steady.
Doesn't matter what the rhythm is,
It matters that we repeat the rhythm.
Just see if you can find your own natural easy rhythm.
And once we have the rhythm nice and even,
What we're then going to do is try and get the rate at which we breathe in the volume of the air that goes in to be nice and smooth and the rate at which we breathe out the volume of the air that we breathe out nice and smooth.
So just take a moment to exhale and really focus on the smooth rate of the exhale of the breath.
So nice and smooth.
So exhale and try and keep that rate nice and even and nice and smooth.
Okay now you've got a sense of what it's like to keep the exhale even.
I want you to try and practice that on the inhale.
So in a moment I'm going to ask you to inhale and try and inhale in a nice even rate.
Nice and smooth.
So take a breath in and then let it out remembering to keep the exhale nice and even,
Nice and smooth.
Okay so some of you would have noticed that actually there isn't just two steps to our breath,
There are three or maybe even four and you're right because there's not just the in-breath,
There's the in-breath,
Then there's a short pause after we've taken our inhale,
Then we exhale,
Stage three,
And then there's a longer pause which if we just relax and let go,
Just let the muscles relax.
Okay so actually we've got the inhale,
Our short pause,
Followed by the exhale,
Followed by just a longer pause and just the relaxing.
So inhale,
Pause,
Exhale,
Longer pause.
So what I'm going to do now is just talk you through that with a particular rhythm.
Okay if you find the rhythm too fast or too slow then just find your own pace but you may find it just easier to follow my rhythm to begin with,
Just to find the steps.
I really want you to notice what's going on within your own body,
Don't hold any tension,
Just be curious and just try and keep a steady flow as we go.
Before we start the practice I just want you to notice how you're feeling right now and just write that down,
Whatever the emotion is that you are feeling.
I also want you to give it a score between zero and ten,
This is the intensity of the emotion.
Zero is,
Can barely feel it at all,
Ten would be the most intense feeling that you've ever experienced.
So make sure you're sitting comfortably and that your body is well supported and let go of any of the distractions that are around you.
So we'll be starting with an inhale to begin with,
So just gently exhale,
Nice easy flow,
Let go of the tension and breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Pause,
Breathe out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Pause and let go,
Breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Pause,
Breathe out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Pause and let go,
Breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Pause,
Breathe out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Pause and let And let go� Breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Pause,
Breathe out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Pause,
And let go.
Breathe in,
Two,
Three,
Pause,
Breathe out,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Pause,
And let go.
Two three pause breathe out two three four pause and let go breathe in two three pause breathe out two three four pause and let go breathe in two three pause breathe out two three four pause and let go breathe in two three pause breathe out two three four pause and let go breathe in two three pause breathe out two three four pause and let go breathe in two three pause breathe out two three four pause and let go breathe in two three pause breathe out two three four pause and let go breathe in two three pause breathe out two three four pause and let go breathe in two three pause breathe out two three four pause and let go breathe in two three pause breathe out two three four pause and let go so now i'd like you to notice how you feel write down the feeling you're experiencing now and also give yourself a score between zero and ten about the intensity of that feeling then notice how that's changed between what you wrote down initially has the feeling shifted to something else has the intensity increased or decreased i encourage you to use this practice every day get used to the rhythm the smoothness the evenness of the breath and pay attention to the four distinct stages of the breath i hope you enjoyed this practice thank you for joining me
