My name is Pitt Roberts and this is a really simple practice I have to share with you,
Which is fabulous at any time,
But perhaps most useful for me when times feel hard and I need to find a little softness.
So we're going to start however we're comfortable,
Seated or laid down,
Even standing up and moving.
Meet yourself where you're at,
But wherever and however we are,
We're going to allow our eyes to close if that's comfortable.
If we're not comfortable with eyes fully closed,
Maybe they are half closed.
So you begin to find a little more awareness of the inner world rather than what's going on around you.
And ever so simple,
Ever so simple,
Breathing in through the nose,
Gently,
Softly,
There's no force needed.
And then when it comes to exhaling,
Exhale out through the mouth and if there's a sound that really wants to come out,
Let it move out.
We're going to do that three times,
So it's a soft inhale through the nose and then an exhale out.
It might be a sigh,
It might be a growl,
It might be a scream.
Whatever feels right for you,
Let it through.
The good things come in threes,
Right?
So we'll do that a third time.
Breathing softly and gently through the nose and exhaling out through the mouth.
Any sounds that want to come with,
Let them through.
And then for a moment,
Just notice how that really simple,
Really simple practice has left you.
We're going to move on to part two of this.
I always feel like the first part is there almost to cleanse what we don't need.
And the second part is when we begin to really change the way we're meeting the world.
So again,
We're going to keep that soft inhale,
No force,
No push.
But we're going to allow our body to greet it with a real softness so that the body swells with the breath and maybe more of your body begins to move with the breath because of that softness.
And then as you exhale,
Let's just exhale out through the nose.
Let it be long and slow.
You'll feel yourself recoiling back with ease,
Not force.
But there's this soft inhale that's really welcomed into your body.
You might feel yourself expand,
You might feel your organs move,
Maybe your skin expands out into the space around you.
And then when you exhale,
There's this release,
There's this recoil,
There's this coming back.
So all we need to do,
These soft inhales through the nose and soft and long exhales,
Releasing that breath back out.
And we allow our body to really soften as it greets the breath,
So that you might begin to sense into the fluidity that's there,
So that the breath begins to flow through the body with greater ease.
Breathing into that expanding out as you inhale.
Still no force,
This beautifully natural swelling that's coming from the fluidity.
And then as the tide turns on the breath,
When you find the exhale moving out,
It's smooth,
It's gentle.
And there's this coming back towards your centre,
You exhale.
So the inhales,
They bring a softness to us.
And the exhales bring us back towards our centre.
Taking your time with this,
Not asking you to breathe at a specific rate.
We don't need to count our breaths.
Finding a comfortable length of inhale that doesn't feel forced.
And then when you feel that tide of breath turning,
Allow the exhale to maybe take a little longer than the inhale did.
And then again,
When that tide of breath is turning,
There's no gasping for air.
The inhale arrives softly and sweetly.
You come back to that swelling,
That expanding.
And then the exhale comes again and it brings you back to centre.
As you continue to breathe like this,
You can begin to allow the whole body to begin to soften.
So that the breath begins to move deeper and further through us.
Can you sense the body moving on the breath beyond just the lungs?
Can you soften into that movement and allow it to carry you?
Allowing the tide of breath to wash away tension.
Allowing the body to soften even more with each breath.
And you might continue to breathe in this way a little longer,
Or as long as life allows.
And allow that fluidity to soak through the body.
And for a moment,
Allow your awareness not to be on the breath,
But on the whole body.
And get a sense of where that practice has delivered you to today.
Of course,
You might continue to stay with that really soft,
Fluid breath a little longer.
But for now,
I'm going to say thank you and have a good day.
