A Simple Practice - Noticing The Breath

This technique uses your breath as an anchor. Although it's useful when you're feeling numb and overwhelmed (Unhealthy Parasympathetic), as it can help shift your nervous system into a better place.
When you're in a calm and relaxed state (Healthy Parasympathetic), regularly practising staying with the breath means you practise your "mindfulness situps", helping you develop your awareness and technique.
If you enjoyed this technique, you might also find these helpful:
A Simple Practice - Asking The Body
A Simple Practice - Circular Breathing
Everyday Mindfulness - Less Stress, More You.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this technique called Noticing the Breath. This can be done when we're feeling a little bit overwhelmed but I find it's a really good practice as it's a little more challenging for when we're in a good place and we want to build our mindfulness technique. So get yourself comfortable however that feels today, Maybe sitting, Standing or even lying down. Allow your body to just settle into the moment, Finding stillness and allow your eyes to close if that feels safe and supportive. So starting to bring awareness to that ever-present anchor, Your breath. You might notice it as it enters and exits your nose, It might be in your throat or your shoulders, Perhaps in the movement of your chest, Ribcage or tummy. If you're new to this practice you can explore all areas, Rotating your mind around them, Acting as a stronger anchor for the ever chatty mind or if you'd like to challenge yourself, Pick one area and notice that over and over again. So practice with me now. As we breathe in, We notice the breath. As we breathe out, We notice the breath. As we breathe in, We notice the ribcage expanding. As we breathe out, We notice the ribcage collapsing. As we breathe in, We notice the cool air entering our nose. As we breathe out, We notice the warm air exiting our nose. As we breathe in, We notice our stomach expanding. As we breathe out, We notice our stomach collapsing. Take a few more breaths in your own time now, Staying anchored to your breath. Wonderful, Well done. Remember, Every time our mind wanders and we bring our mind back to the anchor in each technique, Like the breath in today's, Then we're doing a mindfulness sit-up. We're building that relationship between our amygdala and our prefrontal cortex. We're building our relationship with the here and now, The present and its safety. I hope you enjoyed this technique and I hope to see you back for some other anchors and techniques soon. Take care.