Hi,
This is Sarah with a calming B breath practice to soothe the nerves.
I invite you now to take a comfortable seated position in a chair or on the floor,
Sitting up on the sits bones,
Placing your hands on your legs or cupped together softly in your lap.
On an inhale,
Lift the torso off the pelvis,
Growing tall by reaching the crown of the head skyward.
Sitting up nice and straight in a dignified posture.
Check your shoulders and make sure they're down away from the ears as if your shoulder blades would slide down into your back pockets.
And check the position of your head and neck.
If you sense your head is jutting forward,
Pull it back slightly so that you have a sense of your head being over your sternum,
Your ears being above your shoulders.
And now I invite you to take a soft gaze beyond the tip of your nose or to gently flutter your eyes closed if that feels safe for you today.
And just take a moment to arrive here,
Let go of what you were doing before you came to this practice and anything that may be on your list for later in the day.
Just begin to get present.
Notice where you're making contact with the floor.
Notice any sounds around you.
Notice the feeling of air on your skin.
And now turn your awareness to your breath without changing it.
Just notice your breath exactly as it is right now.
Do you feel the air coming in through the nostrils,
Down the back of the throat,
Coming into your belly or your chest perhaps?
Where is the breath moving within you?
What does it feel like to breathe?
You might sense the air in that little space between the top of your lip and your nostrils as you breathe in and breathe out through the nose.
You might notice the chest rising and falling with the wave of your breath or maybe the belly rising and falling.
What happens to your shoulders as you breathe?
Maybe the collarbones widen.
Maybe the shoulders have a slight moving up and down as you inhale and exhale.
Just notice.
And notice the quality of your breath in this moment without judging it.
Discern whether it is deep or shallow,
Smooth or ragged,
Fast or slow.
What else can you discern about your breath?
And if you're having thoughts,
Just acknowledge that the thought exists.
Don't push it away.
Just acknowledge it and bring your attention back to your breath.
And now we'll begin to work with our breath,
Manipulating it by making the sound of a bee.
You will inhale deeply through the nose down into the belly and then as you exhale,
Gently seal the lips and make the sound.
We'll do this several times and notice as we do this what the vibration in your body feels like.
Begin to inhale deeply into the belly.
Continue doing this bee breath at your own pace for several more rounds.
And now we'll begin to work with our breath.
Notice how the exhale by itself has automatically become longer than the inhale simply by sealing the lips and vibrating like a bee.
If this is becoming uncomfortable,
You can always return to your normal breath.
Make this bee your last round of bee breath and wherever you are,
Return to the normal breath at this point.
Taking a moment here to let your natural rhythm return and again noticing the quality of your breath.
Has it changed?
Is it different in this moment?
Where do you feel the breath in your body now?
How does it feel in your body to breathe?
Do you notice if you were on edge before?
If you feel soothed,
Calmer?
Any noticing?
Any changes?
Any subtleties?
Simply tune in.
And now bring your awareness to your wider body,
To your body as a whole.
Notice where your hands are making contact with your legs,
Where your body is making contact with the floor or the chair.
Be aware of where you're sitting in the room.
Take a deep breath in and open the mouth and let it go.
One more just like that.
And when you're ready,
Flutter your eyes open.
Thank you for practicing the bee breath with me today.
I hope you feel relaxed and soothed.
