Hello,
Welcome back.
I'm Sarah,
A somatic facilitator and coach,
Here to help you build nervous system resilience so that you can live up to your fullest potential with ease and confidence.
I'll be guiding you through meditation,
Breath work,
Visualization and deep rest so that you can access the pause between where you've been and where you're going.
Welcome to Liminal Space.
Today I'm going to guide you through a breath work practice.
You can do this practice laying or seated,
Whichever feels best in your body today.
Once you've found that position,
Take a moment to land physically,
Right here,
Right now.
Let the body soften,
Knowing that there's nowhere you need to be and nothing else you need to be doing.
If you'd like to set an intention or sow a seed,
We call this a sankalpa in yoga.
Go ahead and do so now,
Whether it's just for this practice or maybe for the week ahead until we meet again.
And then settle into this space.
Reflect on how you're feeling mentally,
Physically,
Emotionally,
Energetically.
Without the need to fix or solve,
Just meet yourself exactly where you are.
Notice how the stillness and silence feels in your body.
Maybe there's a little resistance or maybe it feels needed.
And then start to bring your awareness to the spaciousness around that stillness and silence.
This concept of emptiness is called shunya in yoga.
A gentle void or open space.
Not an emptiness that is missing anything or that's from a place of lack.
It's a place of contentment where nothing is required.
I invite you to think about this space not as nothingness but changing your perspective to spaciousness.
A fertile void of opportunity and abundance.
Sense the spaciousness all around your body and allow your body to settle into that spaciousness.
Allow it to be held by whatever is beneath.
Feel the weight of each body part supported.
Let your eyes be heavy in their sockets and invite that spaciousness inside.
Softly your awareness trickles to the space within.
The space between your eyebrows.
A gentle gap between the teeth.
A clear runway through the throat.
Openness through the heart space.
Room in and around your lungs.
An ever so slight pause between each heartbeat.
A soft suspension between your inhale and your exhale.
Notice that there's no harsh stops.
Everything soft around the areas and space.
One pause blending and weaving itself into the next.
Allow your attention to be captured by that suspension between each breath.
At first you might find it difficult to find that natural pause.
Don't search too hard.
Just allow your breath to keep moving at its own pace.
No changing.
No analysing.
It simply just happens.
No effort required.
Keep tracing the journey of your breath as it finds its rhythm.
And if you begin to find that spaciousness between your inhale and your exhale.
And then the spaciousness between your exhale and your inhale.
Notice if you can linger there a little longer each time.
Be mindful of whether you're forcing the pause.
There's no striving necessary.
Give yourself permission to relax into the exploration of it.
We'll take a slow inhale together.
Fill the lungs.
And then sigh out of the mouth.
And we'll take two more of those together.
Inhaling slowly.
And exhale to release.
Sigh.
Final time.
Inhale slowly into the belly.
Exhale let everything go.
Sigh.
Seal the lips.
Release all control.
Allow the breath to return to its natural pace.
Its natural rhythm.
We're going to explore that spaciousness between each breath through a practice called box breathing.
This practice utilises all four parts of your breath.
And they're all equal.
We'll take eight rounds at the count of four.
I will then guide two rounds at the count of six.
And then I will leave space for two more rounds of your own breath.
I'll be guiding you but if my pace doesn't work,
Please find your own.
Or if you'd prefer not to pause your breath today,
Just take an equal inhale and exhale.
I invite you to take these breaths in and out through the nose.
But if that's difficult for you today,
Take your exhale as a pursed lips exhale through the mouth as if you're blowing out of a straw.
We'll inhale and exhale to prepare.
Breathing in and breathing out.
And when you're ready,
We'll breathe in three,
Two,
One.
Pause.
Three,
Two,
One.
Out.
Three,
Two,
One.
Pause.
Three,
Two,
One.
Breathing in and pause.
Breathing out.
Pause.
Inhaling.
Pause.
Inhaling.
Pause.
Exhaling.
And pause.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Pause.
Breathing in.
Pausing.
Exhaling.
Pausing.
Pausing.
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Breathing in.
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Pause.
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Breathing out.
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
And pause.
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Breathing in.
And pause.
Breathing out.
And pause.
Now taking two rounds at your own pace.
Remembering to breathe slowly and expansively deep into the belly.
Just exploring what rhythm feels best for you today.
Now releasing all control of your breath.
It returns to its natural pace,
Its natural rhythm.
Just take a moment to witness the spaciousness created by your breath.
And notice what remains in that space.
Maybe it's a feeling,
A word,
A colour,
A texture.
What appears for you?
Don't force anything to appear.
It may unfold over the next few days if it's not evident now.
Relax into that void and know that it is fertile ground.
Creating space allows for the opportunities and abundance to expand.
But remember to sense that spaciousness and create a fertile ground,
You have to let go of what no longer serves you.
Presence and patience are needed to cultivate the ground that the seeds are sown.
So as you lay here in the contentness of the nothingness,
Your awareness expands through all layers of the skin from the inside out and it enters the spaciousness around you again.
And just notice if anything has changed.
You might bring your awareness back to the intention that you set,
Your sankalpa,
Your seed.
Allow that intention to expand just as your awareness did through all layers of the skin from the inside out.
Visualise your intention,
Your seed,
This sense of anchoring and weightlessness both at the same time running through all of the space around you.
And the space within.
And then notice the texture of the surface and the earth beneath you.
Maybe the temperature of the air touching your skin.
And the receptiveness of the heart.
You might notice your inhale begin to deepen and your exhale begin to lengthen.
Allow your breath to start awakening the body again.
You might start to twinkle fingers and toes,
Maybe even rolling the head from side to side.
It might feel nice to take a full body stretch here reaching arms overhead,
Fingertips all the way to toe tips.
And as the arms settle back by the sides of the body,
You might blink and flutter the eyelids open.
Take in your surroundings,
Take in that spaciousness.
And notice the spaciousness within.
Thank you for joining me today.
Rest well and I'll see you next time.
