Hello,
Welcome back.
I'm Sarah,
A somatic facilitator and coach,
Here to help you build nervous system resilience so you can live up to your fullest potential with ease and confidence.
I'll be guiding you through meditation.
Breath works.
Visualization and deep rest so that you can explore the pause between where you've been and where you're going.
Welcome to liminal space.
In today's meditation we'll explore a yogic breathwork technique called Durga Pranayama.
Or three-part breath.
This is a simple yet profound practice that teaches us to fully inhabit the body again and breathe in a way that's supportive.
Most people breathe but they do not fully receive their breath.
So we will start either lay or seated.
People find this easier to sense laying down as the body can soften more readily.
But whichever option you take today,
Just start to settle into your skin.
Feel the bones growing heavier to the earth.
And the muscles start to relax around your skeleton.
Durga means complete or expanded and pranayama is life force energy or breath control.
Traditionally,
This practice is taught as a three-part breath.
Moving the awareness through the belly,
The ribs and the chest.
It's not about taking the biggest breath possible,
But creating a conscious breath pattern that takes up space through the whole body.
Not forced.
Not dramatic.
Just intentional.
Physiologically,
Slowing the breath down and utilising more of the diaphragm helps to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system,
Which is the rest and recovery branch.
Enabling more regulation through the system.
Beyond what's happening in the body.
There are huge mental,
Emotional and energetic benefits you will feel after breathing fully in this way.
Now starting to tune into your breath,
Not from a place of fixing or changing.
Just witness.
Trace the air as it fills and empties the lungs You might already notice areas of spaciousness or restriction,
But keep letting your breath breathe you.
Perhaps you feel relaxation with each exhale.
And now imagine your lungs are split into three segments,
A lower third,
A mid third and a top third.
If you find it hard to visualize or sense within the body.
This practice can take some time to get used to.
A kind reminder that this practice isn't about perfection.
It's about reconnection.
If it feels comfortable to do so,
Place your hands just below your belly button.
We will start by taking eight breaths into the lower section of the lungs.
Focusing on sending the breath to the hips or the belly underneath the palms.
So when you're ready,
Your next inhale is focused toward the lower section of the lungs.
Send your breath deep into the lower torso,
Breathing in.
Breathing out.
Releasing any focus on a particular area and let the breath find its natural pace and settle.
And then drawing your awareness to the midsection of the lungs.
Maybe your hands move to the lower ribs.
And you start to send your breath there almost as if the air can only fill the middle parts of your lung.
And we'll breathe in.
Release all control of your awareness and your breath.
It finds its comfortable rhythm again.
For the next eight breaths,
Focus your awareness on the upper section of the lung.
And again you might move your hands towards the heart space or the collarbones Feel the breath landing under the hands with each inhale and softly let go.
And then we'll breathe in.
Your breath settles and your awareness fades.
Everything is neutral and natural at its own pace again.
The final eight breaths we'll take together will be allowing the breath to flow through the body from the bottom of your lungs through the midsection to the top of the lungs.
Just finding a gentle flow of breath that rises through the body like a wave.
Expanding the ribs and widening the side body until you feel the lungs are full.
And then exhaling gently as you empty from the top of the lungs to the bottom.
So just starting to connect the sections.
And when you're ready.
We'll breathe in.
Out.
Let go of any breath control or focusing awareness on a particular point.
Nothing to do.
Nowhere to be.
Take a moment to notice what's shifted.
Perhaps recognizing the space you've created.
Finding connection to the breath helps to bring us back inward.
Back to the body,
The present and ourselves.
Take a slow and full inhale.
And sigh out of the mouth.
Thank you for joining me today.
If you enjoyed this,
Please share with someone who might need a moment to slow down.
Rest well and I'll see you next time.
