The following breathing practice is a simple but powerful tool that can be used to regulate your nervous system.
This type of breathing practice is known as belly breathing or diaphragmatic breathing.
It is a great tool to start your day off with just after waking up,
Or to use throughout the day to regulate stress,
Or to use at the end of the day when moving from work to a more restful state.
This practice is intended to be an introduction to diaphragmatic breathing,
So feel free to listen to the following information or skip forward to two minutes in where the practice begins.
In this practice,
We'll be using our diaphragms to breathe deep into our bellies.
By breathing in such a way,
We're able to stimulate our vagus nerve.
The vagus nerve is the longest of 12 cranial nerves,
And it runs from the base of our brain,
Down in our neck,
Into our chest,
And then down into our gut and the uterus for women.
By stimulating our vagus nerve,
We are able to move ourselves out of our sympathetic flight or freeze nervous system and into our parasympathetic rest and digest nervous system.
By stimulating our vagus nerve,
It releases anti-anxiety chemicals into our body,
Thus regulating our nervous system and moving us into a state of rest and relaxation.
The vagus nerve handles much more than just relaxing us.
By stimulating the vagus nerve,
We are able to strengthen our memories,
Decrease inflammation,
Improve digestion and overall gut health,
Increase resilience,
And enhance our sensory and motor functions.
Furthermore,
When we are functioning under our parasympathetic nervous system,
We are also experiencing better cognitive functioning.
There's a lot more I could list here,
But I just wanted to provide that simple information for you.
Now,
To do the practice,
You will want to find yourself into a comfortable position.
If possible,
Lay down with knees bent and feet parallel to one another.
If you cannot lay down,
Then find a comfortable seated position with a tall spine.
Place one hand on your chest and the other hand on your belly.
Now,
For the practice,
You will inhale slowly through the nose,
Drawing breath into the lower belly,
Allowing the belly to be soft and to find an exaggerated rise on the inhale.
The hand placed on the chest should stay still,
While the other hand should rise with the belly.
On the exhale,
You'll purse your lips as if you were blowing through a straw,
And slowly breathe out,
Initially letting your belly naturally fall,
And then tightening your abdominal muscles to softly squeeze out the rest of the air.
We will be inhaling for a count of four.
We will pause for a brief moment at the top of the breath,
And then exhale for a count of six.
We'll do this for about five minutes.
So let's start off wherever you are by exhaling out all air currently in your lungs.
And then we will begin inhaling for a count of two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six,
Inhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Hold,
Exhale,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Five,
Six.
Now continue like this,
Inhaling through your nose for a count of four,
Holding briefly at the top,
And exhaling at your mouth for a count of six.
And if at any point you find yourself pulled away from your breath,
Lost in thought,
Just allow yourself to start again,
Bringing yourself back to an inhale for a count of four,
For a brief pause,
And then exhale for a count of six.
So,
That's all for today.
Thank you for watching.
I hope you enjoyed this video.
If you did,
Please like,
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And subscribe.
I'll see you next time.
Bye.
Thank you.
Now,
Wherever you are,
Allow yourself to let go of the counting of the breath.
Allow your breath to return back to its natural flow.
And just take a moment to check in with the body,
To feel anything that's changed,
Any physical sensations,
Or maybe any quality of the mind that's changed.
I encourage you to return to this practice daily,
Using it as a powerful tool to regulate your nervous system,
Whether it be starting your day off with this breathing or using it when dealing with stressful moments of the day.
But that's it.
I hope you enjoyed the practice,
And I hope you have a great day.
