Thanks so much for being here.
The sipping breath is one of my very favorite breathing techniques,
Especially when you're feeling anxious.
We are living in a very fearful state right now and that fear can spread like wildfire.
It is absolutely necessary to be informed and cautious and prepared in life.
But so often our mind takes off running and we step into that collective fear and we forget how to get out of it.
And so when we're in a constant state of fear we can bring down our immune system.
We can drain our energy.
We then don't feel so good and we're more susceptible to catching things out in the world.
And so I want you to practice the sipping breath when you feel like fear,
Stress,
Anxiety,
Worry are taking over.
Give yourself the practice that is very simple.
That will take 30 seconds but you'll notice calming effects right away.
So here's how you do the sipping breath.
First sit in a comfortable pose but know that this is not just a pose you can do in meditation.
You can do it anywhere.
You can do it after you've been scrolling Facebook for too long.
You can do it when you're at your desk or when you're at home with the kids.
Whenever you catch yourself feeling anxious and you need to pause we want your nervous system to calm down.
We want to bring your mind,
Your body and your spirit back to union,
Back to a more balanced state.
And that's what this sipping breath technique will help with.
So imagine that you have a straw in your mouth and your lips are around the straw.
You're not gripping the straw but you are going to breathe through the straw.
This is an imaginary straw on the inhale breath and the exhale breath.
Make sure that these are deep belly breaths too.
So you might place one hand to your belly just below the belly button and another hand to the heart center so that when you're breathing through your lips and through that imaginary straw you can feel the breath on your inhale in the belly,
Moving up to the heart and then exhaling.
Just so that you're really intentional about deep,
Slow breathing.
So let's give it a try.
So inhale through your mouth and then pause and then exhale through your mouth through that imaginary straw.
And inhale through your mouth,
Pause and exhale.
One more time,
Inhale through your mouth,
Through that straw.
And exhale.
Now you'll probably already notice a calming effect come over your mind and your body.
You can do this breath practice anywhere.
It's also really helpful if you do have a regular meditation practice,
You can do the sipping breath before you start to meditate.
It's just a lovely simple way to bring calm to your mind.
It quiets your mind down and when we quiet our mind we feel less anxious.
So now before we end this practice I'd like you to do that same sipping breath on your own without me talking and do it for three breaths.
At the end of your last breath notice how you feel.
Giving your mind a break helps open your heart and helps your breath flow throughout the body and it really brings you to this present moment.
So the next time you feel like you're regretting the past or you're worrying about the future,
Try the sipping breath to get right back to this moment.
And I hope this helps alleviate some of the anxious feelings and brings a sense of peace and calm to your life.
Namaste.
