Hey,
Did you know that your breath is an amazing tool to talk to your nervous system?
That's what you're about to experience today if you haven't before.
But before we get to that,
I would like to share with you why I think that the breath is an amazing way to talk to your nervous system.
Something interesting about breathing is that the body can do it autonomously,
But we can also consciously breathe.
When you breathe consciously,
You can establish a conversation with your body,
Because breathing is part of the language of the body.
Depending on how your body breathes is what your nervous system is going to understand.
When you breathe through the chest,
Fast and shallow,
Your nervous system understands that it's necessary to be in a state of activation.
But when you breathe engaging your diaphragm,
The belly area and the chest,
You help your brain understand that you're safe.
When your nervous system understands that you're safe,
It self-regulates and it helps you be in a state where you feel comfortable,
Grounded,
Calm,
Present.
Your body can breathe better,
The heart palpitations remain coherent.
The muscles are relaxed.
Whether you're here now because you're feeling stressed,
Tense,
Maybe anxious.
Whether your mind is currently restless.
Or you simply want to be connected to your body and your breath.
By the end of it,
You and your nervous system can be in a more regulated state and all thanks to you breathing consciously.
Let's begin.
Take your time to place one hand on your belly.
See if you can visualize a balloon in your belly.
Notice what you need to do with the body to inflate the balloon as your body inhales.
The belly button goes far from the spine and the hand that is on the belly goes up.
If your body hasn't been breathing in this way.
It's ok if it doesn't feel natural.
It might take some practice for your brain to pick it up again.
Just explore how your body breathes.
Whether it's being able to engage the belly or not.
If your body is breathing through the chest now.
It's okay.
And if your body can engage the belly.
Notice how much.
The inhale can expand the balloon.
As your body is breathing,
With each exhale,
Notice how longer it can become.
In an effortless way.
Do not pull.
Do it as lazily as you can.
You might notice that your body can't breathe softly,
But still completely.
See if your body can inhale in 3,
4,
5 counts and exhale in 6,
7 or 8 counts.
Adjust it at your own pace.
Just notice what feels more natural for your body.
And the exhales are long.
Long exhales help the brain understand that it can tap into the rest and digest more.
Keep breathing.
Your body can exhale either through the nose or the mouth.
You can explore.
Exhaling through the nose.
And exhaling through the mouth,
Just to notice the difference.
Notice which one feels more comfortable.
And keep doing that.
Let the body breathe.
Whenever you don't hear my voice,
It's because I'm giving you speech.
Eventually,
Something in your body will start to shift.
In the form of sensations.
There could also be a shift in your mental body.
Your thoughts.
And even maybe in your emotional body.
Simply notice what you can notice.
Last round.
At your own pace,
Inhale.
Exhale fully.
Good job!
Take your time to notice.
How your body is feeling.
How your mind is feeling.
The body keeps breathing.
Naturally.
And see if.
.
.
With each exhale.
The body can let go a little bit more and more.
Of the control of the muscle.
For the next one,
We are inhaling through the mouth and exhaling through the nose.
You want to round your lips here,
As if you were about to blow a candle.
And then you simply inhale through the mouth.
And then exhale through the nose.
Let's do it together.
First,
Exhale fully through the mouth.
Round the lips,
Inhale through the mouth.
And softly exhale.
As you're ready,
Inhale through your mouth.
Exhale,
Nose.
Let's do it three more times.
Inhale,
Mouth.
Exhale,
Nose.
Inhale,
Mouth.
Exhale nose.
Last one in here.
Exhale,
Nose.
Inhale.
Hold your breath and sigh.
Once again,
Take your time to scan through the body.
And notice what you can notice.
How your body responds to this breathing technique.
Maybe your body's side swallowed Orion again.
Whew.
Keep breathing belly and chest.
In a softly and effortless way.
If the mind wanders.
.
.
Simply bring the attention back to the sound of the breath.
Or the movement of the belly and the ribcage as your body is breathing.
The mind will always think what the attention is.
Under your control.
Every time you shift your attention back to the breath,
You help the brain create new neural pathways.
The more you interrupt the mind going somewhere else and directing it to your breath.
You help your brain strengthen that neural pathway.
In time,
This translates to a brain that has more capacity to be focused.
Ethics,
Practice,
And patience and compassion can be really good friends during this journey.
That's why breathing techniques.
.
.
Are a really simple way to do this.
Instead of fighting the mind to settle it,
You talk directly to your brain through the breath to help it understand that you're safe.
Notice what it feels like to be in a body right now whose nervous system is regulated.
Notice how that feels and how that makes you feel.
Before we finish,
Let's do three rounds of humming.
We are humming the sound AH.
We will naturally inhale belly and chest,
Or as comfortably as your body can today,
And then we will exhale humming the sound AH.
Something I really like about humming is that the vibration of the sound stimulates your vagus nerve,
Which plays a key role in self-regulation.
Let's explore what that feels like.
As you're ready,
Inhale.
And hum the sound up.
RM.
Four,
Inhale.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM Three,
Inhale.
Vrooom!
Good.
Two,
Inhale.
Buh-bye.
Last one,
Inhale.
Right jaw.
Inhale.
And sigh.
Inhale.
And sigh.
Last one,
Inhale.
And sigh.
Rachel,
Take your time to notice how you and your body are feeling now.
What the humming felt like.
Notice if you can notice the effects in your body.
And if you can't yet.
.
.
It's okay.
The more you choose to connect with your body,
The simpler it becomes to feel it.
You can stay breathing in this way if you're going to bed.
But if you are continuing with your day,
Take your time to start moving your fingers and your toes.
Let the body move in any way it wants to move,
And then you open the eye.
Enjoy your regulated nervous system.
Make sure to subscribe to keep retraining your nervous system together.
See you on the next one.
