Hi everybody and welcome to this exploration of the breath and reconnecting with the breath in three different dimensions.
This is one of my favorite exercises to do when I'm feeling constricted or stressed or simply a little bit isolated.
To start,
I'll invite you to simply bring a little bit of gentle attention to your breathing.
As you breathe in,
Be aware that this is you inhaling.
And as you breathe out,
Just be aware that this is you exhaling in this moment.
Inhaling,
Thinking this is me breathing in.
And exhaling,
Thinking this is me breathing out.
And as we bring this gentle awareness to the breath,
I'll invite you to slow the breathing down.
Let that inhale take up a bit more space in the body,
Helping you inflate like a balloon.
And then.
.
.
Enjoying that sense of release on the exhale.
If you want to,
You can even add an element of play to it.
How much can you let yourself enjoy that sense of expansion?
As you breathe in and then.
.
.
Maybe even letting out a sigh as you let go on the exhale.
Let's take a nice slow breath together,
Breathing in.
.
.
And releasing.
The first level of awareness that I'd like to invite us to connect with is the awareness of the body as we breathe.
So as you breathe in,
See if you can really feel the oxygen and energy moving through your body.
Coming in through the mouth or nose,
Hitting the back of the throat.
And then that nice fresh clean oxygen moving down through the chest and the lungs.
As the breath circulates in your body,
Bringing awareness to the 700 million million million cells.
That are vibrating inside you with every breath and in every moment.
See if you can feel the breath going down all the way to the tips of your toes and the tips of your fingers.
Down your spine.
Circulating around your head and your skull.
Filling your body with energy.
So let's breathe into this awareness of the breath and the body together.
Nice slow breath in.
.
.
And release.
And the next level of awareness I'd like to invite us to play with is the awareness that the breath and oxygen and energy that we are inhaling came from another being just moments ago.
Maybe it was in the plant nearby.
Maybe it was in your pet two weeks ago.
Maybe it was in an elephant.
But this awareness is that the breath that is moving through us literally connects us with every other living being on the planet.
So as you breathe,
See if you can feel yourself as part of this network of connection and exchange.
As you inhale,
Imagining where that breath came from.
And as you exhale,
Imagine where that carbon dioxide is going.
Imagining what tree or other being is grateful for that exhalation.
If you want to,
You can even add a visual element,
Imagining strands of energy carried by the breath from one being to the next.
And I'll invite us to take a nice slow breath into this level of awareness together.
Breathing into that connection.
And then exhaling with that awareness that as the breath leaves our body,
It's going to be renewed and transformed in another being.
And if you want to,
You can take a moment to play with those two levels of awareness,
Zooming into the body.
Feeling the breath moving through your cells and organs and then zooming out to the awareness of yourself as part of this vast network of exchange and energy.
And the last level of awareness I'll invite in is that because matter is neither created nor destroyed,
The molecules of oxygen that we're breathing in have in one form or another been around since the very beginning of time.
And they will be around long after we're gone.
And so this breath is simply a very small part of a story that has been weaving itself through oxygen and energy from the very beginning of time in the vastness of the stars and will continue long after we're gone.
And so each breath that we take is a small but vital part of this tapestry that weaves and reweaves itself through time.
And so as you breathe,
See if you can hold the awareness of that vast story.
And you can even imagine that these molecules of oxygen that have been around since the beginning of time have accumulated wisdom through the eons.
And as you breathe in,
Perhaps they can share a little bit of that wisdom with you,
A little bit of their experience and you can share a bit of your story,
Your experience,
Your heart with them.
So breathing in to the wisdom that has waited until this moment to find you.
And exhaling your contribution to this universal story.
And let's take a nice slow breath into this third level of awareness together.
Nice slow breath in.
And release.
And now we can play with these three levels of awareness.
Starting in our own bodies.
Feeling the breath inflating our bodies.
And washing out like a gentle wave.
And then zooming out to feel ourselves as part of this vast network of connection between all beings on the earth.
All breathing together.
And then finally zooming further out to that awareness of the vastness of time and the journey that these molecules we're inhaling have taken to visit with us.
And as we release them,
The awareness of how far they have yet to go.
And finally I'll invite you to bring your awareness back to this moment.
A gentle inhale as you breathe in.
This is me inhaling in this moment.
And the awareness as you exhale.
This is me breathing out in this moment.
Let's take one last nice slow breath together,
Breathing in.
And releasing.
My hope is that in moments of stress or constriction or feeling alone,
That simply playing with these levels of awareness can help you and all of us remember that we are always part of a network of connection.
And that no matter how hard,
How stressful this particular moment may be,
It is one small part of a much larger story that we are all co-creating together.
Thank you so much for exploring the breath with me and I hope to see you again soon.
