Ah,
Night time.
Time to relax and sleep.
Well,
Not always.
Sometimes it just isn't that easy.
Sometimes we have to help our bodies out a bit.
So tonight we're going to breathe our way to slumber with a buffet of breath work,
All proven to get you relaxed and stimulate that all-important rest and digest nervous system.
Let's get going.
If you're not already,
Get yourself into a laying down position.
Make sure you're comfortable.
Do whatever you need to do to make that happen.
Pillows under the arms,
Under the knees,
Whatever it is.
Once you have your ideal position and you feel like you're in a good place,
Close your eyes and begin to breathe in and out slowly through the nostrils.
A little to no effort here,
Right?
Just like a gentle summer breeze blowing through the trees without any rush.
Just letting that breath pattern fall into a natural cadence.
And as you find that perfect rhythm for you tonight,
Just have a quick scan of the body.
Noticing how it feels in this moment.
No stories of how it got to feel this way,
Just how it feels right now.
Just being aware if there's any tension residing in the body.
And noting that the tension can sometimes be very subtle.
Freaky tension.
We don't even know it's tense until we relax it.
Good stuff.
So each inhale,
I want you to scan the body.
Noticing how it feels.
And each exhale,
I want you just to relax all of it.
Inhale comes awareness.
Exhale,
Relaxation.
So you should have a good complete view of the body by now.
Take one last inhale,
Make it the longest one you've done so far.
Really get this complete picture of the body.
Hold for a moment.
And then as you exhale,
Let the body get as heavy as it's been all day.
Let it sink into that bed beneath you.
Good.
Normal breathing now.
Next up,
We're going to do a double inhale and then an exhale.
It'll be this kind of pace.
In,
In,
Out.
So let's do that together now.
Breathe in deep.
Hold for a second.
Another breath in.
And exhale out.
Very nice.
Once again,
Inhale through the nostrils.
Big,
Deep inhale.
Pause for a moment.
Another bit of inhale.
And exhale through the mouth.
Last one.
Biggest one yet.
Inhale through the nostrils.
Deep.
Little sip of air more.
And exhale through the mouth.
Relax the body.
Back to normal breathing.
Now you are primed for the main event.
You're relaxed,
You're heavy,
You're breathing well,
You're feeling good.
Next up,
We're going to breathe in for four.
Hold for seven.
And then exhale for eight.
If you need to shorten any of these numbers or speed up the count,
That's okay.
We're only going to do a couple together.
The rest is at your own pace.
It's not so important,
The numbers,
But rather the ratio.
You'll notice you're exhaling twice as long as you're inhaling.
That's kind of the important thing here.
So let's try a couple together.
Wherever you are in your breath cycle,
Exhale out now.
And let's breathe in together.
Inhale.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Hold.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Exhale.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Eight.
Inhale.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Hold.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Exhale.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
Inhale.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Hold.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Exhale.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
On your own now,
Finding that pace that works for you.
Allowing yourself to change the rhythm,
But keeping that same ratio.
Find the meditative nature in the numbers,
In the counting.
And now that you have the hang of that,
You can come back to scanning the body on that inhale,
Observing how the body feels on the hold,
And then letting your body totally relax on the exhales.
Inhale,
Scan.
Hold,
Observe.
Exhale,
Relax.
Inhale,
Scan.
Hold,
Observe.
Exhale,
Relax.
Each round,
Noticing how you're more in touch with your body.
Each round,
Allowing yourself to get deeper and deeper into sleep,
And deeper and deeper into relaxation.
Inhale,
Scan.
Hold,
Observe.
Exhale,
Relax.
If you begin to lose count,
Don't worry,
Just start again.
It's all good.
Remind yourself that you are safe,
You are warm,
And you're falling asleep.
You are safe,
You are warm,
And you are falling asleep.
You can find yourself back to normal breathing now,
But still retaining that scan,
That observation,
And that relaxation.
Knowing that your body is perfectly primed for sleep,
And all that's left to do is let it take hold.
