I've got a great breathwork practice for you here.
It's perfect for getting you into a restful state and particularly good for insomnia and tinnitus.
It's actually part of my course sleep tight with tinnitus which as the name suggests is pretty good if you have tinnitus.
Go check it out if you want.
Now onto your meditation.
To start with I want you to get yourself into a comfortable laying down position.
Now for this to work you really need to be on your back so get whatever furniture you need,
Any pillows that you need and prop yourself up or lay yourself down,
Whatever works but make sure you are lying flat and you feel comfortable and you feel relaxed.
I personally like two pillows under my knees,
That's just me.
As you are just doing that if you haven't already,
I want to explain what we're going to do.
Once you're in this lovely laying down position I want you to bring both hands on top of one another onto your belly,
Ideally just above the belly button.
Begin to notice how your hands are being pushed and directed by your belly.
Just becoming aware of the movement of your belly as it elevates up and then descends back down.
Each breath allowing the hands to rise and each time you exhale letting the hands descend.
Continuing to set this lovely rhythm using your breath and just stay aware of the movement of your hands on your belly.
Continue to do this just as I explain the rest of the practice.
Next we're going to use what is called the physiological sigh in neuroscience.
It's a deep inhale through the nose followed by another sip of air through the nostrils and then a relaxing exhale through the mouth with a sigh.
It'll sound like this.
Let's try it together now.
Inhale through the nose,
Nice big and deep.
Hold for a moment.
Another sip of air and exhale and sigh out.
Nicely done.
Another one like that.
Inhale through the nose,
Hold.
Another sip of air.
Inhale through the mouth,
Sigh it out,
Make it audible.
Last time.
Inhale through the nose.
Another sip of air.
Exhale out through your mouth,
Loudest sigh yet.
All right,
Great.
Back to normal breathing now.
Start back with the movement in your belly and those hands on your belly.
The breath coming gently in and gently out.
Just like a tide coming in and going out.
Imagine now that your hands are a boat and your belly is the sea.
You can imagine that you're asleep on that boat on a hammock and the gentle flow and movement of the ocean is rocking you to sleep.
As such,
Make sure each breath is smooth,
Slow and relaxed.
Okay,
Nice.
Now let's give that ocean a soundtrack using your breath.
So just see if you can hear your own breath now.
Noticing the distinct difference in sound between the inhale and the exhale.
If you'd like to,
Or you need to,
Make each one of those breaths more audible.
You can make that exhale almost like a very gentle snoring sound,
Like a sigh on the exhale.
Whatever the sound is you're making,
Just tap into the sound of that breath.
Now begin to get a bit curious about that sound.
Where do you notice it in your ear?
Can you pinpoint its locality?
Can you notice the vibrations that come along with the sound?
Do you hear the sound in your brain or in your eardrum or maybe both?
Just tapping into the sound of your breath.
Now begin to imagine that that ocean breath of yours is a breeze blowing onto you in your hammock as you sleep on the boat of your hands,
On the ocean of your belly.
See if you can feel the air that you generate from your nose or your mouth.
See if you can feel it come past your hands with each breath.
See if you can feel it come past your top lip on the way in and on the way out.
Then just become aware of the air anywhere on your body.
Notice how it interacts with your skin.
Is it warm,
Is it cool,
Is it static or is it moving?
Now open up your awareness to the whole experience.
Your hands and how they feel as a weight on your belly.
How your hands feel being rocked up and down with each inhale and exhale.
How the sounds of your breathing feel entering your ears.
How any part of your skin feels interacting with the air around you.
And if no sensations come to mind,
Then just go back to imagine yourself on that boat being rocked up and down side to side with a gentle breeze coming past you.
Notice how relaxed your body is in this moment and allow yourself to be drifted off into sleep,
Allowing your awareness to just float and be suspended in the air with no fixed location or time.
