Breathwork With Breath Holds For Relaxation

This modern practice combines three-part breathing (Deergha Swasam Pranayama) with a Conscious Connected Breath format, designed to help you pause and reset. The session moves through two rounds of active breathing alternating with two rounds of breath holds.

It's a grounding daily practice and can be done at any time of day.

Transcript

Welcome to this short conscious connected breath work practice to help you pause and reset. During this practice, We're going to inhale twice, First into the belly, Then into the chest, And then exhale. And as soon as we're done exhaling fully, We continue with the next breath without any pause. I'd like to encourage you to breathe through the nose and exhale through the mouth. Hopefully you've already found a spot where you can sit or lie down comfortably. And I invite you to close your eyes. Make sure your back is straight shoulders are relaxed and bring your attention to your breath. Notice the pace. And let's take a couple deep breaths together to get ready. One, Two, Three, Deep inhale. And exhale. And again deep inhale. And exhale. One last time, Deep inhale. And exhale. Now we're going to move into conscious connected breathing in 1, 2, 3. Breathe into the belly, Into the chest. Let it go. Belly. Just let it go. Belly. Just let it go. Belly. Just let it go. Sally, Just let it go. Belly. Just let it go. Belly, Chest, Let it go. Belly. Just let it go. Belly, Chest, Let it go. One last round together, Belly, Chest, Let it go. Now try to find your own pace. You can go faster if you want to, Or slower if that feels better. Try to be more active on the inhales and relaxed on the exhales. Beautiful. If your mind wanders, Just take notice and bring your attention back to the breath. Feel the breath moving through your body. Stay with the breath, Stay with the rhythm. And we're gonna go into our first breath hold in 5 4 3 2 1 take a deep inhale and hold for 10 5 4 3 2 1 exhale and hold for 10. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. And again, Deep inhale. And hold. 5 4 3 2 1 exhale and hold. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. One last time, Deep inhale. And hold. 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Exhale and hold. 5 4 3 2 1 Take a breath to reset. Now we're going to continue with the conscious, Connected breathing in 1, 2, 3. Breathe into the belly, Into the chest. Let it go. Belly. Just let it go. Belly. Just let it go. Belly. Just let it go. Belly, Chest, Let it go. Belly. Just let it go. Belly, Chest, Let it go. One last round together. Belly, Chest, And let it go. See if you can pick up the pace just a little more in this round. Beautiful. Allow the breath to take you into a meditative state. Keep the breath moving. Feel your body expand with the breath. Keep your focus on the breath. Stay with the rhythm. Beautiful. Stay with it, Stay with it just a little longer. Now we're going to go into a final breath hold in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Take a deep inhale. And hold. Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Exhale. And hold. Five, Four, Three, Two, One. Take another deep inhale. And hold. Feel the space you've created in your body. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 exhale and hold. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. One last round. Deep inhale. And you're going to hold this breath for as long as you can. Knowing that you have enough. Knowing that you can hold it for longer than you think. And if you haven't yet, You can slowly release the breath. Allow your breath to return to its normal pace. Feel the space you've created in your body. And I hope you have a lovely rest of the day, Evening or night.