Establish A Foundation Of Calm And Safety–Lesson 1

Midlife brings unique challenges and opportunities for self-discovery. As a yoga therapist, I’ve designed this simple breathwork and body awareness practice to help Generation X women navigate midlife, especially during perimenopause and menopause. With this practice, you’ll learn to find calm, ease physical discomfort, and embrace mindfulness.

Transcript

Hello hello and welcome this is zen x yoga my name is vivian wolf i'm a yoga therapist and this channel is my way of sharing yoga therapy with uh the people of generation x who might be needing a little support as they move through midlife especially through the of menopause perimenopause menopause postmenopause and for the year of 2025 i've decided to do a year-long series of lessons little short tips hacks practices rituals whatever you want to call them that will help you manage your challenges in midlife and tap a little deeper into the things that we love so much about our life today we're going to work a little bit on breath work and body awareness so that we have pain relief and more physical comfort so you can do this practice seated upright it's what i'm gonna do today you can also do this practice laying down totally up to you you find a place where you feel comfortable and supported that's kind of the idea behind it so let's go ahead and get into that space right now and if you need to you can do some shoulder rolls you can do some neck movement here just some things to kind of free up the joints a little bit get a little space in the body so that you can find your way into a little better a little deeper comfort once you arrive here soften the gaze close your eyes and just tune in for a moment and just observe what's present right now in the body notice your breath maybe set an intention for this practice and if you are watching this the beginning of the year then maybe you set your intention for the year right here right now simple positive doesn't have to be complicated we'll start very gently with a body scan so just right now notice the soles of your feet just observing whatever is present there now and then moving into the tops of the feet the ankles simply observing the shins and the calves notice your knees again just observing what's present no need to fix or change anything observe the thighs the upper legs notice your hips and your glutes notice the sacrum and the pelvis the front and the back pelvic organs observe the spine the low back middle back upper back and the abdomen abdominal organs notice the chest the ribcage the heart the lungs observe your shoulders and your shoulder blades just noticing what's there no need to change anything observe your upper arms elbows your forearms the wrists the back of the hands the palms and all of your fingers your forearms letting your awareness travel back up the arms start to notice the throat the back of the neck notice the jaw the mouth the nose and eyes observe your ears your ears your nose your throat eyebrows forehead observe the back of your skull and the top of your head just noticing again anything that might be present in your body right now and then observe your breath notice if your breath feels shallow or deep fast or slow even or uneven and if it feels uneven at this time see if you can begin to even the breath out maybe your breath is three seconds on the inhale three seconds on the exhale or four seconds or whatever seeing if you can make your inhale and exhale the same length once they are the same length repeat your rhythm of breath maybe two or three more times inhaling and exhaling the same length of time some in a breath even breathing and then slowly start to lengthen the exhale one measure at a time one step at a time so if you have a three count inhale three count exhale see if you can do three count inhale four count exhale and repeat that a couple of times and then add another step to your exhale until you reach an exhale that is twice as long as your inhale so if you inhale for three exhale for six if you inhale for four exhale for eight and once you arrive at this one to two ratio your exhale is twice as long as your inhale a long enough breath repeat this three or four times just observing what it feels like to have a longer exhale and then after you have completed this practice let it go just let the body take over the effort of breathing what does it feel like to observe the body breathing itself we'll finish this practice by sending a nice warm comforting light through the body as you breathe maybe this light has a color to it can be golden yellow orange blue whatever feels good to you just allow it to pass through the body warming soothing and relaxing finding any remaining areas of tension or discomfort this light soothes away any remaining effort and letting that go observe what is present now in the body in the breath notice how you feel when you feel ready if you have laid down let's all find our way into a seated position that feels comfortable bringing the hands together over the heart anjali mudra when you've arrived here we'll finish this practice by taking a nice long and deep breath and together exhale let it go thank you so much for sharing this practice with me today our first lesson in these transformative practices i appreciate you being here thank you so much for taking this time from my heart to yours peace