Awareness and Breath

Transcript

this practice begins with a short check-in rather than being a relaxation exercise the purpose of this is to bring your focus fully into the present moment and to become aware of your body mind thoughts feelings and emotions without trying to change anything begin sitting comfortably in the chair with your back straight and supported this posture is called seated Mountain you can also practice this lying down on your back or in bed if you're in a chair place your feet flat on the floor hip distance apart and parallel rest your hands softly on your legs with the palms facing down elongate the back of your neck and slowly soften the muscles in your face close your eyes gently and begin to turn your focus inwards take a moment now to set some time aside for yourself this short check-in begins at the level of the body bring your awareness to the top of your head and slowly begin checking in with your head face neck and throat notice the feeling of your head on the top of the spine continue to move your awareness down the back of your body notice how your back feels against the support of the chair or the floor or bed now move your attention down the front of your body the chest area ribs and abdomen now fill your arms all the way down to your hands notice how your hands feel against your legs bring your awareness to your hips and pelvis feel the buttocks against the chair now become aware of your legs notice how they feel slowly move your awareness down your legs to your feet and feel them in contact with the ground now take a few moments to feel your body as a whole from head to toe notice any sensations warmth coolness tingling dullness tension pain ease whatever you notice just let it be now move from the physical level to the emotional level bring awareness to your feelings and emotions take a moment to notice anything arising in this moment be fully present with your feelings give them space allow yourself to feel whatever you're feeling with full acceptance and compassion and now move from the emotional level to the level of the mind bring awareness to your thoughts notice how your mind is today calm busy be aware of any recurrent thoughts any patterns of thinking notice your thoughts without labeling or judging them now move from the thinking level to the energy level notice how your energy level is right now it may range from feeling profoundly fatigued to highly excitable or somewhere between the two simply notice and now move to the level of the breath observe your breath as it is without trying to change it experience your breathing in an open and accepting way notice the unique rhythm of your breath notice how your breath moves through your body be aware of places in your body that your breath moves freely notice areas that may feel tense or restricted now pay attention to your inhalations notice how your breath enters your body then pay attention to your exhalation and notice how your breath flows out of your body feel the temperature of the air as it touches your nostrils notice what happens when you pay attention to your breath now bring your awareness back to the room and back to your body take a moment to notice how you're feeling this short check-in exercise helps to cultivate acceptance and can be a way to be more present with whatever is happening in the moment with a quality of kindness and non judgement breathing exercises may be the most important tool in a yoga practice for reducing stress and tension in yoga smooth slow steady diaphragmatic breathing can deeply relax the nervous system this calms your mind and leads to an increased sense of health and well-being both physically and emotionally learning to breathe well can also help boost energy levels as up to 70% more oxygen can be brought into your body to practice diaphragmatic breathing which in yoga is also called abdominal breathing sit up comfortably rest against the back of the chair and keep your spine relatively straight if it is comfortable for you close your eyes and begin to focus on your breath begin by bringing your hands to your abdomen and start to drop your awareness deep down into the abdominal area as you breathe in fill your abdomen slightly relax into your hands and as you breathe out pull the abdomen back towards your spine inhale and feel your abdomen relaxed into your hands and then exhale and draw your abdomen back towards your spine continue to feel the movement of your breath in your abdomen let each exhalation extend evenly and steadily as you contract your abdominal muscles inward towards your spine over time you may find that the exhalations naturally begin to extend continue to breathe in this way the hands can remain on the abdomen or you can release them back to your legs drawing the breath down in the abdomen to engage the abdominal muscles helps to control the proper movement of the diaphragm when the diaphragm moves correctly the lungs work more efficiently and effectively in bringing in nutrients and eliminating waste when practiced in a smooth and relaxed way this breath can be deeply calming and grounding now bring your breath back to its natural state and notice how you feel after just a few slow deep breath like this most people notice they feel calmer and more relaxed this breathing exercise can be helpful at times when you're feeling anxious overwhelmed or fatigued