This post was created by Katie Mae Hogg
Using your breath to change your life.
Find a comfortable quiet place to tap into your breath with a journal to answer and feel into each question asked. Feel free to write down any sensations, feelings, or memories throughout or after the practice.
Letting the breath breathe you vs. breathing the breath.
Lets explore the difference…
Practice this now by simply just coming into awareness of the natural rhythm of your breathing pattern.
Without trying to control, notice how the breath most of the time is breathing you, without you needing to step in to tell it to be there, it is always there and always flowing in every waking and sleeping moment of your life.
How does it feel to bring your attention into your breath without controlling it?
Is it hard to just notice it without wanting to change it?
Notice where your breath naturally wants to go.
How does your natural breath (without control) feel?
Does your chest, stomach, or throat expand with the breath in or collapse with the breath out?
How far down into your body do you feel like your breath naturally goes?
Is your whole body involved in your breathing or just part? What part?
Now, take a moment and start to consciously bring the breath into control by just taking a longer breath than normal, slowly elongating the breath in and out.
Being very gentle with yourself and not forcing anything too much, it may take a few rounds to really get the breath to lengthen. Stick with it.
Start to send the breath down into the chest, the stomach and then visualizing it going down all the way to your feet with each inhale, and imagine the body being squeezed of the breath with each exhale.
Do you find any restrictions or discomforts in sending the breath further down into your body?
Is extending the length of the inhale/ exhale uncomfortable in any way?
Which feels better, the inhale or the exhale?
When you start visualizing the breath going into and out of the whole body, does your body start to participate more in the breath?
Do this for a few minutes just noticing the sensations, thoughts, and feelings that arise when bringing your consciousness to the breath.
Notice how your awareness changes and how some feelings begin to arise with these two different practices of the breath.
How did it feel to then elongate the breath and start to become more intentional with your breathing pattern?
Did any feelings come up, such as anxiousness, relief, or calm?
Often times when we start to bridge the mind-body gap, lots of feelings can come up. Maybe we notice the heart start to pound faster, the mind thinks something is wrong or the breath doesn’t feel as nourishing because we are more tuned into the blocks that we may have around it. This is all part of the practice, don’t get discouraged. When we tap the mind into a system that runs most of the time without our awareness, anxieties can arise. This is natural, lean in & discuss. I promise you you’re never alone, and over time practicing becomes easier.
Inner Discussion
We invite you to express written words from your inner voice:
- Write down a few descriptive words that immediately come to mind: what thoughts, sensations, stories, memories, discomforts, etc. came up for you during your breath work?
Breathing in, I calm my body. Breathing out, I smile. Dwelling in this present moment, I know this is a wonderful moment.
Thich Nhat Hahn