Sit,Walk,Work (SW^2)
The Ease Within: A Breathwork Journey
ladies and gentlemen may I have your attention please welcome to the sit walk work podcast a show about paying attention my name is Dominic and I'm your host and today is a guided meditation and what you can expect is that the practice will open up with a brief recap followed by the actual practice itself if you find today's episode valuable please share with your friends and family and feel free to leave a review wherever you listen the podcast the show will begin after the following times these practices the cool thing about breath work and this kind of contemplation meditation is these can be done anytime you feel yourself needing a moment right this whether that's at work or that's at dinner tomorrow like if you need you feel the tension if you're able to notice it then you have a tool that you can use to help dissolve it a little bit or to give you just a couple moments of equal and balanced breath they say if you're an argument or some additional frustration rings which will help you to find a bit of calmness stillness a way to ground and center when everything around you is very active and in some cases even stressful so first thing I'll ask you to do is let your hands rest somewhere comfortably like either in your lap just want them in a place where they're not gonna move and bother you for the next 30-ish minutes that will be going through the practice your spine is nice and tall take a nice breath in make sure you have the ability to breathe since we're gonna be doing some breath exercises you want to be able to take a full breath in and breath out and then and like for you to set your vision so there's a couple ways you can think about this if it feels safe and comfortable you can close the eyes if you don't feel comfortable closing your eyes just kind of plant your vision a couple inches out in front of you on a spot that is stable and so that the vision remains kind of focused and centered we are at the time of year in which stress finds its way in for a lot of different reasons right there's a lot of various personalities that we're encountering in our lives personally and even professionally tensions are high there's just a lot of activity this time of year with the holidays and with our work schedules and whatnot and so what I'd like to formulate today's practice around is some offerings which will help you to find a bit of calm stillness a way to ground and center when everything around you is very active and in some cases even stressful so the first part of our journey will open us up into the breath and so I ask you to bring your attention on to your breath and just notice the way that you're breathing just the natural in and outflow of the breath and even in the observation of your breathing you'll start to notice subtle little changes and as you begin to slow down and bury your attention on any objects you focus on in practice today you may encounter mental distractions worry or discomfort or sleepiness or drowsiness these are common things that come up on the journey of meditation and so I asked that when these things kind of arise you meet them with a bit of openness and curiosity rather than a gripping need to change them and you're gonna do a lot of change today for this moment I ask you just to be present with whatever comes up so let's take a minute just kind of rest our attention from just the way the body naturally breathes itself you you you you you you you you you you [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] And the idea of breath work is about us taking this very unconscious activity of breathing that you've been observing. And allowing our intention our consciousness to kind of focus on breathing in a particular way. So the first breath practice we're going to open up with this morning is going to be something called coherence breathing or balanced breathing. And the breath work is in the name and the goal here is to breathe in and breathe out for an equal amount. I have set a five count rhythm for the end and the exhale. And so as you practice it or invite it in to try, if it doesn't sit naturally with you, I invite you to pick a number that you feel like you can breathe in and breathe out and an equal pace without straining or fighting or pushing. And so I'll start the count here for a couple rounds and then I'll leave you with a bit of silence and a bit of focus to work the bat pattern and breathing. So we'll start inhaling for five, for four, for three, for two, for one. And then exhale, five, four, three, two, one. Inhale, four, three, two, one. Exhale, four, three, two, one. Letting the count repeat, also allowing the breath to flow. There are natural pauses in your breath and we'll play with that a little bit later, but for now, let it be a constant stream of in and out breath. Stick through the nose or to the mouth. Inhale, four, three, two, one. Inhale, four, three, two, one. Inhale, four, three, two, one. Inhale, four, three, two, one. Inhale, four, three, two, one. Inhale, four, three, two, one. Inhale, four, three, two, one. Inhale, four, three, two, one. And if you find that you got distracted, lost count, anything along those lines. This is where the practice and the theory kind of meet. Breath work and meditation introduces this idea of beginning again, a willingness to start over, a willingness to let go of things when they don't go exactly quite right. That's your count. If needed, breathe in, four, three, two, one. Exhale, four, three, two, one. Inhale, five, four, three, two. One. Exhale, five, four, three, two, one. Exhale, five, four, three, two, one. Exhale, five, four, three, two, one. Exhale, five, four, three, two, one. Exhale, five, four, three, two, one. The practice of working your breath or sitting in meditation. It also is a practice of inviting in a sense of friendliness towards yourself, towards how you interact with yourself. When you complete the next cycle of breath, release the counting. Let your focus or your attention shift. And I want you to start to feel your body and a couple of things you can notice. Notice the weight of your body and the seat that you're sitting in. The connection of your hands to your body or to the surface supporting them. To the sheer density of yourself, the weight of your bones and your muscles and your tissues. You're serving this sense of groundedness, your physical being. The place from which action kind of spurs from. Contrast that with the movement of breath, with its oscillation. The way you interact with yourself is that you can feel your body and your body. The way you interact with yourself is that you can feel your body and your body. You can feel your body and your body and your body. You can feel your body and your body and your body and your body. And in the way that you're feeling the breath oscillate, the rising and falling of it. As we begin our next breath work sequence, we'll look to combine the breath work with a bit of visualization and the inner weave that through the use of the body. That's your attention, drop down to the base of your spine, almost into the center of your pelvis. As you take your next breath in, I want you to imagine that that breath moves up the front of your body, almost like fire rising up from the ground and extending towards the sky. And as that breath moves up the front of the body, it'll move all the way to the crown of the head. And then as you breathe out, you imagine that the breath is descending down your back, like water dropping back down. So let's inhale up the front of the body and exhale down the back of the body. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] Healing and sensing the natural rhythm that you're kind of slipping into. [BLANK_AUDIO] And I will offer you the opportunity to invite the natural pause of your breath in this cycle of breathing up the front of the body and down the back. There's two points in which you could pause your breath, either at the top or at the bottom. And the goal here isn't to create distress in pausing, but it's just to find a bit of stillness that occurs there. So it's pausing long enough to fill that stillness and then letting the breath continue. So as you work your way through the visualization and the breath pattern, the next time you're at the top of the breath at the bottom. Pause and sit in that space of stillness. [BLANK_AUDIO] Or slipping back into your rhythm. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] When your next cycle of breathing continued, softly release the attention from the breath or from the visualization. And then allow your attention to drop into the space of your belly. And you may notice that for some of us, this is kind of the source for where we feel our breath in our bodies. This last technique of meditation is called soft belly meditation. And the goal here is to take what you've done thus far in practice and use it as a way to soften tension in your body, starting with the space in your belly. And so notice if there's any tension present here. And if you find tension present here, then just breathe into that tension. And it's as if with each exhale, you make space to release some of that tension. [BLANK_AUDIO] Now here's the thing tension just doesn't exist in one place. So if you notice that it's somewhere else in your body, place your attention there and breathe into it. [BLANK_AUDIO] In the same way that our practice asks us to begin again, this process is repeated. We're not trying to rid ourselves of anything as much as we are trying to allow things to have some space to release. So you may have to breathe into the tension over and over again. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] When done from a place of friendliness, this act of breathing into our attention and letting it go becomes a form of hearing, attending to ourselves. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] You can begin to soften your attention, letting the soft belly breathing exercise go. And as you let it go, take a moment and observe just how you feel. [BLANK_AUDIO] This attitude of friendliness that I asked you to meet yourself with in practice. Allow that to expand. Expand to gratitude for taking this time for yourself. Putting yourself in position to not only help you, but to help others from a more heart-centered place, from a more grounded place. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] And the merit of this practice today, not only serve you, but look to serve all beings you come in contact with. May it radiate within you and beyond you. When you're ready, you can slowly open the eyes, start to bring the world back in. Thank you for listening to today's episode. I invite you to check out my sub-stack where we are building a community of like-minded individuals to discuss all topics related to the idea of paying attention. To see you there, but until then, with meta may you be well. [BLANK_AUDIO]