Take a few minutes today to BREATHE and be a tree and see what you notice. It’s simple to get our breath ON yet not easy to remember turn OFF autopilot and turn ON conscious breathing. Here is a short Body Current visualization breathing practice you can try today to stimulate your vagus nerve and empower your day, breath by breath.
SIMPLE & SHORT PRACTICE:
Take 1-3 minutes to get your breath ON.
1) Begin by noticing the current of your breath rising and falling. What is it’s texture? Is it fast or slow, smooth or jagged?
2) Exhale completely out rounded lips for a count of 6-8
3) Inhale slow and smooth through your nose for 6-8 counts. Repeat this breathing pattern.
4) Imagine your lungs as the trees of your body. With each inhale become aware of your body expanding like limbs on a tree as you consciously receive your breath. With each exhale, become aware of your stable and strong trunk as you gently and completely release the breath out of your body. Repeat for several rounds of breath.
5) Become aware of the current of sensations arising through your body and any thought streams flowing through your head. Accept, without judgement or attachment, whatever is arising, as the observer of the moment. Direct your attention and intention to the currents of awareness moving through you. Allow for an experience of self-realization.
6) Repeat to yourself, “All is well in this moment.”, as you continue this conscious breathing pattern and engage with the current of open awareness.
7) When you feel complete, notice the current and cadence of your natural breath arising through the moment. What do you notice about your breath, your body and your brain? Name 3 adjectives to describe how you are feeling after consciously breathing.
Repeat as often as you wish.
Read more about building resilience and restoring wellbeing in your nervous system in our blog Build Resilience and Restore Wellbeing Breath by Breath.
Enjoy an inspiring day!
Shanti
Shanti Medina, CYT CPT is the founder of Energize training systems and Body Current® therapeutics. She enjoys supporting elite athletes and everyday warriors to live a life of well-being, optimized performance and wild inspiration through simple practices of embodied self-realization. Shanti teaches her Body Current® curriculum as a bridge between modern-day neuroscience and ancient yoga therapy and has enjoyed being part of a variety of 500HR Yoga Teacher Trainings and as faculty at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. She is passionate about empowering her clients and students to use their breath, brain and body to reveal, energize and experience their abiding true nature and innate healing wisdom through mind entrainment body-centered practices stimulating and regulating the currents of the vagus nerve.
Shanti has been gathering women together in sacred circles of celebration for over 15 years. Her Stirring the Shakti women’s retreats and Divine Feminine events inspire women to join together in sisterhood, transform the mundane into magic and elevate the collective vibration while celebrating the simply sacred and unleashing our wild wisdom. She and her husband Scott recently released their double-CD/download SoMAntra with over 150 minutes of ecstatic chants, sacred soundscapes and embodied meditations to ignite the innate wisdom and self-direct the nervous system.
You can find out more about Shanti, learn about upcoming retreats around the globe and schedule a private session in person or via Zoom at www.EnergizeShanti.com