return to safety - calming breathwork & medicine yoga

Welcome to this ultimate nervous system reset, a pause in your day to breathe, move and regulate. If your body has been holding on to tension or showing signs of unprocessed emotions or stress, this is your space to release and return to a sense of inner safety. Life isn't about never getting activated, it's about having a nervous system that is flexible enough to return to balance after moments of stress, instead of getting stuck in fight, flight or freeze. A flexible regulated nervous system empowers you to face challenges, make a line decisions, and navigate tough conversations with clarity, energy, and an open heart. But sometimes it's not enough to tell yourself to calm down and switch into a rest and digestate. It's much more powerful to show your body the way there, and that's exactly what this session is for. We'll begin seated, either cross-legged on the floor or on a chair if that's more comfortable for you. I will guide you through calming breathwork, then into grounding medicine yoga for mind-body connection, and we'll end with a short chavasana to integrate everything. Let's start with some physiological size. You will do a double inhale through your nose, one deep breath filling your belly in chest with air, and when you reach the top of your breath, you add a tiny extra inhale, like this. Flully through your mouth with a long sigh. Let's do it together. Inhale fully, filling your belly with air. Sip in an extra little bit of air, and then exhale long and slow through your mouth. And again, in a fully filling your belly and chest with air. Repeat at your own pace. Just five minutes daily of this physiological sigh has been shown your research to reduce anxiety and improve mood even more effectively than meditation, likely due to the long extended exhale, which helps to shift the body into a parasympathetic rest and digest state. So keep going, knowing that you're doing wonders for your nervous system right now. Feel how your nervous system shifts more and more into peaceful grounding presence. There's nowhere else you need to be right now than right here. Keep going. In our relax, breathe normally. We'll now move into alternate nostril breathing, another nervous system regulating breathing technique with wonderful, science-backed health benefits. Sit in a relaxed, comfortable position with your spine upright and your shoulders soft. You can keep your eyes open for now to watch me, and once you've got the hang of the movement, feel free to close them. Lift your right hand to your face, place your right thumb gently over your right nostril and let your ring and middle fingers rest lightly on your forehead or between your eyebrows, and hover your little finger near your left nostril. Let's begin. Inhale slowly and deeply through your left nostril. At the top of your breath gently close your left nostril with your little finger and release your thumb from your right nostril and exhale slowly through the right nostril. In our reverse, inhale deeply through the right nostril at the top, close the right nostril with your thumb. Release your little finger from your left nostril and exhale slowly through this nostril. That's one full round. Continue at your own pace or following my breath. Inhale left, exhale right, inhale right, exhale left, continue at your own pace. Allow your breaths to be smooth, steady and even. If you haven't done so already, close your eyes gently to soften into your body and presence. With each cycle, feel your body softening and your mind becoming more and more still. Now gently release your hand into your lap and return to a natural breath through both nostrils. Take a moment to notice how you feel after these two breathing exercises. What three words would you use to describe the sensations in your body right now? Let's now move into some medicine yoga and somatic movements, which will effectively shift you into even deeper rest and digestive state. We will begin with Sufi circles where you sit cross-legged on the floor or on a chair without crossing your legs. Rest your hands on your knees and move your pelvic floor and belly in a gentle clockwise circle. Keep your head as centered and still as possible, aligned with the body center as if your body is moving around and around a seated disc. Inhale as your chest lifts up towards the front of the room in the sky and exhale as your back arches to the back of the room. And now switch direction and continue. Sufi circles has wonderful health benefits. It increases blood flow in the back muscles and hip flexes, releasing tension in these areas. It stimulates your adrenal glands and is also wonderful after or right before meals as it activates circulation in the intestines, aiding indigestion. And now start to make the circles smaller and smaller, returning eventually to the center with your back straight and keeping your eyes closed. Breathe normally and allow the effects of the exercise to integrate into your nervous system. We will now move into a seated cat and cow. Sit in an easy meditation pose and place both hands on the front ankle with your hands close together on the same ankle. Inhale as you roll forward over the pelvic floor, flexing the spine and lifting the chest towards the ceiling. And then exhale as you round the back and flex it backwards. Your head stays completely stretched throughout the entire exercise. So continue in the soft rhythmic rocking motion. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. If your mind starts to wonder rich. Turn to focusing on your breath. Exhale as you flex backwards and inhale as you rock forwards. Keep your head straight as if you're balancing a glass of water on top of it. This exercise softens and stretches the respiratory muscles, increases blood flow in the back muscles and enhances spinal flexibility, which is also a long which you have your central nervous system. It also stimulates lymphatic flow and seroprospinal fluid movement along the spine. And finally, it massages and loosens the pelvic floor, groin and hips. So it has many wonderful health effects. And now just sit still in your meditation position and let the exercise integrate into your body. We will now move on to the butterfly position. Release your cross-legged position and put your feet together so the bottom of your feet are touching with your heels as close as possible to your body. If you're seated on a chair, do the same, but with your feet on the ground and your knees out to the sides. Keep your back straight and rock your knees quickly up and down like the wings of a butterfly. Breathe long, deep breaths. The butterfly pose increases blood circulation in the lower abdomen areas and releases tension in the groin and pelvis. As rich in sympathetic nerve fibers, they are very prone to tension following chronic stress or emotional holding. And now begin to slow down the movement, eventually sitting completely still. Take a deep breath and bring your legs back into a cross-legged position to integrate the movement for a moment. And finally, let's do a somatic exercise pushing a large boulder over the edge. Bring your arms out in front of you with your elbows bent as if you're resting your hands on a large boulder in front of you that you need to push over a cliff. Inhale and start tensing your upper body, preparing for the effort. And now exhale and slowly begin to straighten your arms out in front of you as if you're pushing the imaginary boulder over the edge of the cliff. Keep tensing every muscle to push this heavy boulder. And your arms are straight out in front of you, keep tensing them for another few seconds to ensure that the boulder is really tipped over the edge and relax your arms into a lap. Inhale deeply, then let out any sounds of relief, aside breathing, how are you? Let's repeat this whole sequence twice more, close your eyes this time to fully immerse in the somatic work. On your next inhale, bring your arms out in front of you. Start tensing your upper body, preparing for the effort. Exhale and slowly straighten your arms out in front of you as if you're pushing the imaginary boulder over the edge of the cliff. Keep tensing, keep pushing, pushing, pushing and hold. And release, relax your arms, allowing them to rest in your lap. Inhale deeply and relax. Let's do it a final time on your next inhale, bring your arms out in front of you bending your elbows and start tensing your upper body. On the exhale, slowly straighten your arms out in front of you as if you're pushing the boulder and keep tensing and pushing, pushing, pushing and hold. And release, relax your arms, inhale deeply, relax. And invite any unes, spontaneous deep breath or sigh. Bring your breath back into a normal rhythm. I now invite you to gently lie down in Javasana. Arms by your sides, palms facing up and your feet relaxed. Feel your body fully supported as if you're being cradled by mother earth. Let your breath find its own rhythm. Let your body integrate everything it has just released, reset and reclaimed. You have shifted your state, you have returned to safety, you are in control. This sense of safety has always been there. You just needed to remove the layers of conditioning that told you otherwise. You've just reset your nervous system not by numbing out but by tuning in. When life gets loud or stress takes over, come back to this practice. Back to your body, back to your breath, back to your inner wisdom. You are not stuck, you always have the power to return to your inner wisdom. Have a wonderful rest of your day and see you back here soon.