(upbeat music)

- Alrighty,
welcome my darling friends.

Thank you so much for joining
me for a little breathwork

and for joining sweet Benji,

who's being
extra darling today,

as we can see.

Come on down to the
ground if you haven't already.

Make sure you're
comfy and supported.

So a little
blanket goes a long way.

I've lifted the hips up.

You can sit cross-legged.

If you're struggling today,

you can do this
breath practice on your back.

But for today,
this balancing breathwork,

it is my preference to
be upright in this spine.

So just feel it out, though.

Alright, and then as you get
settled in, just take a moment

to connect to how
you're feeling today.

Maybe close your eyes.

Just shut it down for a second.

Maybe soften the
skin of the face.

And maybe you just find a
little sway in the spine here

as you relax your
shoulders and drop in.

So just like with
our physical asana,

the pranayama practice,
you know,

it has a beginning,
middle, and end always.

And the beginning can be
sticky and hard to get going.

So a soft, easy sway to just

kind of drop in,
land here in the moment.

You already
pressed play on the video,

we're gonna do it to the end

and you're going to love it.
I'm just kidding. (chuckles)

But we're gonna just discover

the subtle and the
powerful benefits of breathwork.

And the more you show up,

the more you start 
to discover and feel

how this type of
conscious breathing

can affect our nervous system,

and the brain, of course,

and therefore 
our emotional health

and mental health.

Nice. We're gonna start by just

taking a full breath
in and as you breathe in,

think about that inhale
traveling down to your belly.

And then on the 
exhale it travels up and

out through the nose.

So we call this
directional breathing.

You inhale, 
inflate down into the belly.

And exhale it 
comes all the way up

and out through the nose.

And sometimes this may be a

little too jiggy for you but
a little hand gesture helps

especially if you're used
to breathing up on inhale,

into the shoulders like we
did when we were kids maybe,

not babies,
but younger people.

So again,
inhaling down into the belly.

And exhaling up and out.

Now just try a couple moments
here, a minute, on your own.

Inhale, travels down.

And the exhalation
travels up and out.

Now adding some layers,

so continue with
this directional breath.

Some layers are to exaggerate

a little bit the
expansion in the belly.

Think of like a balloon breath,
a balloon belly.

And then on the exhale,
engage the abs,

draw the navel in and up.

This takes concentration
(chuckles) and focus.

And adding another layer,
lift the sternum.

Find more length
through the crown.

Nice, now you can open your

eyes to a soft gaze if you
need a visual here but we're

just gonna bring one hand on
the belly and then the other.

You can go palm to palm
or you can go fist to fist.

So we're gonna move into a
more energizing pranayama now,

Kapalabhati breath.

Essentially, we're gonna be

doing the same
expansion we just did,

but we're gonna
speed it up a little bit.

Try to keep your
shoulders relaxed, heart lifted.

This is like a pumping breath.

So you're gonna
inhale into the belly,

feel the expansion.

Short, sharp exhale,
draws the navel into the spine.

And then the inhale is passive.

Exhale, draw it in.

Inhale, almost becomes passive
as you start to speed it up.

Ready? Here we go.

Close the eyes
whenever you're ready.

Pets usually
freak out at this one,

so just try to stay focused.

And keep a nice, steady pace.

So you can align with
my pace or find your own.

And then let it go.

Inhale, nice and easy.

Exhale, just let it go.

Allow your hands
to rest in your lap.

We're gonna do one more
round of that in just a second,

but for now,
just breathe nice and easy.

Maybe swallow.

Soften the skin of the forehead.

And then round two.

Try to keep the chest lifted

and try to keep
the shoulders still.

So this takes practice, 
so you're gonna relax.

I think the fingertips or the

hands on the belly
are really helpful,

particularly if
this is new to you.

So you can help
isolate these muscles.

Think of the exhale like 
a snap, (snaps) snapping in.

And I was gonna give
you one other suggestion,

whatever, I forgot what it was.
Okay, here you go.

Inhale in fully to begin.

And exhale.

Stick with it.

Meet your uncomfortable edge.

Hang with me.

Speed it up for
the last 10 seconds.

And then let it go.

Palms on the thighs.

Face up or face down
depending on how you feel.

And just keep your eyes closed

here if you can or soft
gaze and notice how you feel.

If you feel a
little lightheaded,

palms down, I suggest.

If you're feeling
like a little happy,

grounded, floating,
blissful being, maybe,

maybe palms face up is good.

Alright,
bat the eyelashes open,

take a gentle stretch in the neck,

maybe some soft movement.

Alright.

So we're coming to the end
of our video practice here.

We use directional breath
to tune in, to drop in,

ground down in
the present moment,

slow things down.

And we picked up the pace
with the Kapalabhati breath,

which is an energizing breath,
also really good for the

digestive organs and it can
kind of give you that natural

high if you continue
to practice it regularly.

That is sometimes really nice.

It's like when you're
craving another coffee or a tea,

it's nice to play
with pranayama instead.

We're gonna end 
with a little breath

that is just honestly if
you're gonna do one thing

every day I think this this
would be it so you're gonna

inhale in through your nose

and then inhale in 
through your nose again

and then you're gonna 
exhale out through your mouth.

So in a lot of ways
we're putting the two forward

breaths together for
this creative banger!

So inhale, 
inhale through the nose,

slow long exhale 
through the mouth.

Got it? Let's go.

Inhale, inhale, exhale.

I'll guide the first three.

Inhale, inhale, exhale slow.

Inhale, inhale, slow exhale.

Keep it going.
30 seconds.

Keep it going,
drop your chin slightly.

If you need to focus in,
10 more seconds.

One more.

And let it go.

Amazing, 
bring the palms together,

start to rub them together.

Just notice how you feel.

Whew, sigh it out if
you need a little sound.

Take a deep breath in,
sit up tall,

and just bring
one hand to the heart,

one hand to the belly
here to close.

Thank you so much 
for taking this time

to invest in
conscious breathing with me.

It's an honor
and pleasure always.

Hope to see you again soon.

Take good care.

(upbeat music)