Good morning,
Good evening,
Good afternoon,
Wherever you may be,
Whatever you may be doing,
Hello.
And today I wanted to just take a short moment to talk about a tool,
A technique that I found to be very helpful and I wanted to share with you today.
It's a tool that I often use and I picked it up from a colleague on here,
Lou Redmond.
And it's a technique that he uses and I've subsequently started to use,
Where to begin a practice with and I've also started to use it elsewhere in life.
I've used it as a tool to allow me to just restore balance,
Whatever it is,
Whether it's a feeling of dot,
Dot,
Dot.
This breathing technique has allowed me to really come back to center and it's called the physiological sigh.
And the physiological sigh is a simple,
Very simple,
Ridiculously simple,
But very powerful breathing technique.
And it has a lot of science back behind it.
It started in the 1930s and it was described as a natural reflex that occurs when your body needs to restore balance.
And essentially what it is,
It's a spontaneous double inhale followed by a long exhale.
If you think about it,
There's probably been times in life when you've naturally done this,
Shock fear,
And you've almost gasped,
Held your breath and exhale.
And studies,
Notably a research done at Stanford University,
Has shown that this pattern of breathing rapidly decreases levels of carbon dioxide in the blood and in so doing activates the parasympathetic nervous system.
You know,
The body's rest and digest response.
And in doing that,
It slows the heart rate,
Reduces stress hormones,
And creates a measurable sense of calm and groundedness in just a few breaths.
And in this practice,
I'll reintroduce you to this breathing technique,
One that is likely physically familiar to you.
And all we're doing is simply putting a name to it and creating it as a tool.
So in this practice,
We will use the technique intentionally to allow us to reconnect with stillness and return to the present.
Take a moment to pause whatever it is that you're doing and to arrive here.
Let your body settle into the space it's in and feel the weight of your body being held by the surface beneath you.
Now what we're going to do is to take a deep breath in through your nose and then you hold it at the top.
And we'll take one small sip of air and sigh it all out through your mouth.
That's the practice.
So let's try it.
Take a deep breath in through your nose.
Hold it at the top.
Take one more small sip of air and sigh it out.
Deep breath in and hold.
A small gasp and a long sigh.
And try it in your own time now.
Deep breath in and hold.
A small gasp and a long slow sigh out.
Notice how the breath softens the body,
How the exhale invites release and how stillness begins to find you.
As your breath settles,
Feel the quiet within you expand.
The gentle rhythm of your body returning home to itself.
Let's close this short practice with a mantra.
I am here.
I am now.
If your eyes were closed,
Gently open them.
And thank you.
And I hope this tool becomes helpful to you.
All the best.
