Welcome to this breathing practice called Victorious Breath.
This technique comes from the yoga tradition,
Specifically Ujjayi Pranayama.
You may also hear this technique called Ocean Breath and that's because this technique involves making a gentle sound just like ocean waves that softly lap on the shore.
Let's practice.
Find a comfortable seated position.
Notice the base of your spine as it touches the floor or the seat below you.
And from this base,
Guide your awareness up the back,
Lengthening the spine to create space between each vertebrae as you sense the body rising upwards.
Feel your chest lifting and the top of your head reaching up towards the sky.
Now with this lifted feeling,
Relax the shoulders down away from your ears and rest your hands on your lap.
Sense your body sitting in a comfortable and confident seat,
Ready for victory.
And I invite you now to take a moment to consider,
What would feel like a victory for you today?
Now keeping the shoulders relaxed,
Lift one hand in front of your face and imagine that your hand is a pane of glass and on a cold day you could breathe onto this glass to create condensation as if to fog the glass up.
Now take a gentle inhale and as you exhale through the mouth,
Feel the breath on the hand as though you're fogging up glass.
Inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth as you notice a subtle sound in the throat.
Inhale once again and exhale.
Feel the vibration as the larynx constricts.
Okay,
Release your hand and relax your breath.
Let's try this again,
This time with the mouth closed.
You'll feel the same narrowing of the throat and the same gentle sound.
Softly inhale and exhale,
Mouth closed as though you're fogging up glass.
Inhale,
Mouth closed and feel the sound and constriction of the breath in.
Exhale,
Sound out.
Inhale,
Feel the breath and sound.
Exhale,
Breath out.
Continue like this at your own pace.
As you settle into your rhythm,
Notice the breath filling your lungs and send each breath in down into your belly,
Allowing the belly to expand and the breath to rise up from the belly to the chest smoothly before calmly exhaling and releasing.
There's no need to force the breath,
No need to overexert the lungs,
Just establish a sense of ease within.
And if you begin to feel breathless,
Just pause and reset and find the rhythm that's right for you.
Use the sound of your breath like the rhythm of a drum.
Anchor your awareness and attention onto the sound as the breath continues to flow in effortless rhythm.
Feel each breath in like a wave that fills your lungs with fresh and energizing oxygen.
And each breath out carries tension and waste away from the body.
If you start to feel restless,
Just notice the feeling and use strong will power to not react and stay focused on the rhythm of your breath.
Feel your awareness growing with each breath.
Every breath in,
Awareness expands upwards and outwards.
And every breath out,
Sense yourself grounded,
More deeply anchored into your seat of victory.
Take one final breath and now release all effort in your breathing.
Focus your awareness around the belly button.
And as you rest your attention here,
Connect to a feeling of courage.
As you sit with that feeling,
Sense the victory that you will accomplish today.
When you're ready,
Open your eyes.
Thank you so much for practicing with me.
I'll see you soon.
