Breathwork For Crossing Thresholds (Live Session)

Hi there,

And welcome to this guided breathwork meditation that was recorded live here on Insight Timer on December 10,

2023.

The intention of this session is to help us and support us in crossing any thresholds that we may be coming across in our lives to help us connect really deeply with ourselves with our own hearts and our own energy to let go of anything that no longer serves us and to welcome in light and support to help us along on our journey.

The breathwork practice we'll be doing is a really simple three part breath.

To do it you'll just lie down on your back.

Close your eyes,

And the three parts of the breath are an inhale into the belly,

A second inhale into the chest,

And then a release all through the mouth.

It'll sound something like this breathing into the belly,

Into the chest,

And releasing.

There's no particular pace that you need to go at.

The invitation is always is to center connection with the breath.

In this practice,

If you need to take a break at any point you can take a break from that breathing pattern and come back to it when it feels right for you to do so.

So with that,

I'll send you off to the recording and reading from the Radiant Sutras,

After which you'll go right into the practice.

Thank you for being here,

And enjoy.

The passage that wanted to be shared today actually isn't one of the sutras,

It's one of the banter verses.

So before you get to the sutras themselves,

There's a few verses to kind of set the stage,

And the one that wanted to be shared today is one of those.

So these are banter verses 17 through 19.

And there's a beautiful invitation in this brief passage.

And the idea that so much of what we carry in our culture and in our bodies are verbal distinctions,

And that the more we seek to understand with the mind,

Often the further we get from that kind of deeper remembrance of spirit.

So maybe we can take that into the breath work with us this idea of letting go of our assumptions letting go of some of our stories and some of those hard one verbal distinctions,

And simply allowing ourselves to have whatever experience wants to be had.

As we move into the breathing together so invite us to just take a nice slow breath in.

Release it with a sigh.

And as always,

Before we move into it a gentle reminder we can make to ourselves it's safe for me to be in my body.

It's okay for me not to understand.

And it's okay for me not to understand.

And again nice slow breath in,

Releasing it with a sigh.

And then we can go ahead and start that breathing pattern all through the mouth,

Breathing into the belly,

Into the chest,

And then releasing belly,

Chest,

And then releasing these first few minutes as we ease into the breathing pattern.

This is your chance to find your relationship with the breath for this practice.

So an invitation to let go of any previous experiences you've had to release any expectations and breathing into the belly,

Into the chest,

And then releasing.

Try just to bring a little awareness to your body as you breathe.

And that feels interesting.

Really noticing the sense of inflation in the belly or as close to the belly as you can get right now.

And then bringing that breath up into the chest,

And then releasing.

And that exhale can just be a sigh and a release.

We don't have to put any effort behind it,

Unless you want to.

So there's an invitation to just bring a little bit of awareness to the millions and millions and millions and millions of breaths that you've taken over the past 12 months.

The journey that has unfolded over this year as you breathe into the belly,

Into the chest,

And releasing.

And I'll invite you to take in just a little more oxygen,

3 or 4% more oxygen into the belly.

And see if you can get the breath maybe a little bit deeper into the belly,

Maybe 2 inches behind the belly button and 2 inches below.

And if it's interesting,

You can play with picking up the inhale right before the exhale ends.

So we're just getting a constant cycle and movement of breath in and out of the body.

And if you do that,

You may experience a little lightheadedness.

Just keep breathing,

It'll pass.

And so as we breathe,

I'll invite you to breathe exactly as you are in this moment.

So no expectation,

No figuring out,

Just bringing as much of our attention as available to us to the breath.

Inhale,

Inhale,

Release.

Inhale,

Inhale,

Release.

And as we move into this practice together,

Just a gentle reminder that the you who existed 10 minutes ago no longer exists.

The you who existed 6 months ago no longer exists.

And the only you who exists is the one breathing right now into the belly,

Into the chest,

Releasing.

And we'll just gently invite anything that does not belong to this moment,

Does not belong to this breath,

To just simply begin to release from the body.

Maybe that pressure we've been putting on ourselves to figure out that very important thing just for now.

Or that story we picked up from our parents or a teacher or a friend 20 years ago doesn't belong to this moment.

And so we can just gently release it.

Breathing into the belly,

Into the chest.

And the more that we exist as we are now,

The more we may be able to connect with the awareness that this isn't just breath,

It's energy moving through the body.

And this energy has been circulating in the universe since the very beginning of all things.

And with each exhale,

We send that energy back out into the universe,

Into its next form,

Its next destination.

So really,

Each breath brings us into a millennia old creative process.

And so if you want to,

You can imagine that energy is just a river flowing through the body,

Visiting with your cells,

Bringing them back into alignment.

And in the same way that water washes against rocks and smooths them over time,

This energy can also smooth our cells,

Can penetrate into the cellular membranes,

Into the protons and neutrons and electrons.

And just gently inviting anything that's gotten out of sync to come back into connection.

Any stories that have taken us away from ourselves to simply release as much as feels right.

Stay with the breath,

You're doing great.

And I'll invite you just to notice that we don't really know where our bodies end and the bed or the couch or the floor that you're lying on begins.

There's just a general sense of boundary,

Stay with the breath.

And in the same way,

The boundary between the house or the apartment,

The whatever on the earth is just kind of an idea.

So with each breath,

If we allow some of those boundaries that we assume are real just for now to get muddy.

See if you can,

As you breathe with each breath,

Feel the breath of the earth breathing with you.

Release.

In the same way that when we're in our mother's womb,

The mother's breath is our breath,

The same is true of the earth.

And so each breath,

The earth breathes with us.

The trees breathe with us.

The clouds,

The fish,

The whales.

All of us sharing breath and sharing energy.

Weaving a tapestry of molecules and oxygen and carbon dioxide,

Keep breathing.

And this web of connection that we are being woven into can hold anything.

And so it can hold our experiences of joy and of grief,

Of rage,

Of love.

So an invitation to anything in the body,

Anything in our cells and our hearts that may want to be left at our campfire,

Just to gently move into the center of our circle here and just be transformed by the fire into something new and beautiful.

Releasing anything we've picked up over the course of this year that does and serve us.

So that we may be cleansed,

So that we may release any weight that we've been carrying,

Any heaviness that has served its purpose.

You can just imagine it like you've been carrying a backpack around that's full of bricks.

And you can just put those bricks down.

And as we do that,

I'll invite us to breathe a little bit more into the heart.

So we'll just be breathing for about three more minutes.

As we breathe into the heart,

We're just expanding that area.

See if you can get the breath like right between the heart and the throat,

Upper chest area.

And breathing into that space between the shoulder blades,

Opening,

Opening that area.

And as we breathe into the heart,

Bringing awareness to the energy at the center of the center of the center of your heart.

Beautiful light may appear as a flickering candle or an orb,

A flower opening her petals to reveal a glow inside.

And you can imagine that light just kind of starting to stream from your chest through your body.

And also into the room around you just revealing everything in a new light,

A new way of seeing.

What is it to experience this moment as we soften into it through the heart,

Through the light of the heart,

Through the lens of that light.

And if you want to,

You can imagine being at our campfire,

Just around this beautiful,

Warm fire.

And as you just breathe a little bit more,

Taking in the other amazing people breathing alongside you,

Each with their heart glowing.

What is it to experience the world and each other in this way?

No stories.

What is it to give ourselves permission to be perceived in this way as the light that we each carry in our hearts?

Inviting in any guides,

Guardians,

Angels,

Animals who may want to witness this as well.

One or two more breaths.

And when you're ready,

You can transition to a resting breath.

And that's just a single inhale into the belly and a release.

All the work is done.

So these next few minutes are just your chance to relax,

To receive.

So you can imagine your body or even let your body get heavier against the earth.

Almost like allowing the earth with all of her love and all of her heart to embrace you,

To hold you.

And you can even allow your heart to expand,

Your energy to expand off the body just really gently,

Filling the room,

Filling the sky.

And I'll invite you,

If you want to,

Just to imagine that you're in a beautiful place in nature.

A gentle breeze in the air,

Feeling the sensation of the air against your skin.

And feeling this place filled with light,

The same light that shines in your heart.

Feeling the earth beneath your feet.

And in front of you appears just a portal,

A simple doorway.

A threshold between this moment,

This year,

And the next.

Between the you that exists in this moment and the you that exists in the next.

And I'll invite you to just stand at this portal,

Not going through it yet,

Just feeling its power.

Feeling this threshold as an invitation just to release anything that wants to be released and is willing to be released with ease.

And in a moment I'll invite you to step through the portal across that threshold.

And as you do,

It'll just gently cleanse away anything that wants to be cleansed.

So take a nice slow breath.

And step through the portal.

And as you do,

You may find yourself in a different space.

Not that same place in nature.

It may be a place of lots of light.

And we'll just take a moment to invite in all of the light that wants to find you,

That wants to support your heart.

Inviting in all of the beauty,

All of the joy,

All of the love.

All of the connection and creativity.

It's like you're in a room forged of light shining on you,

Recharging you,

Loving you,

Supporting you.

And just taking a moment to receive that light and let it move through you.

To anyone who may need a little bit of extra light in this moment,

Including yourself.

Knowing that even now it's streaming towards you.

And you can bring your breathing to a more natural place.

Feeling the light glowing in your cells and your heart.

Nice slow breath.

Release it with a sigh.

And I'll invite you to just bring yourself back really gently.

I always like to wiggle my fingers and my toes.

Maybe stay with my eyes closed for a moment as I come back to my body.

And maybe even turn on over to your side,

Bring your knees up to your chest.

Just like you're giving yourself a hug,

You deserve it.

And whenever you're ready,

You can gently bring yourself up to seated.

I'm always thirsty after these,

So maybe get a drink of water.

And if there's any notes or images that came to you,

You may want to take a moment to write those down before going on with the rest of your day.

And thank you so much for breathing with us.

Hope to see you again soon.