In this session, the second in our Stopping the Clock for Those Now Gone series, we are tapping into ways that breath can open us up and allow us to release some of the grief and loss being so tightly held in our bodies. How the breath can be restorative as we experience heartache and pain.
Grieving makes us feel like slumping down and curling up into a ball. It makes us want to protect our hearts because we are in fact heartbroken. Sometimes it even feels like we aren’t breathing at all. Or your breath is very shallow. Or you are holding your breath without even realizing it. Or that you feel like you are gasping for a breath, as if you’ve been under water, reaching for the surface. This is not abnormal in grieving. Grief affects every part of us, including our physical bodies and our breathing.
So, this week’s session offers you a chance to tap into the breath as a healing resource as you continue to make room in your life to feel what it is that you feel.
In preparation, find a quiet place where you are comfortable and will not be disturbed. You may wish to sit on a mat, towel or blanket. Or a chair. You may also lay down or stand during the practice if that is most comfortable for you.
The session includes three segments, including breath awareness, alternate nostril breathing and bellows breath.
We encourage you to journal about how this practice feels for you. Each time you do it. And, yes, you should continue to do it. There is great healing power in our breath. So, please don’t forget to breathe.