Breathing Cool Down

Hi. So we're going to do a short cool down, and as well as helping just cool everything down and really calm the nervous system and allow for homeostasis to really set in. So we've talked about the fact that our bodies are always seeking this state of homeostasis, which is the same vibration as healthy and fertile soil, and when we can calm the mind and just really allow everything to settle, it's like we make space and allow for it to happen a little more efficiently. Not to mention it feels really good. And also, we're going to do a little bit of exploration about all of the different parts of the pelvic floor that we talked about initially.

And so just a quick bit of information about the pelvic floor. It has lots of layers of tissue, and it's basically shaped like a diamond at the back. And so we can really think about and appreciate it from the point of view of the bony landmarks. So our sitting bones, right and left, would be the two sides of the diamond, the coccyx, or tailbone, on the back, and the pubic bone on the front. And so it's actually, the front of it, we're talking female anatomy, the front of it is like a triangle that's pointed up towards the pubic bone, and then on the back, it's another triangle that goes towards the coccyx.

And I guess for men, you can visualize it the same way. We're not gonna get into the nitty-gritty details of all of the different tissues and stuff, but just to understand that those two triangles together form this diamond shape. And I like to think of it as like the base of a pyramid. So we're gonna explore our breath and just the different contractions and different sensations that we might find, as well as get the body in a position where it allows for the lower back to decompress, and for the the hip socket to kind of sink in a little bit deeper, which in turn allows the back to feel that sense of decompression. So we'll need a bolster for this, and you can use a rolled-up beach towel.

The idea is just to have something that's gonna help create a little bit of a lift. And so we'll just move it out of the way. It's a bit easier to get into this position. We'll start lying on our right side. So we'll all come to lie on our right side, and you wanna get your bottom as close to the wall as you can, lying on your right side.

So really scoot in until your tush is pretty close, and then we'll turn onto our back and walk our feet up the wall. Take the bolster now, lift your pelvis up into the bridge, and bring the bolster underneath your lower back and tailbone. And so you've got a couple of options here. You can either have the pillow or bolster right underneath the pelvis which will kind of bias the lower back into a rounded shape, and if that's more comfortable, then you should go with what's more comfortable. The other option is to pull the bolster a little higher, under the lower back, where your tailbone and that pelvic floor area actually kind of sinks down towards the floor.

If anyone has any kind of back issues, spine pathology, you just really wanna go with the option that feels the best. And we'll just let the legs rest up the wall. We have this beautiful window, and we get to see the beautiful sky here. If you have a wall that's flush, your legs would simply just be straight up the wall. And the idea is that we're figuring out ways to hold the body so that it doesn't require a whole lot of muscle effort.

So there's really no wrong way to do it other than it just doesn't feel good. That would be the only wrong way to do it. And we'll just let the arms come out to the sides, and just take a moment and close your eyes. And just take a longer, deeper, fuller breath, and as you exhale, let everything release. And just start to notice where you might feel like there's some tension that you could maybe let go of a little bit more, even if that means your knees slightly bend or your body changes its position a bit.

And as you continue to release here, again, just start to notice your breath, encouraging your breath to become a little bit softer, a little bit slower, and a little bit longer. And as you feel your inhale, moving in through your nose, bring your mind's eye down to that diamond shape between the sitting bones, right and left, and the pubic bone and tailbone, front and back. And as you inhale, just kind of notice if there's any sensation in that area. And as you exhale, just allow everything to continue to release. And on your following breath, you'll start to walk your feet down the wall, bringing your knees closer to your body so that it just feels like you're standing into the wall.

And again, as you inhale, taking a slow, full breath, and just keep observing if there's any sensation from the breath in that space between the sitting bones, the pubic bone through the front, and the tailbone on the back. And just taking one more breath in this position, a little longer, a little slower, a little more expansion. Exhaling, feeling the weight of the lower back. And on the following breath, we'll start to walk our feet over towards our left side, just walking the feet over, noticing how that starts to create a bit of rotation. And you just go as far as it feels comfortable.

And you might find that the right shoulder gently lifts off of the mat. Again, as long as there's no pull that's feeling dangerous, it's fine. And as you inhale, allow your belly to soften even further. Let the left thigh find the support of either the blanket, or bolster, or the floor. And notice, as you're inhaling, if you can sense the right side or the left side of the ribs, maybe feeling the belly, maybe even noticing, again, that space in between the sitting bones.

Taking one more longer, slower inhale, allow each breath to be drawn in just a little bit slower so that it might be a little longer and create more movement internally. And as you feel ready, you'll start to walk your feet back up the wall, back to the center. Take a pause there for a moment, in the center. This time, let the knees and feet go a little wider apart, like we're kind of squatting here, and again, just taking a deeper, fuller inhale, noticing maybe a little more awareness off to one side of the pelvic floor, off to one side of that diamond shape. Maybe not, and that's okay too.

Without judgment, simply notice what you might find. And on the following breath, we'll start to walk our feet over towards the right. Notice if it might be a bit different than the other side. Find the place where you can release the most, and you might notice that that's the place that we're continuously finding. Inhale a little slower, as if you had a gauge you could control the rate at which the breath is moving in.

Draw it in slowly, like you're sipping through a very thin straw, and let it get as full as possible. And as you exhale, same idea. Slowly exhaling, releasing the weight of your jaw, your head, your shoulders, and your pelvis, all the way down through your thighs and feet. And on your following inhale, then start to bring your legs back up through the center, finding that place where you feel like your pelvis is in line with your head. Now, this time, let the knees turn out.

The feet will turn where they're comfortable, and as you inhale, allow your belly to expand and soften. And this time, as you exhale, exhale completely, and create that sensation of gently drawing in and lifting that diamond shape, visualizing the four corners of the diamond coming in towards the midline, at the very end of the exhale, like they help to just encourage the breath to really empty the body. And as you inhale, visualizing those four corners of the diamond shape expanding back out as your belly softens and expands. Exhale slowly. Observe the exhalation.

Wait 'til the very end of the exhale to create that sense of drawing the four corners of the diamond shape in towards the center. And as you inhale, allowing them to expand back out, and your belly softens. On the following breath, allow that idea to just kind of drift away, and let it become more of an energetic idea, more of a thought. Inhaling, visualizing the four corners of the diamond shape expanding out, away from center. And exhaling, feeling the breath escaping the body slowly, and at the very end of the breath, your only effort is to make sure the lungs are fully empty, with the feeling of staying fully relaxed.

On the following inhale, slowly start to bring the knees in towards each other, and just stand the feet back on the wall for a moment. And while we're in this position, visualize your tailbone gently dropping down into the earth a little bit further. As you inhale, feel the width across the sitting bones. As you exhale, feeling the weight of your body continuously letting go. On the following inhale, start to reach your legs back up the wall, letting your arms come down at your sides or to rest on your belly, wherever's most comfortable.

And now, with your legs back up the wall, again, inhaling, allowing your abdomen to expand, and very gently, as you exhale, start to create a little bit of tone in that space between the sitting bones, visualizing the space that's just behind the genitals, right in the middle, drawing in and up as you exhale. Inhale, let it relax. Exhale very gently, drawing in. Notice if you can differentiate between the sphincters of the rectum pulling up versus that subtle feeling of the sitting bones or that space between the sitting bones pulling up. And sometimes the best way to do that is to deliberately squeeze, create some tone around the bottom, around the rectum, and then let that release.

And then on the following breath, notice the very subtle sensation that does not engage the backside. And on the following inhale, we'll start to bring the feet back to the wall, walking the feet down. Go ahead and curl back up into a bridge. We're going to move the bolster out of the way, and then just go ahead and lie flat on the ground. Hug the knees into the chest and gently rock from side to side.

And then we'll slowly turn onto our right side, all the way back onto the right side. You might wanna stay on your side for a couple breaths. And when you're ready, you'll gently bring yourself back up to sitting. And you might feel like you had a good smoke, or a good drink, or so, and that's homeostasis. Thank you guys.

Thank you. Namaste.