I wrote in (this post) about what led me to develop this practice.
This practice was derived from a combination of what I’ve learned from meditation practices, yoga classes, Eckhart Tolle, Paulo Coelho’s (The Zahir), and Tony Robbins’ visualization techniques.
I do this from anywhere, multiple times a day, whenever needed. The more I practiced this, the more I was able to shorten the steps to get to the same result. I’m currently down to repeating a phrase that centers me and using this full practice more sparingly.
The general breathing technique for the length of both versions is as follows:
- Relax your eyes, mouth, tongue, neck, and shoulders
- Inhale through nose deeply for 4 seconds
- Hold for 3 seconds
- Exhale through the mouth for 6 seconds
There are two versions of this practice.
Version 1 is what led me to understand what was REALLY weighing me down. Version 2 was then incorporated as a practice to fully release the story from my self.
I recommend to read through the practice first and have a partner read you the directions afterward.
Let’s Begin
Version 1
Shut your eyes or focus on a still object that calms you. Notice your thoughts. What are they telling you? Let them go on. Observe where they’re going. Observe what they’re saying. Do not hold attachment to a single thought. Let the thought come and pass with ease.
- Relax your eyes, mouth, tongue, neck, and shoulders
- Inhale through nose deeply for 4 seconds
- Hold for 3 seconds
- Exhale through the mouth for 6 seconds
- Repeat once
- Return to natural breath
What is the first thing that comes to mind when I ask you the following questions:
- What has felt like a weight on your shoulders?
- What has been holding you back from taking the next step in your life?
Repeat the breathing technique. This time, as you hold your breath, begin to target your focus on the answer that resonated with you the most. Have the intention to let it go with the next breathing technique.
As you exhale, focus that breath on letting go of the things that are weighing you down, envision them being released with your breath.
- Relax your eyes, mouth, tongue, neck, and shoulders
- Inhale through nose deeply for 4 seconds, focusing intention the piece of your story that was just brought to your attention
- Hold for 3 seconds, focusing intention on letting go of that story
- Exhale through the mouth for 6 seconds, releasing the story with your strong breath
- Repeat twice
- Return to natural breath
- Return your focus to the object that calms you, contemplate it.
- If your eyes are shut, observe the thoughts in your mind while letting them pass through. Let your breath function naturally
- Relax
- Start to slowly move your body when ready.
If the above practice no longer serves you, or if you simply need a stronger practice to assist you in letting go, try Version 2 below.
While you practice Version 1, you tend to slowly (or quickly) learn more about your deep routed internal programming. Your mind will begin to shed light on what’s really holding you down.
For instance, you might have started this practice by thinking that your job was holding you down, and after completing Version 1 a couple days in a row, your mind might have shown you that what’s holding you back is actually the deep-rooted sense of not being worthy. (That example is an extreme jump in self-discovery. Progression will happen as a result of this practice, but don’t get discouraged if it feels like it’s not profound. The small consistent steps forward will look like giant leaps before you know it)
As you practice Version 1, your mind will give you a more meaningful picture of the things that are pulling you down.
OR: if you’re absolutely sure what’s weighing you down and you need something stronger to help you, adding Tony Robbins’ technique of visualization is a powerful addition.
Let’s Begin
Version 2
- Relax your eyes, mouth, tongue, neck, and shoulders
- Shut your eyes
- Focus on your natural breath
- Inhale through nose deeply for 4 seconds
- Hold for 3 seconds
- Exhale through the mouth for 6 seconds
- Return to natural breath
As you contemplate what’s weighing you down, what picture has your mind shown you that’s catching your attention the most? Make sure your eyes are shut. Focus on creating it into a scene in your mind. What does the picture look like? Imagine it in detail, like a cinematic movie in your head. Make sure your eyes are shut as you continue to visualize your movie.
- What does this picture make you feel?
- Can you imagine ways your story has been holding you back in your life?
- Can you imagine all the ways it will negatively impact your life in the future?
- Does it (at times) consume you with enough pain to feel like you DESPERATELY need to do something?
- Can you imagine what you would feel like if you let go of the responsibility that comes with that story being yours?
- Imagine releasing it. You are not your story. You are you, that’s sitting here, on a new day, with the peace and tranquility to start a new meditative practice. You are a new you every day that you wake up. Each day is a new opportunity for love and creativity to flow through you if you make the room for it.
Enter your second breathing routine.
- Relax your eyes, mouth, tongue, neck, and shoulders
- Shut your eyes
- Focus on your natural breath, focus on the cinematic movie you made from your story
- Inhale through nose deeply for 4 seconds, focusing your intention on bringing in energy to shrink the size of the movie in your mind
- Hold for 3 seconds, imagine blackness filling the empty space as the parameters of your movie shrink in size.
- Exhale through the mouth for 6 seconds. In your exhale, remember to shrink the size of the movie, or begin to push it to one corner of your mind, whatever works for you.
- Fill the empty space with what it might look like after you let go your pain, fill the black space with bright pictures of who you aspire to be, fill the space with positive and meaningful scenes of what life would be like if this ‘thing’ no longer owned you.
- imagine the screen shrinking slowly, and getting taken over by your new stories and experiences, keep imagining powerful experiences that fill you with joy
- Restore to natural breath
- Focus on your natural breath
- Bring attention to the pictures of your new future that are taking over the old story’s space. Let yourself feel the joy that the new pictures are bringing you.
- Inhale through nose deeply for 4 seconds
- Hold for 3 seconds, focusing your intention on completely whisking away the picture of what’s weighing you down. Imagine your own way of doing it; push it out of your mind, blow it away, shrink it until it no longer exists, be creative and do what feels right for you.
- Exhale through the mouth for 6 seconds. In your exhale, remember to shrink the size of the movie, or begin to push it to one corner of your mind, whatever works for you.
- Restore your natural breath
We all carry around our stories of what made us who we are with such weight. Can you, for a second, imagine what it would feel like to release that weight? Can you imagine how you might go about your day differently if you weren’t pulling the weight of your story with you? That’s where this practice led me.
I hope you enjoy.
Have you tried this practice? Leave a comment, or (contact) us to let me know how it worked for you. I’d love to hear from you 🙂
∞
Be sure to scroll down and subscribe to OmniMinds so you don’t miss out on a post
