16 Breaths Back to Yourself

Sixteen Breaths back to Yourself

By Joel Turgesen MA, LPC

Four parts of feeling yourself, of being in the “zone”  are:

1.      feeling Grounded

                                                   2.    feeling Aligned

                                                                 3.    feeling Centered and

                                            4.    feeling Oriented and aware of what is

Sense into each of these four aspects with sixteen breaths, four breaths each.

First, start with Grounding yourself.  Take four breaths.  On the inhale, reel in (to use a fishing metaphor).  Cut the lines to everything you’re snagged into in the external world of “what ifs” and reel in.  On the exhale, drop anchor.  Experience the breath going down through your body all the way to your feet.  Feel your feet on the ground.  Press the bottoms of your feet to the ground. 

“I’m breathing in, I’m reeling in; I’m breathing out, I’m dropping anchor.”

Secondly, Align yourself .  Visualize a perfectly straight line running down through you from up above the top of the head on down through the body going on down deep into the ground.  On the inhale, lift up.  Hunch your shoulders up, raise your eyes upward, elongate the spine and straighten your posture into alignment with that plumb line.   On the exhale, relax your shoulders, open your chest, settle down, eyes relaxing downward.  Let your vertebrae stack perfectly on top of each other as you relax.  Bring your head into perfect balance on top of the spine. 

“I’m breathing in, I’m lifting up; I’m breathing out, I’m settling down.”

On the 3rd round,.  Center yourself with the next four breaths.  On the inhale, feel in.  Put one hand on your heart and the other on your solar plexus.  Turn your attention inward to your heart and press your hands into your chest and abdomen on your inhale.  On the exhale, relax your hands and settle into the center of yourself.  Let go. Fall into your core, if you will, into the depths of your heart, into the center of your being.  (Don’t worry, it’s safe there.)

“Breathing in, I’m feeling in; breathing out, I’m falling in.”

Fourthly, Orient yourself to the reality of what your senses are telling you about your present experience.  On the inhale, affirm “here I am”, sweeping your eyes from side to side on each breath, taking in your environment with your senses - what you can see, hear, touch or smell.  On the exhale, affirm “I am here”.  Be fully present with what your experiencing right now.  Insert yourself into the room.  Just notice and let go, giving way to the next thing or sound that comes into your awareness.  Let go of analytic, worried, negative or “what am I going to do” thinking.  As one of my teachers (Fritz Perls) put it:  “lose your mind and come to your senses.”

“Here I am - I take it all in; I am here, and I’m all in”.

Enjoy the feeling of being grounded, aligned, centered and present, of being yourself, for a few minutes.