A breath token is a breathing exploration that I develop for friends & clients and send out as a gift.
Holding the shoulder to calm down
I read more and more about breathing techniques and how they‘re supposed to help with regulating ourselves, usually calming down or being alert.
We don‘t need a breathing technique for either. I‘d like to propose a simple touch that has a calming effect without unneccessarily interfering with the self-regulatory breathing mechanism. (This is just one example, there are countless other possibilities)
Let‘s cup one of our shoulders with one hand and settle there. We can feel the weight of the hand, the shape of the shoulder, the warmth of the contact. Let’s relax the other shoulder, the lower jaw, the eyes and tell ourselves what we‘re doing „I‘m holding my shoulder, I‘m with my shoulder“… whatever comes to mind and sounds good, whatever helps us to stay in touch with ourselves in this exploration.
As always, we do this as long as it feels good. What is the effect, physically, mentally, emotionally? How does the breathing change? And when we‘ve found an ending to the exploration, what does the side of the body where my hand was feel like , where is the breath movement most present, what‘s the overall quality of the sensation…?
Let‘s repeat on the other side.
Benefits I experienced were:
– getting in touch with myself
– sensing my body
– emotional release
– comfort
– deepening and slowing of the breath
– stability
– more flow
There are surely other benefits for you to discover. If you have any questions or feedback please contact me.