Breathe From Your Root: A Quick Way to Get Out of Your Head and Into Your Body

Ever get stuck in your head? Today I would love to share an easy way to deepen your breath, get back into your body and feel more grounded. 

When your mind becomes overactive you're more likely to feel stress. And guess what happens when your mind churns? Breathing slows, your body contracts and emotions can get stuck. You may also find yourself getting really serious!

The alternative is more fun!  Try this: Open your mouth. Take deep breaths and rock your hips. Feel your body tingle. Open your senses wide while you breathe. Keep moving. Now bring your awareness to the space between your legs. Notice the sensations arising....

Which do you prefer? 

Breathing From Your Root is a quick way to get out of your head and into your body. It can help you loosen up and have more fun being alive.

Here is an easy process to guide you through it: 

1. Breathe into Your Perineum. As you take open mouth, connected breaths, bring your awareness d-o-w-n under you to your perineum. This is the space between your anus and your genitals. Keep your awareness there while you continue connected breathing, connecting the inhale to the exhale without any pauses. You may even want to close your eyes for a moment to really focus on that spot.
2. Explore Sensations. Notice how releasing the jaw and opening the mouth actually make it easier to feel the breath coming from under you. Experiment for a few breaths with open versus closed mouth. Do you notice that sensations get quieter with a closed mouth and amplify with an open mouth? Return to open mouth breathing as you continue.
3. Move and Imagine Another Mouth. As you continue with connected breathing, begin rocking your hips. Imagine you are actually breathing in and out your through the imaginary mouth of your perineum, in addition to your regular mouth. Deepen and stretch your breaths while continuing movement. Keep your awareness there and feel sensations arise as you breathe.
4. Add Kegels. To amplify what you are feeling, engage your pelvic floor muscles on the inhale and release on the exhale. This type of muscular engagement is called a “kegel” ( it’s the same muscular contraction you do when trying to hold pee). Follow sensations that arise with breath while continuing to breathe, move, contract and release.
5. Continue Breathing. Take 10 inhales breaths in and out keeping your awareness down underneath you, breathing in and out through your perineum, doing kegels on the inhale and releasing the muscle on the exhale. Again, notice how rocking your hips may amplify sensation.
6. Notice What Shifted. After completing do a body scan. How do you feel? The pause at the end is important to really register any shifts from the practice.

I hope you felt how quickly you can get out of your head! Remember you can do it any time of day when you need to quiet your mind and get back into your body.

Connected breathing while focusing on your body is amazing way to feel more present. . 

Enjoy! Please share any experiences with this practice in the comments below. 

And if you loved this… check out a story I wrote about sharing this kind of breath practice at a retreat in Bali for a group of Hawaiians, "Becoming A Shakti Goddess."

And join me live and in person for this and many other breath and embodiment practices! Come to the Breathwork Immersion September 3-8 in Thailand for a deep dive, exploring how ecstatic breath, movement and sound can help you feel more tingling aliveness, presence and love.