Breathwork to Transform Stress into Serenity

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Did you spend any part of the past few weeks just trying to make it through? Have you worried about what others might think about the gifts you gave or food you made, or did you hold back your authentic thoughts and feelings to make peace with others around the dinner table?

Maybe you felt like you came up short somewhere, or that you didn't enjoy the magic enough. 

The thoughts and feelings that we have during the holidays, particularly those we resist, can manifest as energetic blocks in our bodies. When we judge ourselves, fear the judgment of others, or hold back our true thoughts or feelings at holiday gatherings, it's essential to take a time out to process what has come up.

This episode explores the powerful impact of breathwork in meeting all of this, which often begins to manifest as overwhelm or stress. Though particularly created for releasing any pressure or stress felt during the holiday season, this practice is great for any time you feel stress, tension, overwhelm or pressure.

Embrace your emotions while finding calming clarity in this guided breathwork session, encouraging acceptance of feelings and inviting connection with the heart's wisdom to:

• Recognize emotions as part of the holiday experience 
• Release blockages and invite a sense of calm connectedness
• Create space with breath to emotions to naturally process
• Welcome miracles into your life

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Music created and produced by Matt Bollenbach

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hi and welcome to Untethered with Jen Liss, the
podcast that's here to help youbreak free, be you and unleash
your inner brilliance.
I'm your host, jen, and in thisepisode I'm going to support
you with a short breathworksession to help you calm the
overwhelm and welcome a littleholiday magic.
Let's dive in.
Hey there, unicorn, it's Jen.

(00:35):
Welcome back to the podcast.
How are you feeling thisholiday season?
For real?
How are you feeling thisholiday season?
You might be one of thosepeople who is always super
prepared.
You love the holidays.
You had your shopping done backaround Thanksgiving.

(00:55):
You're good to go, you're sointo it, you're in it to win it
and you're perfect.
Other people might be feeling alittle bit overwhelmed.
At this point.
I just want you to know that,wherever you are, it is perfect,
it is wonderful, it's exactlyas it's intended to be, and
there is something here for you,in whatever it is that you are

(01:18):
experiencing, even if, at thismoment, you are experiencing a
strong sense of overwhelm, thatoverwhelm has arisen for you in
this moment.
All things that have led tothis moment that you are in
right now listening to thispodcast, maybe even experiencing
this sense of overwhelm rightnow, it could be why you reached

(01:41):
for this podcast in the firstplace is for you.
You are feeling this waybecause there is something in it
for you, there's something tobe gained, there's something to
be experienced, there'ssomething to witness.
So, in this breathwork session,let's witness it, let's feel it

(02:08):
.
Healing comes when we pause andwe let our emotions, we let our
sensations, we let all thingsthat are here to be experienced
in our very human experience befelt.
And so often we will pushfeelings of overwhelm and stress
and anxiety.
We will try to push it away.

(02:28):
We will feel like it's wrongthat we shouldn't feel that way.
And I'm here to tell you yes,it is meant to be here.
You are supposed to be feelingthis way.
It's a gift.
Feeling this way, it's a gift.

(02:50):
It's here for you.
And as we experience and letthis energy of overwhelm or
stress or anxiety or whatever itis that is coming up in your
body, as we let it be felt, weallow it to transition into
whatever its next phase is goingto be.
So, finding a space wherever youare comfortable.
This could be lying down, thiscould be sitting up, it could

(03:14):
even be while walking, ensuringyour own safety, that you're in
a safe place where you can relaxyour gaze a bit, letting
yourself get comfortable and, asyou do, taking a big, deep
breath into the nose and, whenyou're ready, exhaling that

(03:37):
breath out through the mouth.
Exhaling that breath outthrough the mouth, another
breath into the nose and a nicefull exhale, maybe even with an
audible sigh out through themouth.

(03:58):
One final breath, reallyfeeling that breath on your nose
, letting that exhale go outthrough the mouth, placing one
hand on your heart, the otherhand on your belly, whichever

(04:20):
hand naturally goes to, eachlocation is perfect.
Where your hands chose to reston the chest and the belly are
also perfect.
And just noticing your breath,noticing this tiny miracle that

(04:47):
happens thousands of times a day, this energetic flow that is
moving in and out of your body.
Not asking this breath tochange or do anything different,
just letting it flow into thenose, out through the mouth,

(05:13):
perhaps into the nose, outthrough the nose, whichever way
your body is naturally breathing, knowing that there's no right
or wrong way to breathe, just asthere's no right or wrong way

(05:34):
to be.
Feeling your sit bones beneathyou if you're sitting up, if
you're lying down, feeling thegentle press against your back

(05:56):
and the entire back body,feeling your feet resting on the
surface beneath you, maybe evengently pressing every part of
your body that is touching asurface down into that surface

(06:21):
and feeling that there issupport pressing back up for you
, your body gently resting intothat support, that support
reaching up, holding you.

(06:45):
And when you're ready, we aregoing to begin what is called
the halo active breath breathinginto the nose and out through
the mouth.
Big, intentional breath inthrough the nose, filling up the
belly.
Exhale out through the nose,filling up the belly.

(07:24):
Exhale out through the mouth,into the nose, out through the
mouth, and just starting torotate that breath at your pace,
starting to get a feel for whatthe experience is like to bring
that breath into the belly,really expanding the belly.
We hold the thighs tight, wepull everything inward when we

(07:46):
get stressed, seeing with eachinhale you can expand that belly
and let it expand, let it grow.
And with each exhale can yourelax something.
Each inhale expanding, eachexhale, letting something go,

(08:16):
that's it.
Continuing to rotate thatbreath at your pace, in your way
.
That's beautiful.

(08:41):
And as you begin to find thispacing, what is your pacing
today?
Your body's natural way that itwants to breathe, inviting in
and welcoming in any emotionsthat might want to be felt in
this moment.
You could experience all thingsin your body all at once.

(09:07):
You could have joy, you couldhave peace, anger, frustration.

(09:27):
You could have peace, anger,frustration, guilt, overwhelm
and just noticing which of thesethings is swirling into your
experience.
Maybe it's one thing, perhapsit's many, and as you experience

(09:50):
this, noticing if you can backyour awareness out of those
swirls, the swirls mightcontinue to happen.
You might be feeling them,noticing how there is a part of
you that is connected tosomething else.

(10:15):
Maybe there's just onemillimeter of disconnection
between yourself and thatsensation.
Can you find it?
Can you find this tiny spacebetween, and maybe you can even
use your inhale to move a littlebit of energy and a little bit

(10:38):
of space into that tiny space.
Taking a breath in creating somespace, exhaling, letting
something go, creating space,letting something go,

(11:10):
recognizing that emotions runthrough our body for 90 seconds.
Each of these tiny swirls has amaximum length of 90 seconds
and the only thing that cancause us to feel these for

(11:31):
longer is a reduction in thatspace is emerging as a holding.
So can you, with your breathand on each breath, create a
little distance, still allowingthe emotions to be exactly as

(11:53):
they are.
We don't have to change them.
We just get to create that tinybit of separation.
Beautiful, just continuing tobreathe into this for as long as

(12:14):
feels good to you.
If it supports you to pausethis audio and continue to
breathe for a bit, you'rewelcome to do that.
Otherwise, when you're ready,taking a final big, deep breath
into the nose, filling up,feeling that belly fill, feeling

(12:36):
your entire being fill,creating as much space as you
can, holding that breath at thetop and, even though you feel so
full, seeing if you can takeanother sip of air in at the top
.
And when you're ready,releasing that breath, letting

(13:03):
it go, coming back to yournatural breath, placing One hand
on your chest and the otherhand on your belly and

(13:23):
connecting with the part of youthat is separate from that swirl
, separate from each of those 90second emotions.
There's something else here,maybe even simply being curious.

(13:47):
Is there something else here,apart from all of those
sensations?
What is that part of me that iswitnessing and taking a breath
in and on your exhale, allowingyour awareness to rest right

(14:08):
into the heart space, taking twomore inhales right into that
heart space, right into thatheart space and feeling this
heart space, this portal, thislife force, this thing that

(14:35):
supports your breath, this thingthat supports your life.
Your heart supports everythought that you have, it
supports every feeling that getsto swirl through your body.
This heart that speaks to youday in and day out Sometimes

(14:59):
gets drowned out by the thoughtsand the swirls connected here
to your heart.
Asking your heart what is itthat I truly live for?
What tiny miracles can you helpme see today?

(15:25):
Allowing your heart to respondin only the way that your unique
heart responds to you could bea word, a phrase, a sensation, a

(15:47):
color.
What tiny miracles does yourheart help you to see?
What tiny miracles does yourheart help you to see and what

(16:12):
miracles await you today?
Opening up your heart and yourmind and your body to the
curiosities of what will drop infor you today, thanking
yourself, thanking your heart,thanking each feeling that has
shown up to support you past,present and future, and

(16:46):
expecting miracles in everymoment of every day.
When you're ready, beginning tobring your awareness back into
the present moment, slowlyreturning back into the here and
the now, perhaps gentlypressing your body back down

(17:12):
into the surface beneath you,feeling that little nudge of
support back, blinking your eyesopen, making eye contact with
something here in the room, withyou in the space that you're in
, coming fully back into thepresent moment and your time in

(17:52):
your way.
Thank you so much for takingthe time to join me for this
breathwork session.
I hope that you found itsupportive and I hope that it
will support you, and I hopethat today you will open your
heart and open your mind andyour soul to the miracles that
are truly here and available toyou.
In fact, those miracles areseeking you, just as you've

(18:12):
opened up to seeking them.
As we close out this episode, Iwould love to let you know about
something.
If you're not aware of it I amhosting a word of the year party
.
It is one of my favorite things, perhaps my favorite thing that
I do all year.
This word of the year partywill help you in crafting an
intentional word of the yearthat will carry you through 2025

(18:37):
and welcome many, many miraclesand lessons and beautiful
possibilities into your world.
If you'd like to join this wordof the year party, you can go
to genliscom slash 2025,genliscom slash 2025.
It's completely free and Iwould love to see you there 2025

(19:01):
.
It's completely free and Iwould love to see you there.
You just keep shining yourmagical unicorn light out there
for all to see.
I'll see you next time.