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We're going to do a block and a block. These are nervous system soothers. Set your block behind you on your yoga mat. Have it at the medium height and long length. Your ball is going to go in between your shoulder blades, anywhere in your upper back. For now, put that a few inches in front of the block. You'll need to hold it there while you position yourself over the ball. Lie down so that the ball ends up in between your shoulder blades, and rest your head on the block. Open your eyes or close your eyes. Lie your arms by your sides. Now, we're going to do a block. We're going to do a block. We're going to do a block. We're going to do a block. We're going to do a block. We're going to do a block. We're going to do a block. So that the ball ends up in between your shoulder blades. And rest your head on the block. Soften your eyes or close your eyes. Lay your arms by your sides. You could bend your knees or have your legs straight, whatever feels better. Shift your attention onto your breath. You don't need to change anything about your breath just yet. Just feel the air moving in through your nose as you inhale. Let the air flow out of your nose or your mouth as you exhale. And you might notice just by shifting your attention onto your breath, your breath starts to deepen. Feel what parts of your body are moving as you inhale. Maybe the gentle rise and fall of your abdomen. You might notice your ribs moving. Like there's a deflated balloon in your abdomen. Breathe in and inflate the balloon in all directions, up, down, forward, back, side to side. Breathe out and sink your body weight into the ball. Inhale, balloon belly out. Exhale with as little effort as possible. Breathe in, balloon belly out a little. Then feel the breath spread through your mid ribs and upper ribs. Breathe out. Soften your jaw. Soften your throat. When you breathe in again, feel how much internal space you can take up with your breath. We'll stretch this out a little bit more with a breath practice called Viloma Pranayama. This version has four parts. I'll talk you through all of the parts. Breathe out all the way. Breathe in, fill your lungs one third full. Hold your breath. Inhale, fill another third. Hold. Breathe in, any amount more. Exhale, one long, smooth breath out. Breathe in, fill your lungs a third of the way. Hold your breath. Inhale, fill another third. Hold. Sip in any amount more. Exhale easily. Continue on your own. Do two more rounds. Exaggerate the breath holds, the elastic tissues of your lungs to accommodate more air each time. Use the ball for feedback to breathe into. Feel it for pressing your mid-back ribs into the ball. When you're done and there's no rush, return to your deep breath and notice any changes in your breath rhythm. Leave your head and your neck absolutely relaxed. Bend your knees if they're not. Exhale. Continue on your own. Do two more rounds. Exaggerate the breath holds, the elastic tissues of your lungs to accommodate more air each time. Use the ball for feedback to breathe into. Feel it for pressing your mid-back ribs into the ball. When you're done and there's no rush, return to your deep breath and notice any changes in your breath rhythm. Notice any changes in your breath rhythm. Leave your head and your neck absolutely relaxed. Bend your knees if they're not. Roll off the block and the ball to one side. Use your hands. Press yourself up a little bit. Tuck the ball underneath the bottom upper ribs. Have it a little closer to your armpit than you think. Lean over the ball. Thread your arm in between the ball and the block. Set your head on the block like a pillow. Rest your free arm into the floor wherever it feels comfortable. Soften your eyes or close your eyes. Let your body sink down into the cord as well. Feel the ball I'll spread up against your ribcage. We're working our way around the full circumference of your ribcage. That way you can recruit all of your respiratory muscles and get this 360 degree breath. As you breathe in, feel for widening your ribs. Press the ribcage, the part that's up against the ball, down into the cord as well. Breathe out, feel the recoil of your ribcage sink down in the ball. The ball provides a little bit of resistance for you to breathe up against so that your respiratory muscles get stronger. When your respiratory muscles get stronger, that means you can pull in more air because you're more in sync with your nervous system and you have a greater capacity to calm yourself down. There's a few ways to switch sides. You could roll onto your back and roll onto your other side or press your hand on the floor. Leave your neck relaxed. Lift up to seated. Swivel, take the ball and the block with you. Curl up on your other side. Set the ball in between the floor and your ribcage. Have the cordus ball a little closer to your armpit than you think. Spread your arm in between the ball and the block. Sit your head under the block like a pillow. Close your eyes. Stimulus from your environment, from the outside world, so you can go inward. Inside, feel how your breath is moving through your system. Notice your physical and tone. Feel if it's shifting and changing as you breathe. Once again, use the ball for feedback. Expand your mid and upper ribs into the ball as you inhale. As you exhale, sink down over the portis ball. Leave your head and your neck completely relaxed. Press yourself up. Make your head up last. You can tell it to walk aside. The next position for the portis ball is on your sternum, your breastbone. You'll be lying face down. When you get there and put the ball underneath you, be mindful that it's not on your throat. Set the ball toward one edge of your mat, shift on the hands and knees, position yourself over the ball, make fists with your hands, stack your forehead on top of your fists. Let your upper body sink down into the gorgeous ball. You feel the ball spread up against the front side of your chest. The front upper ribs is where we typically breathe, upper thoracic area. Breathing is associated with a fight or flight response from the nervous system, a stress response. The ball being on the other ribs, it will prevent those parts of the ribs from moving easily. It will breathe into your abdomen or into your low back ribs. It will shift the breathing into the abdominal area, and that's associated with rest and digest. If there's too much compression for you, you can always do this up against a wall. Let some air out of the ball. You can lay belly down on the floor. Again, use the ball for feedback to breathe into. Rock yourself up onto your forearms. Slide the ball up from underneath you. Lower your chest, stack your hands, and rest your forehead on top. Feel what those four rolling sequences did. Notice how your breath is different. Physical, emotional, and mental tone. By your hands by your ribcage. Press up on the hands and knees. Have a seat. You can practice these breath practices anytime you need to calm down, anytime you need a nervous system reset. You could go on to another rolling sequence, or go about your day calm yet alert. Namaste.