Meditation/ Breathing Audio (2:1)
Background/Theory
If you want to skip the description you can go straight to the audio on SoundCloud here.
These are 5-minute breathing exercises to help stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, i.e. stimulating the body’s rest/digest response as opposed to fight/flight. The idea is to sustain the exhale relative to the inhale – which in turn triggers rest responses in the body and also helps release toxins.
In these pieces of audio, the inhale/exhale rhythm is guided purely by audio cues (no voice). When the melody goes ‘up’ you inhale, when the melody goes ‘down’ you exhale. You may notice a short bass note between in/out and out/in, which is to signify the pause between in breath and out breath etc. See how you go, it’s intuitive enough and you should be able to follow – but if you want some instruction on what to expect you can click on the YouTube video.
The three audio files below are at different speeds, the first with a 10 second cycle if you are newer to it or are feeling more short of breath. The others are longer as you become more experienced – or you can progress to these one by one as you calm further – find whatever suits your rhythm at a given time. E.g. you may need to go straight to the 14 second one for a relaxing experience. If 5 minutes isn’t enough, just click them again.
Use these whenever you want or feel like you need to relax a bit – a break away from work.. going to sleep.. waking up in the middle of the night.. etc.
More detail is given below the audio links…
10 Second Cycle
5 mins long. Play or download…
12 Second Cycle
5 mins long. Play or download…
14 Second Cycle
5 mins long. Play or download…
More Information
These exercises are audio-based with no speech, and so are not particular to any language and can be used by anyone. For example, we hope to use them among the community of people seeking asylum (e.g. Direct Provision) where people may be experiencing trauma to differing degrees.
The idea of having a longer relative exhale relates to Polyvagal Theory and stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system. In moments of stress the inhale part of the breath is exaggerated and your breathing becomes shallow (you might notice sharper inhales, sighs, yawns). This is fine if there’s a physical threat but can become a little problematic if the symptoms are sustained and due to modern stresses in a work/living environment.
This practice is about sustaining the exhale relative to the inhale – which in turn triggers rest responses in the body (and releases toxins). It is sometimes called “2:1 breathing” referring to the exhale being twice as long as the inhale (or thereabouts). These pieces of audio aren’t exactly 2:1 as during testing people found it a little too sustained for starters, but the exhale is longer than the inhale and uses a natural rhythm.
The audio was designed in collaboration with my cousin who is a psychotherapist and works with people coping with trauma (but they can be used by anybody as a tool to relax). In this context, sometimes people can find focusing on their own breath triggering, similarly if there is instructor guidance. So here the inhale/exhale rhythm is given purely by audio cues. When the melody goes ‘up’ you inhale, when the melody goes ‘down’ you exhale. There is a short bass note in between in/out and out/in to signify the pause between in breath and out breath, and there is a short high note before the exhale notes running downward as a cue to give the body a chance to notice etc. There are also some background sounds that are designed and timed to align with the swell in and out of the breathing rhythm.
Thanks to Cian Finlay from CreateSound for his help and coming up with melody and sounds to suit.
Live Streaming
During the period of social distancing in 2020 we have been building our skills and know-how around live streaming with varying applications and reaching audiences when physical gatherings aren’t possible (as well as for ongoing general capabilities going forward).
Some of us have been supporting full band live streams over multiple platforms, as well as individual performers with online stream/donation mechanics to support musician’s livelihoods. We have also been running DJ streams to support online parties & collective experience and the occasional fundraiser. We are hoping live streaming might pave the way for some improved connection with some music groups we work with who are isolated in the Direct Provision system.
Drop us a line if you would like some support in this area.
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