(#33) Journaling for Wood Season and Breathwork for an Energetic Reset
Mar 13, 2024Episode 33
Rae The Somatic Coach
Your host Rae is back with a solo-episode to support you in all things wood season! Wood season begins on March 19th* and ends at the summer solstice. It's all about expression, abundance, receiving, and refinement. Return back to this episode anytime you might need:
A shift in perspective or energy
A "pick me up" through connection with your breath and body
To connect deeply with your energy, body, and breath
To release stress and tension
To cleanse your energy from the inside, out
Listen to today's episode to receive:
Learn what wood season is all about and how you can go with the flow of nature
How to lean into the seasons of your life
Journaling prompts to set the next three months up for success
An activating breathwork practice for energetic cleansing that you can use at anytime
The breath pattern for today's practice includes:
(1 min) of the Bliss Breath. Forced exhale through the nose, natural inhale.
Top Hold
Bottom Hold
Repeat the above cycle 3x
(1 min) Meditate
***Do not participate in breathwork while driving***
Participate in Curious Convos. Share your questions and topic requests!
Disclaimer: Please remember that the information shared on this podcast is intended to inspire, educate, and support you on your personal journey. It does not substitute for professional mental health advice. I am not a psychologist or medical professional. If you are experiencing any emotional distress, mental health challenges, or medical conditions, please seek help from a qualified professional.
Your host Rae is back with a solo-episode to support you in all things wood season! Wood season begins on March 19th* and ends at the summer solstice. It's all about expression, abundance, receiving, and refinement. Return back to this episode anytime you might need:
A shift in perspective or energy
A "pick me up" through connection with your breath and body
To connect deeply with your energy, body, and breath
To release stress and tension
To cleanse your energy from the inside, out
Listen to today's episode to receive:
Learn what wood season is all about and how you can go with the flow of nature
How to lean into the seasons of your life
Journaling prompts to set the next three months up for success
An activating breathwork practice for energetic cleansing that you can use at anytime
The breath pattern for today's practice includes:
(1 min) of the Bliss Breath. Forced exhale through the nose, natural inhale.
Top Hold
Bottom Hold
Repeat the above cycle 3x
(1 min) Meditate
***Do not participate in breathwork while driving***
Participate in Curious Convos. Share your questions and topic requests!
Disclaimer: Please remember that the information shared on this podcast is intended to inspire, educate, and support you on your personal journey. It does not substitute for professional mental health advice. I am not a psychologist or medical professional. If you are experiencing any emotional distress, mental health challenges, or medical conditions, please seek help from a qualified professional.
Speaker 1:
Welcome to the Radiant Life podcast. I'm your host, Ray the Stematic Coach, and I'm here to support you in healing your past, living in the present and creating your future, so that you can become the most centered, embodied and happiest version of yourself. Each week, I'll be bringing you episodes to help you navigate life's challenges, ease stress and tension and learn more about holistic healing, spirituality and wellness. If you're interested in becoming the best version of yourself so that you can live the life of your dreams, then you're in the right place. Subscribe to the podcast and the monthly newsletter and follow me on Instagram and TikTok to know when new episodes are released each week. I am so happy that you've landed here. Let's dive in. Welcome back to the podcast. I am so glad that you are here. If you are new here, I'm Ray. I'm a Stematic Coach and Breathwork facilitator, and if you aren't new here, welcome back. I'm so glad that you're here. I hope you're having a good week so far. I feel like it's been so long since I've done a solo episode, so I'm excited to just bring this to you today and be here with you, and I hope that you enjoy it.
Speaker 1:
I can't believe that it is already the middle of March and that we are headed into wood seasons. So, according to five element theory, there are five different seasons throughout the year Wood, water, metal, fire and earth and so each season has its own qualities, its own energy, and the way I learned about five element theory and just the different seasons was through studying flower essence, and it's not something I've actually talked about too much on the podcast, so maybe I could do an episode on that, but I will say that flower essence and connecting with each season and incorporating that kind of medicine has been really really cool for me and I've really enjoyed it and I've incorporated it into some of my client sessions and it's been really a nice way to connect with nature. So here we have wood season. So this is a time of growth, a time of rebirth, a time of change, and it's during this season so all from March 21st to the summer solstice that all of the seeds that you may have planted over the past few months will begin to kind of bloom and flourish. It's a great time to work on our expression, whether that's our vocal expression, our physical or artistic creativity.
Speaker 1:
A great time for seasons of abundance, which is always fun, and seasons of change, and so one of my favorite books that I've used when I start working with elements, when there's a change of season or when I'm creating a specific breathwork journey based around a specific element. It's called In Our Element by Lindsay Fautleroy, and she is in acupuncturist and I studied with her when I was learning about flower essence, and so I'll read you a little excerpt of how she describes this season. We encounter the wood element when we see the first buds of nature sprouting. All winter long, those seeds have been deep in the ground, gathering the strength that they need for that defining moment when they must break open and push through the soil. There is movement originating out of stillness and a push forward with clear purpose and direction. The wood element teaches us how to grow and expand. We go after what we need to actualize our greatness without the need for permission or validation, and so I love leaning into five element theory. I love working with the elements, working with nature, to understand the different seasons of our life that we might be in and how these qualities might be showing up for you in your life.
Speaker 1:
I came up with a few journaling questions that you could answer while you're listening here, whether you're driving or going for a walk, or you can pause and listen to them later. I thought it would be helpful for really defining what success looks like for you, what aligned action might look like for you as we head into this season of growth and expansion and change, really having clarity around what that means for you. So the first question, which kind of actually builds off of our last podcast episode, by coincidence, in the literal sense is there an area of my home that I can clear out? Is there clutter that I can let go of? Is there a space that needs to be cleared or cleaned? And the second question is there anything that feels heavy in my life right now? So those two questions are focused more so on refinement and here are a few on defining success, so picking a specific area of your life, whether that's work, relationship, health, money, career. What is my definition of success? What does success in this area look like and feel like for me? In this specific area, what would be the most supportive to set me up for my greatest success? And then, in terms of taking action in this specific area, where can I make small changes to move me closer towards my intention in this area of my life. Is there a way of thinking that I can let go of to allow more freedom in this area? And then our last question, reflecting on the past three months of 2024, what is working well for me in this area that I could bring forward with me and what is not working well for me that I can learn from and gently release. And the intention for these questions is really to allow yourself the time and space to make any small changes, whether that's energetic or literal boundaries, and to really create your own definition of success so that you can move forward towards it at your own pace, in your own way, and really meet your own personal goals.
Speaker 1:
So last year for Wood Season, I ran a group program called Bloom and it was all based around Wood Season, connecting with the elements and incorporating the different intentions of this season. It was a breathwork program and we met every week for four weeks and we focused on the different intentions of this season. So the first was around boundaries and change. Then we went into expression, we went into replenishment and joy and then we closed with receiving and abundance. And that was a great group program. I might run it again now that I'm talking about it and thinking about it. So if that interests you, definitely keep an eye out. I'll probably share it on Instagram first just to get a feel, and in the meantime, as we close out this part of today's episode, I'm going to share with you a breathwork for an energetic reset practice. So I hope you enjoy it and let's dive in. Welcome back to the studio For today's practice.
Speaker 1:
We're going to be doing breathwork for an energetic reset, so this is a great practice for coming back into your body, quieting the mind, resetting your energy and cleansing your energy and your body using your breath. This is an activating breath pattern that we'll be doing and it includes the bliss breath, which is exhaling completely through your nose with that natural inhale, and as you exhale, your belly snaps in, so that sounds like this. So there is some pace to the breath definitely find the pace that feels good for you and the rhythm that feels good for you, and I'll also be incorporating a few top holds, which is inhaling through your nose and suspending your breath at the top, and also some bottom holds where you exhale and hold your breath at the bottom. We'll be doing three rounds of that bliss breath and I will be guiding and queuing you the whole time. I hope that you enjoy today's practice and let's dive in Getting settled into your space and starting with three cleansing breaths inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth. Breathing in and exhaling through your nose.
Speaker 1:
Inhaling through your nose and exhaling and taking one more deep breath, just like that, at your pace, and exhaling through your nose, allowing your mind to take a break, allowing your body to settle into your current space, so bringing your awareness, your mind's eye, to what's supporting you underneath you, noticing the temperature of your body, the temperature of your hands and of your feet, and taking a moment here to set your personal intention for your practice and remembering to breathe at your pace, in the way that your body needs for today and when you feel ready, beginning that first round of the bliss breath, exhaling through your nose with Intention and sticking with that breath. You're doing great, gently, beginning to take a full inhale through your nose, moving into our first top hold, inhaling deeply through your nose and holding your breath at the top rolling your shoulders back, lifting up the chin just a few more seconds here and releasing that breath through your mouth, suspending your breath at the bottom.
Speaker 1:
Holding your breath at the bottom and releasing in three, two, one, just noticing how your body feels, maybe stretching and as we move into that second round, maybe placing one hand on your chest and one hand on your belly, moving into that second round of the bliss breath, all through your nose and your pace, sticking with that breath, allowing it to clear out the old, allowing it to cleanse your body from the inside and welcoming in the new. You're doing great. Your body and your breath know exactly what to do. Just a few more seconds here and as we move into that next top hold, taking that deep inhale through your nose and bringing that inhale up through the earth, up into your body, into your lungs, letting that air expand your lungs and holding that breath right at the top. Deep inhale and suspending your breath, holding and when you exhale through your mouth, really opening up that expression, letting your body clear on that exhale, creating that spaciousness and holding that breath right at the bottom and releasing that hold, stretching one more time, rolling out those shoulders, feeling those shifts in your body, with your breath and moving into this last round, inhale through the nose with intention, this final round of the bliss breath and sticking with that breath, you're doing great.
Speaker 1:
Where can you release? What can you make space for? And as we move into that last hop, hold, taking a deep inhale, bringing that inhale up from the earth through the soles of your feet into your belly, into your chest, and letting those lungs expand with that inhale, suspending your breath at the top, rolling those shoulders back, opening up the chest, lifting the chin and raise your hands up, your arms up, opening up wide chest, and staying with that hold and as you release, as you exhale, really letting go, letting that breath clear your body, your energy. With that exhale you can even sigh and holding your breath at the bottom and releasing that bottom hold, allowing your hands to gently settle on the tops of your thighs and we're turning back to your normal breathing pattern, noticing any shifts, noticing how your body feels, how it feels to be connected to your breath, connected to your body, and allowing your energy to settle here into this new state as you meditate.
Speaker 2:
And we're turning back to your normal breathing pattern.
Speaker 1:
And, when you feel ready, gently beginning to open your eyes, coming back into your space, bringing this energy with you into the rest of your day. I'll talk to you soon. Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode. If you were moved or inspired, please share with me by leaving a reading and review on Apple Podcast. It means the world to me and I am so appreciative for your support in helping my podcast grow. If we aren't already connected on social media, head over to Instagram and TikTok and follow me at Ray the Semetic Coach. Make sure you check out the show notes of today's episode for links to freebies, opportunities to work with me and ways we can stay connected outside of the podcast. I'm so happy that you're here and I can now eat to talk with you on our next episode of the Radiant Life Podcast.