Hi, I am Eula Lys Dunkin. I'm a trans therapist and a somatic coach, and this is a beginner breathwork practice for trans bodies.

My recommendation would be to listen to this entire recording first before going ahead and practicing it because I'm going to be including a lot of setup pieces and a lot of safety anchor points along the way. And this gives you a chance to listen and know what to expect before going into the practice.

As always, if at any point, any part of you

or you notice any internal signal that your body is saying no, stop, slow down, absolutely listen to that.

Breath work is something that is never necessary or required. And it's also something that is really important to ease into slowly. So wherever you are, it's always okay to pause, stop, slow down.

That being said, let's set up your container first. Find a space that feels cozy and safe enough. That could be a favorite room. It could be your bed. It could have a favorite chair. Maybe it's a place in nature. You could be sitting up, standing, lying down. The goal is that you're going to choose a space that ideally has a lot of comfort items in it and supports.

If you're the type of person who likes to have comfort items around you like

A stuffed animal or you like to hold something like a small stuffy or any type of comfort item in your hands or have something in your lap, go ahead and do that as well.

Other comfort items could be pets, pictures of pets, pictures or artwork of ancestors or nature or anything at all that just helps you feel supported and cozy, safe enough. And the final piece here is you can keep your eyes open or closed or go back and forth between the two. The main goal here with this beginner practice is to ease into breath work and to really help your system feel safe in doing so.

A couple of heads up: We're going to be doing some really simple breath work that isn't going

to be activating a lot of energy or over oxygenating the body. That being said, sometimes when we do breath work, it might highlight, one, that we're breathing. We might feel some of the effects of more oxygen in the body. And that can look a lot of different ways.

You might feel a little more energy.

We're not going to be doing over-oxygenated breath work, so you're likely not going to be feeling kind of like the extra tingling sensations that come from hyperventilation.

However, you may feel a little bit of that, a little bit of sensation, a little bit of energy moving, a little bit of expansion because we're going to be breathing a More air into

the lungs. So just check in with that. And if again, this is something that you end up not wanting to feel today or in this moment, that's absolutely okay.

I'm going to be guiding you through a really simple beginner breathwork practice.

We're going to be going in counts of four. So we're going to be starting by breathing in for four and out for four. And I'm going to be counting with you so that you don't have to do that internally. Then we're going to transition To breathing in for a count of four and out for a count of six. So the exhale is just going to be a little bit longer. And that's all we're going to do today.

So go ahead, as we get started, feel your anchor points. What's holding you? To the ground, to the earth. If your feet are on the floor and you want to massage them into the floor, if you can feel that, if that's accessible in your body, go ahead and do that. Really feel that anchoring. Same with if you're sitting in a chair, lying on a bed or sitting on the ground. Feel those points of contact holding you, grounding you to the earth.

Even if you're in a chair, in a bed, in an apartment, somewhere that's not out in nature, eventually underneath the layers of foundation in the building, there is the earth that's holding you, holding all of us right now. We are going to be breathing in and out the nose.

However, if you struggle to breathe in and out the nose for whatever reason, allergies, deviated septum, it's just not easy today. You can breathe in and out of the mouth. So just go ahead and choose whatever's going to feel best for your body today.

So first of all, check in and see. Maybe you want to have your palms of your hands either on a solid surface. Maybe you want your hands to be holding a comfort item or on a pet that's nearby. Palms down is likely going to feel a little more grounding. Palms up is going to feel a little more opening. So just check in today. Do what feels best for your body.

First thing we're going to do is check in. You've been breathing this whole time. So first notice, where's your breath right now? Is it in your chest? Is it kind of in your lower lungs? Is it in your throat?

Maybe you're breathing from your diaphragm. Just notice before changing anything, where's your breath? And now we're going to start to move the breath really slowly and gently down into the diaphragm. If you've never done this before, it can feel a little funky and that's okay.

So the diaphragm, when we think about like breathing into our bellies, the diaphragm is actually this really big area It actually expands in a circular way, front, back, and to the sides. So the way that I tap into breathing more from my diaphragm is as I breathe in, I want to feel my belly actually puff out a little bit, expand a little bit. If we're used to breathing from our chest, this might feel a little awkward at first, but it's okay. So just see, even if you can just a little bit, this next breath in, I'll do it with you.

Feel if you can breathe from your belly. You can even place a hand in front of, it's kind of like you're right beneath your lower ribs. And as we breathe in now, Feel and see if your hand can move outward a little bit. And now the exhale. Feel your hand just contract that little bit. Try one more time. Breathe in. And breathe out. So it's this really gentle expansion with the hand moving out on the inhale, contraction, hand moving in with the belly on the exhale.

Now check in. How was that? Was that enough for today? Did that feel like, whew, okay? That felt like all my system, all my body is okay with today. If that's okay, And what you're feeling, perfect. Notice that, go with that and pause this practice. That's your breath work for the day. You did great.

And if you're ready to keep going, we are now going to start the in for four, out for four.

Now, again, you can do this all through your nose. If that's hard, you can breathe through your mouth. So do you want to keep your hand on that place right beneath the lower ribs? Go ahead and do that. I am going to be initiating the breath and counting for you.

So before we get started, take one inhale, exhale, just to refresh and let all your air out on your exhale.

And now we're going to breathe in for a count of one, two, three, four.

Exhale, one, two, three, four.

We're going to do three more rounds.

One, two, three, four.

That's the top of the inhale.

Exhale.

One, two, three, four.

Inhale.

One, two, three, four.

Exhale.

One, two, three, four.

Final round, one, two, three, four.

Exhale, one, two, three, four.

Okay, great.

Now check in.

Before we go any further, notice any shifts that have happened internally. Notice if you can feel oxygen moving through your body. Notice just my nervous system's doing from before we started to now. And again, check in. Was that good for today? Do you feel like now is a good time to stop and pause and just let that metabolize?

The next step, if you're ready to go further, is we're going to do a slightly longer exhale. We're going to inhale for four and exhale for six. And this time, if you want, if you've been inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your nose,inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth using a sound.

Okay, so again, we're going to do one free breath just to reset, recycle. So breathe in, breathe out, let all the air out.

We're going to do four rounds again. I'll do the counting.

So inhale on a count of one, two, three, four, five, six.

Exhale, one, two, three, four, five, six.

Inhale, two, three, four, five, six.

Exhale, two, three, four, five, six.

Last round.

Inhale, two, three, four, five, six.

Exhale, two, three, four, five, six.

Great.

Now turn to your natural breath cadence.

And again, check in. Just notice what you notice. See how your nervous system feels. Reorient to the room around you. Take in any micro shifts that may have happened. Reconnect to your safety anchors, those cozy points in your environment. See if any movement, any stretching wants to happen.

Thank you for doing this beginner breath work practice with me. You can return to this whenever you like. And remember, each day is different in your body. This practice does not have to look the same every single time you do it.