Poco a Poco translates from Spanish to “slowly slowly” or “step by step”. It’s a breathing practice and forms of meditation that invite us to be gentle, loving and kind to ourselves. The inspiration comes from Alchemy of Breath, mindfulness and Integral Zen.
The breath is with us at all times, from the first breath when we are born, it accompanies us at every moment: both in moments of deep relaxation and moments where stress and tension appear. It accompanies us during sleep and when we are awake.
As part of the Poco and Poco sessions, we explore the gentle power of passive and active breathing to find a balance between our nervous systems: sympathetic and parasympathetic, in other words; to find a balance between activation and deep, conscious relaxation in which we are fully present.
The breath can be seen both as our guide and as a tool that we can use at any time during the day to relax or gain more energy.
Working with the breath is also an invitation to connect fully with your body. Learning to listen to the wisdom our bodies want to convey to us. It is a space for opening up to all the emotions that are present to us at a given moment and to insights: seeing a situation in our life or a part of our behavior from a completely new perspective.
We work with passive or active breathing practices.
Passive breathing means watching your breath. It is an invitation to observe how we breathe now. Is it regular or rather intermittent? How long is inhalation and exhalation, and also how deep is our breath. Does it fill entire lungs, stomach; does it reach up to the diaphragm. While working with the conscious observation of our breath, we open to this moment, the now.
Working with active breathing, we can choose a form of practice that will lead us towards deep relaxation, insight, openness to emotions and wisdom flowing from our body, or to activation if we feel the need to gain energy to act.
My meditation teachers talked often about formal and informal practice. Formal practice is a longer time when we meet in a group or for individual 1: 1 practice, dedicating time and attention to work with the breath, body and emotions. Informal practice, on the other hand, is available at any time during the day: as soon as we feel the need to do so, we can take one or three deep, active inhalations and exhalations or dedicate a few moments to observe our breathing in order to be in “now” – right now. Not in the past, not in the future, but right now fully observing and welcoming all that is present to us.
In my experience, the practice of being present, compassionate and being in this moment over time helps us gain life energy for this moment and the future.
I cordially invite you to discover the power of breathing together during individual and group sessions.