Welcome,
And thank you for joining me for this Sun and Moon Balancing Breath Meditation.
Whether you're feeling overstimulated,
Anxious,
Lethargic,
Or depressed,
This simple breathing meditation can bring the opposing energies of the Sun and Moon,
Our yin and our yang,
Into balance so that we can move through our day-to-day life feeling grounded,
Calm,
And focused.
Take a moment to find a comfortable sitting or reclining position.
Make sure you're able to be free of distraction and have the necessary support to keep your spine in alignment and stay comfortably warm.
Now take a few slow,
Deep belly breaths,
And as you exhale,
Just allow the weight of your body to melt into whatever support is beneath you.
You might want to relax your lower jaw and swallow and relax the muscle of your tongue.
Unfurl your brow and invite some softening around and behind your eyes.
Allow your belly to soften each time you exhale.
We'll begin just by being with the breath as it is,
Noticing the sensations of the breath without any kind of interference,
An unmanipulated natural breath,
And following the sensations of the body as you breathe,
That sense of expanding and condensing,
Filling and emptying,
A spontaneous rising of the inhale,
Subsiding with the exhale.
Just allow the breath to be what it is,
And notice,
Open your field of awareness to take in all the sensations of the body breathing,
The breath itself,
The energetic sensations of the breath,
And following the expansion of the bones of the body as you breathe.
There's a natural undulation of the spine and oscillation of the pelvis and the shoulder girdle as we breathe naturally.
It may be subtle if you feel very stiff,
But notice any subtle movements of the skeletal system as you breathe.
Notice the inner wave-like movement of the breath,
The subtle experience of the breath,
Your unique pattern of your natural breath.
The rhythm of the breath has distinct energetic qualities.
The energy of prana rides the inhalation,
And its natural pattern is upward,
Spreading in all directions.
It's expansive in nature,
Light and buoyant.
The energy of the exhale,
Or apana,
Is grounding,
Has a yielding quality to it,
A downward pattern.
The rise of prana corresponding with the inhale is associated with the upper body,
Navel and above,
Our higher energy centers,
And the energy of apana corresponds navel and below,
Pelvis and lower extremities,
Grounding in nature.
Continue to breathe,
Relaxing into the natural breath rhythm,
Allowing it to reveal itself.
In yoga,
We have many thousands and thousands of what's called pranic nadis,
And these are the little channels that the energy of the breath flows through.
We'll concern ourselves with three major ones here,
The idya,
The pingala,
And the sushumna.
The idya corresponds with the left nostril,
It's often called our moon channel,
Very yin,
Feminine in nature.
It carries the energy of apana,
That downward,
Cooling and grounding energy.
The pingala corresponds with the right nostril,
Often called the sun channel,
It's masculine and young in nature.
Carries the energy of prana with that upward,
Rising,
Spreading pattern.
It's warming.
The sushumna is a central channel of our body,
From root to crown,
Our central vessel.
The root chakra,
The muladhara chakra,
Is the meeting place of these three main nadis,
The base of the pelvic floor near the tailbone.
We'll begin a pranayama exercise by sensing the movement of the breath along the inside of your right nostril.
Follow the sensation of the breath rising along the right channel of your body,
Pay particular attention to the sensations of the inhalation as you breathe the sun channel.
All your attention on this right channel.
Now shift your attention and awareness to the inside of your left nostril.
Follow the inner sensation of the breath along the left channel of your body,
Our moon channel.
Pay particular attention to the sensations of the exhalations,
Allowing the breath to flow freely through this left channel.
All your attention,
The left channel,
Moon channel.
When you feel ready,
Begin following the sensations along the sun channel,
Starting with the right nostril.
Notice the sensation of energy rising upward and expanding outward.
Then shift your awareness to the left nostril as you exhale,
Noticing the sensation of energy descending and grounding along the moon channel,
Your left side.
You continue inhaling,
Shifting your attention to the right nostril,
Following the sun channel,
And then exhale through the left nostril,
The left channel.
Continuing to explore the breath sensations.
Right side inhaling,
Energy rising.
Left side exhaling,
Energy descending.
Once you feel comfortably relaxed into a steady,
Even rhythm of sun and moon channel breathing,
Allow for the two to intertwine.
The inhale rises from the base of the exhale.
The exhale spills down from the inhale in a continuous flow of energy,
Almost a circular pattern as the in-breath passes through the out-breath and vice versa.
And now bring your awareness back to the central channel,
The Sushumna,
From the base of the pelvic floor and tail to the crown.
Allow for the continued smooth flow of breath and energy.
Inhale and fill the Sushumna from the root through the central vessel.
Exhale and empty down the central channel back to the root.
A nice,
Steady,
Easeful flow of breath.
Now imagine filling and emptying this vessel that resides in the center of your trunk.
Observe the sensations of the body-mind for just a moment or two before moving on with your day.
Namaste.
