Breathe And Meditate (Part 2)
Breathe and Meditate is a session dedicated to pranayama (breathwork) and meditation. We begin the session with some guided pranayama to centre the mind and relax the body. You will then be guided into a relaxing meditation to focus the mind further and bring about peace, tranquillity and awareness.
Transcript
So,
Without further ado,
Let's begin.
Find yourself a comfortable position for the meditation.
Just take the first minute to do some movement.
If you feel that the body needs to move,
I'm not sure what kind of day you've had,
But if you feel like you need to stretch out the arms,
If you need to bring the feet together in a kind of butterfly and allow the knees to drop out,
Please do so.
And if you could both mute yourselves as well,
That would be great,
Just because of the recording,
It might come through.
That would be fantastic.
So,
I'll just give you this first minute or so just to make any movements that feel natural to you.
Maybe you've been sat at a desk all day.
Maybe you've been quite active.
Maybe just sitting still is the thing that calls for you in this moment.
Just do what feels right in this moment.
And another 30 seconds or so here before we get into the tuning inwards.
So,
Let's find a comfortable seated position.
By all means,
You can have the back supported if you need to,
But try to have the head and neck free.
It's just so that you can sit comfortably for the next half an hour or so.
So,
If you can make any adjustments to make that comfort for yourself,
Please do.
That includes during the session as well.
So,
If you feel that you could make any movements,
That's going to ease the seated posture.
Then do so.
Otherwise,
Try to keep the body as relaxed and as still as possible throughout the session.
It can be quite nice to take a bit of height under the hips,
Maybe a few cushions.
If the knees are quite high,
It allows the hips to release.
When you're ready,
Let's close down the eyes.
By withdrawing the senses aside,
Just notice what arises just from closing the eyes.
The practice of yoga is focused on observation,
On becoming aware of our thoughts,
Our feelings,
The sensations within the body and the mind.
See if you can become aware of those just with the eyes closed.
I'd like us to take this moment at the beginning of the session to set ourselves an intention for the session.
If you have something that you're working on at the moment or that you wish to focus on during this session,
Just allow that to come to mind and just sit with that intention just for a few seconds.
Once that intention has settled in,
Let's do a gentle scan of the entire body,
Starting at the crown of the head.
Intermentally scan down through the body towards the toes and check in with each body part.
Notice any areas of tension and any areas of softness of space.
If you do come across any areas that are tight,
Just take a breath and by placing your awareness and exhaling into that point,
See if you can release that tension.
Then continue on with your scan towards the toes.
Take your time here.
So taking your time,
But when you have completed a scan of the entire body,
All the way from the crown of the head towards the toes,
Slowly draw your awareness to your breath.
So begin to notice the qualities of your breath.
Noticing whether the breath is deep or shallow.
Noticing whether each breath is long or short.
Noticing where the breath is felt most prominently in the body.
Connect to that sensation of the breath.
Connect to the expansion of the inhalation,
The contraction of the exhalation.
Just breathing normal at this moment.
Let's come into stillness by taking a nice deep inhale through the nose and exhaling that out.
As you exhale,
Relax the body.
Another inhale.
And a long exhalation to release that.
Relax even further.
Deep inhale.
And with this exhalation,
Relax completely.
Remembering at this point that the practice of meditation is not so much of doing,
But of being.
So as we move through a few breathing techniques now,
Try to be in the moment with the breath.
And should any distracting thoughts arise,
See them for what they are,
Simply as a thought.
And then drawing our awareness,
Drawing ourselves back to that moment that we are focusing on.
Begin to welcome slightly deeper breaths in,
Slightly longer breaths out.
Breathing in and out through the nose.
In this moment,
Try to notice the cool air coming in through the nostrils with the inhalation and the hot air coming out with the exhalation.
Slowly working your way up to taking full inhalations.
Full exhalations.
Noticing now once again where you feel the breath most prominently in the body.
Do you feel the breath expanding through the belly?
Is the breath felt in the chest area?
Nice,
Long,
Smooth,
Deep breaths now.
Begin to send the breath deep into the belly,
Breathing into the base of the lungs.
With your inhalation,
Feel the belly expand.
With the exhalation,
Feel the belly relax.
Deeply into the belly.
And out as the belly relaxes.
Take a few deep breaths in and out of the belly.
As we move through these exercises,
Constantly refining your awareness,
Noticing if any tension arises within you.
If it does,
Try to relax that tension by elongating that exhalation.
By controlling our exhalation and making it longer than our inhalation,
We are systematically relaxing the body.
Like a controlled sigh.
Fully in.
Fully out.
Let's begin to incorporate the chest with your next in-breath.
Feel the belly expand,
Feel the chest expand.
With the exhalation,
Relax through the chest,
Through the belly.
As you inhale,
The belly expands,
The chest expands.
As you exhale,
Relax through the chest,
Through the belly.
A few deep breaths,
Breathing into the belly,
Into the chest.
Relaxing through the chest,
Through the belly with the exhalation.
Try to make your breaths deep and full.
Long and smooth.
Slowly inhale,
Slowly exhale.
Incorporate the third and final part of this breathing technique.
As you inhale,
Feel the belly expand,
Feel the chest expand,
And feel the collarbone rise with the inhalation.
As you exhale,
Relax through the collarbone,
The upper chest,
And the belly.
Think of this in three parts.
As you inhale,
The belly expands,
The chest rises and expands,
The collarbone rises.
As you exhale,
Relax through the chest and through the belly.
Keep these deep breaths going.
Let's take the next minute or so as we begin to use the full capacity of our lungs.
See if you can mentally count the inhalation for a count of five,
And mentally count the exhalation for a count of five.
As you inhale,
On one,
On two,
On three,
On four,
Five.
As you exhale,
On one,
On two,
On three,
On four,
Five.
Keep this count.
For the next few breaths.
Incoming the fresh energy,
The fresh prana,
The fresh oxygen into the body with the inhalation.
And release the tension,
The carbon dioxide with the exhalation.
Awareness on the breath moving in and out of the body.
Good.
One more deep inhale.
And with the exhalation,
Release that breathing technique and just watch the breath.
See if there is any residue of that practice,
If the breath has become slightly deeper,
If you are now more aware of the breath,
If you can feel the lungs expanding and contracting,
The diaphragm moving up and down with each breath.
Now in order to focus the mind,
We must give it something to focus on.
So focusing on the breath more intensely will eventually clear the mind of all other thoughts.
So try to keep the mind on the subtlety of breath,
Not forcefully,
But just constantly bringing your awareness back to your breath,
Should the mind become distracted on other thoughts.
We now work towards a technique known as box breathing,
Where we inhale for a count,
Hold for a count,
Exhale for a count,
Hold for a count.
Should at any point this breathing become strenuous or harsh for yourself,
Just focus on deep breath and join it when you can.
We'll slowly build this up.
We'll begin by linking the breath together.
So let's all take a nice deep inhale and an exhalation here.
Now inhaling for a count of 3,
2,
1.
Exhaling for 3,
2,
1.
Inhale 3,
2,
1.
Exhale 3,
2,
1.
Inhale 3,
2,
1.
Exhale 3,
2,
1.
Inhale 3,
2,
1.
Exhale 3,
2,
1.
Inhale 3,
2,
1.
Hold the breath.
1,
Exhale 3,
2,
1.
Inhale 3,
2,
1.
Hold the breath for 1,
Exhale 3,
2,
1.
Inhale 3,
2,
1.
Hold the breath for 3,
2,
1.
Exhale 3,
2,
1.
Inhale 3,
2,
1.
Hold the breath for 3,
2,
1.
Exhale 3,
2,
1.
Hold the breath for 1,
Inhale 3,
2,
1.
Hold the breath for 3,
2,
1.
Exhale 3,
2,
1.
Hold the breath for 1,
Inhale 3,
2,
1.
Hold the breath for 3,
2,
1.
Exhale 3,
2,
1.
Hold the breath for 2,
1.
Inhale 3,
2,
1.
Hold the breath for 3,
2,
1.
Exhale 3,
2,
1.
Hold the breath for 2,
1.
Inhale 3,
2,
1.
Hold the breath for 3,
2,
1.
Exhale 3,
2,
1.
Hold the breath for 3,
2,
1.
Inhale 3,
2,
1.
Hold the breath for 3,
2,
1.
Exhale 3,
2,
1.
Hold the breath for 3,
2,
1.
Inhale for 3,
Continue this.
Mentally counting,
Hold for 3.
Exhale for 3.
Hold for 3.
Continue this,
Mentally counting.
3 seconds for each breath.
Including the retentions at the top.
Including the retention at the bottom.
Try to keep a softness in the whole breath and the body.
If there is any harshness or restriction in terms of tightness in the body,
Try and soften or skip the retention completely.
Again,
If this isn't for you,
Just inhaling deeply and exhaling.
Try to envision the box in the mind.
As you inhale,
There is a line at the left hand side as you hold from the left to the right.
As you exhale,
From the right to the bottom.
As you hold,
From the right to the left.
Try to envision this box.
After your next retention on the exhalation,
Release the control of the breath,
But try to keep the image of the box in your mind.
Allow the breath to flow naturally now.
Begin to watch this box with utmost attention,
This image that's formed in your mind of this box.
And place this box mentally at either your heart space or the space between the eyebrows,
Whichever space you're naturally drawn towards.
But keep your attention at this space.
Do not switch between the two.
Placing this box at either your heart space or the eyebrow center,
Should the shape change from a box to a circle to a triangle,
Anything like that,
Allow it to take the form it needs to.
Inside of this box,
Sphere,
Circle,
Place your intention into that box,
Into this shape.
This intention will be your mantra,
Your point of focus.
So allow this intention to become such a phrase that you can repeat with your exhalation.
And when this phrase takes shape,
It may be,
I am enough,
I am at peace,
I am happy.
Whatever comes to mind with this intention,
Begin to mentally repeat this intention with every exhalation.
Placing this mantra,
This intention at either your heart space or the space between the eyebrows,
Relax into it,
Repeat mentally with every exhalation.
Try to release the doing.
Simply be in the repetition of this mantra,
Of this intention.
Should the shape still be there or take another form,
Allow that shape to visualize in your mind.
And allow the connection between the shape and the repetition of your mantra,
Of your intention,
To slowly connect,
Not through forcefulness,
But of slow repetition and being observant of what arises.
Spend the next few moments with our repetition of our mantra.
Keep drawing the mind back to your point of focus,
Back to the repetition of your mantra,
Should the mind be distracted.
Keep the mind,
Keep the awareness there at the heart space,
Or at the eyebrow center.
Repeat your intention with firm belief and devotion that the repetition of your intention will draw it closer towards you,
That your devotion and repetition of your intention,
Of your mantra,
Will be embedded within you.
And with your next exhalation,
Release the repetition of the mantra,
Release the awareness of the heart space or eyebrow center.
Simply just be,
Just observe,
Release all doing.
Just keep the awareness in front of the closed eyes,
And aware of the softness of the space.
Slowly begin to draw your awareness back to the physical sensations of the body.
The parts of the body connected with the floor,
Or the chair,
Or the cushion,
The ground beneath you.
Sensations and feeling of the clothes upon your skin.
And in your own time,
When you feel ready,
Slowly,
Very slowly,
Reopen the eyes and take your time with this.
When you are ready and the eyes are open,
Just spend a moment in this space,
Coming back to the space you created to start the breathing,
The meditation.
And feel free to make any movements that you feel the body needs,
Stretch out the legs.
So thank you both for joining me this evening.
Always a pleasure to share the practices of yoga with you.
This will be recorded,
So if you need to access it,
I'll send you links.
Thank you very much.
Enjoy the rest of your evenings.
If you have any questions,
Please drop them to me in an email.
Thank you.
