Breathing With The Ocean
Together, we journey to the coastal redwood shoreline. Grounding ourselves in the holding of warm sand alongside jagged cliff edges. Allowing the fog to clear as gentle waves begin to breathe alongside us, in...and...out...washing away the day, making space for spaciousness.
Transcript
Good afternoon.
If you're coming to this meditation then maybe you're just getting home from a busy day or just coming down from a day that has transpired the way that it has and you're looking to sort of ease into the afternoon,
The evening,
Into a time of more rest,
More rejuvenation.
So what I'm going to guide you through is called the Durga breath or as I like to call it ocean breathing.
This can be done sitting up or you're welcome to lie down and get yourself comfortable and come into more of an easy position with your feet as wide as the yoga mat.
Knees can knock together and just sort of fall towards each other naturally.
So go ahead and get yourself set up in whatever position feels good to you at this moment in time.
And know that this practice can be done any time.
It doesn't have to be done in the evening.
It doesn't have to be done in the afternoon.
It's a great way to just reset and settle for any time of day.
So wherever you're at,
However you've chosen to do this breath practice,
Go ahead and just get any wiggles out of the body,
Any movements that need to take place.
If there's any stretching of the body,
Opening and closing of the jaw,
Maybe making some fists and then releasing the hands,
Curling the toes in and then releasing the feet.
Maybe just beginning to take three deep breaths at your own pace with the intention of just clearing away whatever came before.
So breathing in this beautiful clearing breath and then exhaling through the mouth,
Just letting everything go.
Doing this a couple more times as if the breath could just wash away whatever came before this moment,
Clearing the way for what will come after,
Allowing you to be right here,
Right now.
After your next long exhale,
Just allowing the breath to settle into its natural rhythm.
If you're seated,
Maybe gently finding your posture by swaying the pelvis forward and back,
Moving slowly,
Moving easefully,
Just feeling that rocking motion of the pelvis as if your body was seated upon gentle,
Rocking water.
If you're lying down,
Just allowing yourself to become heavy.
And if you're seated,
Eventually landing with the pelvis just slightly tilted forward,
Feeling that invisible pull of the spine as if it could stack up towards the heavens.
If it's possible in your body,
Maybe rotating the shoulders up and back and down,
Just letting them fall and rest along the back.
Chin can stick out slightly and come back to rest right over the heart,
Allowing the chin to just sort of fall as it wishes towards the heart.
Palms can rest,
Palms down on top of the thighs.
And if you're laying on your back,
The palms can be rested,
Maybe over the hips to start.
Just allowing yourself to arrive here to just see what the weather is like inside.
Knowing that you have nowhere else to be right now but here.
What will come after will still be there.
And what came before no longer applies.
Allow the breath just to massage all of your organs,
Feeling this loving breath just move through your body at its natural pace,
As if it could wash away the tension remaining anywhere in the physical body,
Allowing the body to stay upright,
Yet supported,
Relaxed,
Released.
Whether you're lying down or seated,
It's as if your bones could become a little bit heavier,
A little bit softer.
And from this place,
Just maybe calling in some form of an intention around caring for this amazing body that houses you.
What is needed right now?
Maybe asking the body,
What is needed?
What do you need?
Be it healing,
Relaxation,
Rest,
Attention,
Love,
Letting that be whatever it is.
Beginning to imagine yourself seated or lying down in front of a calm ocean.
The warm sand underneath your body holds you here,
Supports you here.
You watch as the water gently calls back into itself as if inhaling.
And you watch as the water gently comes upon the shore as if exhaling,
Letting go.
As you breathe and as you witness this ocean,
You notice how you begin to sink your breath and the wave calling back in on an inhale,
Releasing upon the shore with the exhale.
Whenever you're ready,
However you're seated or lying,
Placing both hands over the belly and seeing about calling all the breath into the belly.
Feeling as the breath inhales and extends and expands into the palms of the hands.
And as you exhale,
The hands are called back in.
Focusing the attention of the breath,
The attention of this gentle wave into the area of the belly.
Recognizing any tension,
Anything going on in the belly and noticing how the warm healing energy of the breath could just clear and soften and wash away any troubles of the day with every inhale and every exhale.
Just breathing like this into the belly for another two rounds on your own.
Noticing how you can draw this attention just into the belly.
After your next long exhale,
Slowly dragging both hands under the chest bone over the rib cage and beginning to do the same thing,
Just calling the breath into this central rib cage,
Chest bone,
Breathing into the palms of the hands,
Exhaling,
Letting the hands fall deeper.
Just like the wave,
Breathing into the hands,
Feeling that breath of the rib cage expand 360 degrees around your chest.
And exhale,
Allow it to call back.
Just like the ocean,
Just like the wave,
You breathe.
And you exhale,
Letting go,
Releasing what doesn't serve.
Doing this on your own for another two rounds of breath.
Noticing the softening in your body,
The softening and the length of the breath.
As you shift both hands over your chest,
Calling the breath upwards into the palms of the hands over the chest.
As you breathe,
Noticing the different sensations in the body,
Allowing that exhale to lengthen,
To release and to soften.
Directing the breath with every inhale into the area of the chest and the palms.
Moving with the ocean and their rhythm.
Slowing the breath,
Breathing into the hands.
Every exhale,
Releasing the breath onto the shore,
Letting go.
Two more breaths like this,
On your own.
You can do it.
After your next long exhale,
Leaving your left hand over your chest and bringing your right hand over your belly.
And beginning to see if,
Just like the ocean wave,
Can you direct the breath on the inhale through the belly,
The rib cage and the chest.
And then exhale,
Chest,
Rib cage,
Belly.
Envisioning as you breathe from belly to rib cage to chest.
And exhale,
Chest,
Rib cage,
Belly.
Beginning to notice your breath and your body becoming the wave.
As you breathe inward,
Calling yourself back into the ocean.
Exhaling,
Letting everything that doesn't serve wash upon the shore.
Doing this on your own for three more rounds.
Moving as the ocean.
After your next long exhale,
Releasing the hands either to the sides if you're lying down or onto the legs if you're seated.
And just letting the breath be.
Letting that visual fade.
And maybe just taking inventory and noticing and checking in.
How is your body now?
How is your mind now?
Your breath?
Your heart?
Your soul?
Is there a softening?
Is there an angst?
Is there anything here?
Does it get to be here?
Can we let it all exist together?
Remembering our intention from the beginning.
Whenever you're ready,
Gently once more seeing this beautiful beach,
This beautiful ocean and just having gratitude.
Remembering that you too are nature.
And that the sea is not always calm inside and that is okay.
That is why we breathe.
That is why we sit.
I'm in this with you.
Whenever you're ready,
Gently rubbing your palms together,
Generating some heat,
Some energy between the palms and placing cupped palms over closed eyes and just enjoying this womb-like darkness,
This warmth for a couple of breaths,
Recognizing that we need to go inward to truly,
Truly see.
Fluttering the eyes open under closed palms,
Awakening from this dream.
Whenever you're ready,
You've completed your practice and I'm so proud of you.
I'll see you on the mat next time.
