Today we're looking at the theme of return,
Coming back to that part of us that is in pure presence,
Pure awareness.
So just take a moment in your body,
In your breath to arrive and to consciously land within your practice today.
This time will dissolve rather quickly so in order to make the most of it,
Take a little moment to consciously arrive and to consciously commit to giving your full presence,
Your full attention to this session.
Allow your body to land either in your seated position or lying down,
Feeling the bones starting to get a little heavier.
Notice with the next few natural breaths that the jaw softens,
The forehead softens,
The eyelids gently closed down like two velvet curtains,
They just drape over the eyeballs,
The upper eyelid meets the lower eyelid.
I'd like you to intentionally soften the torso so the stomach,
The ribs,
Receiving the breath will be really important to do with a soft and welcome torso.
So any tension up in the chest,
The shoulders,
Let it go,
Let it go,
Let it go.
And then before we get into shaping and molding the breath in this rhythm,
I'd like you just to become aware now of your natural breath.
Don't have to change it,
Just become aware.
And if you notice that you have the want or desire to breathe out through the mouth a few times,
Go for it.
It might be an inhale through the nose and release through the mouth just to get centered,
To get present.
And then letting go of any expectations from your practice and just being with what is today.
Any judgments about how this should be,
How it should go,
Let them go.
We spend so much of our thinking mind judging,
Creating stories about things when we can just be with the true nature of what is.
Much more enjoyable.
Nicely done.
So let's get into a little bit of equal breathing to begin with.
The next time you breathe in through the nose,
Make it a count to four or five.
And the next time you breathe out,
Make it a count to four or five.
Samasvriti breath.
Equal breath in,
Equal breath out.
And the idea is that we're smoothing out the breath.
You might visualize a square or a hexagon becoming a circle through this beautiful breath.
No pauses at the present moment.
Inhale flows into the exhale,
Exhale flows into the inhale.
Beautiful.
Take just a few more rounds of this equal breath to arrive into center.
The inhale bringing in a little bit of vitality through the whole system and the exhale bringing sweet release,
Sweet surrender.
And then releasing any numbers,
Any counting and just breathing in and out through the nose effortlessly,
Easily.
Whatever breath you've got in your body,
Gently let it go and we'll do this together.
Inhale two,
Three,
Four.
We're gonna suspend the breath.
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Exhale for the count of eight,
Seven,
Six,
Five,
Four,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale two,
Three,
Four.
Suspend for seven.
Release for the count of eight.
Continue straight into the breath in for four.
Suspend for seven.
And breathe out for eight.
Continue in this rhythm in for four,
Hold for seven,
Out for eight.
Choose whether to do the breath out through the nose or through a soft opening through the lips.
Your choice.
And as thoughts come up and try and take you away from this state of pure presence that you're cultivating through your breath,
See if you can keep choosing the breath.
You might use the affirmation,
I choose the breath,
Every time some thoughts take you elsewhere.
I choose the breath.
And you're doing really wonderfully.
Now that you know the pattern,
Now that you know the rhythm,
Can you take five percent tension and seriousness out of your practice?
Can you bring a bit of lightness into this space?
And know that in the pause it is really possible to be in a peaceful state.
It's really possible just to be in the everythingness and the nothingness all at once.
Making this round and the next one your final rounds.
So one more full round.
And then gently releasing the need to sustain and to pause the breath and let the breath flow in a circular motion once again.
Inhale meets the exhale,
Exhale meets the inhale.
Breathing in and out through the nose.
Take a few moments while you're just breathing naturally here to assess from within if there's been any change,
Any shift.
What's altered because of this breathing technique?
Anything at all?
When you're ready start to move the fingers,
Move the toes,
Come back into the space that you're in and move forward with this new spaciousness that you've cultivated for you today.
Instead of looking outside of yourself and seeking peace and joy,
Know that it's inside you,
Seeking you.
