Spaciousness Practice For Mind, Body, & Spirit

This practice is designed to create space in your mind, body, and spirit! We begin with an energizing Kapalabhati breath, followed by a calming and balancing Extended Exhale breath. We then move to a body scan meditation, in which we systematically draw awareness to various parts of the body and invite each to release and let go. I hope this practice supports your journey. Namaste.

Transcript

Just take a moment to find a nice long spine.

However,

It feels most comfortable to sit.

And then as you arrive in this seat,

Let's find a moment just to find a little sway side to side.

It's rooting down noticing the foundation of your sit bones supporting the spine supporting the head.

And then slow that sway and just find a just nice neutral seated position.

And before we move into our practice or a set of practices,

Just take a moment to notice as the eyes have softened to a close and the awareness starts to draw inward,

Just notice whatever pops into your awareness.

Could be in the physical body,

Any sensations you notice.

Could be in our energy.

Maybe a little bit more lethargic or maybe a little bit more bright.

Whatever it is,

Just noticing it.

Maybe it's in the thoughts or the emotions again,

Just being becoming aware of what is in this moment.

And with all this in our awareness,

Can we just observe it all not clinging to anything,

Not pushing away anything,

Just observing everything as it floats through our awareness,

Creating that space from it.

Just observe it.

Good.

And then let that go for now and just draw your awareness to your breath.

Notice your just natural cadence of breath,

The rise and fall of the belly with each round of breath,

The widening and contraction of the rib cage.

And let's take a few deeper,

Longer breaths to arrive.

So on your next inhale,

Take a deep inhale through the nose and exhale a sigh out of the mouth.

Two more like that.

Inhale through the nose.

Exhale a sigh out of the mouth.

And that's like one like this.

Inhale and exhale,

Gentle sigh.

Good.

And then we'll move into our first Pranayama breathwork today,

Kapalbhati.

We're going to do three rounds,

About 30 pumps,

And I'll guide you through.

So let's take one more free round of breath,

A nice deep inhale.

And a nice long,

Slow exhale out of the nose,

The mouth,

Whatever feels better.

Good.

Then we're going to breathe in all the way.

Breathe out halfway.

And exhaling through the nose,

The short pumps of the belly.

Begin.

Keeping the shoulder steady,

Navel drawing back towards spine with each exhale.

And let's go for another 10.

5,

4,

3,

2,

1.

Take a deep breath in.

Hold the breath at the top,

Maybe even gaze in between the eyebrows just to focus.

And exhale,

Let it go.

Good.

Free round of breath.

Inhale.

And then get a long breath out.

Exhale.

Good.

We'll move into our second round.

Inhale fully.

Exhale halfway.

And begin to pump.

Good.

2,

1.

Deep breath in.

Hold at the top again,

Maybe gaze in between the eyebrows.

And then a long breath out.

Take a couple free rounds of breath.

Just noticing any effects of the first two rounds of the practice.

Good.

And then we'll move into our third and final round.

So again,

Take a deep breath in.

Exhale halfway.

And begin to pump.

5,

3,

2,

1.

Deep breath in.

Last time,

Hold at the top.

And then let the breath go.

Take another free round of breath.

And just again,

Take a moment to rest in this space to notice any effects that you notice of that practice.

And next,

We're going to be moving on to the extended exhale with the slight ujjayi,

That constriction of the throat.

So we're going to breathe in for 4 seconds,

Out for 6.

And you can either count or just focus on exhaling longer than you inhale.

And we'll begin together.

So again,

Finding that slight constriction of the throat.

Next,

Inhale.

Breathe in for a count of 4.

3,

2,

1.

And exhale for 6.

3,

2,

1.

Good.

Inhale for finding that constriction of the throat for 2,

1.

And exhale for 6.

Continuing to find that constriction for 2,

1.

Good.

Inhale for 4.

And exhale for 6.

Slowing the breath out on the way out.

Inhale for 4.

And exhale for 6.

Good.

And continue on your own.

And maybe the counts are helpful.

And maybe you let that go.

And again,

Just focus on exhaling longer than the inhale.

Anytime the mind wanders,

Just drawing it back to the breath.

That's what the mind does.

Drawing it back to the inhale of 4 and exhale of 6.

Or the exhale longer than the inhale.

Good.

And after your next exhale breath,

You can let that practice go for now.

Once again,

Just return to your normal cadence of breath.

And again,

Just notice.

Notice the effects of the practice.

Notice where you are in this moment.

Notice anything that's trying to claim your attention.

And just observe it.

Physical sensations,

Thoughts,

Like clouds passing in the sky,

Just witnessing it all.

And our final practice today will be a form of a body scan.

We're going to be systematically drawing awareness to all different parts within the physical body.

And as we locate our awareness in each of these parts,

We're going to ask them to release and let go.

To release and let go.

And so we'll begin by drawing our awareness to our feet.

Wherever you're seated,

Just notice your feet.

So as the feet on the ground or the sides of the feet on the chair,

The floor.

Notice the sensations of the texture beneath.

Notice any temperature of the room.

And ask your feet to release and let go.

And draw your awareness to your ankles.

Notice the ankles,

The inner ankle,

The outer ankle,

The front and back.

And again,

Ask the ankles to release and let go.

Draw your awareness to the lower leg,

The calf,

The front of the leg,

The sides of the legs,

Left and right.

Notice the sensations in these spaces.

Notice what it feels like to draw your awareness here.

And release and let go.

Draw your awareness up to your knees,

The front of the knee,

The back of the knee,

The sides of the knee.

Release and let go.

Draw your awareness up to your upper legs,

The front,

The back,

The sides.

Release and let go.

Draw your awareness up to your hips,

Your seat,

Sides,

Front,

Back.

And again,

Invite in that silent internal repetition of release and let go.

Notice your lower spine,

Middle spine,

And upper spine.

Release and let go.

Notice both shoulders right and left.

Top,

The sides,

Front and back.

Release and let go.

Draw your awareness to your upper arms,

Right and left.

Release and let go.

Your elbows.

Release and let go.

The forearms.

Release and let go.

Each wrist.

Release and let go.

And both hands,

Palms,

Fingers.

Release and let go.

Draw your awareness back up to your neck,

Front,

Back,

Sides.

Release and let go.

Draw your awareness to your ears.

Release and let go.

The back of the head and the top of the head.

Release and let go.

And finally,

All the little tiny muscles on the face,

The eyes,

The ears,

The nose,

The mouth.

Release and let go.

And then draw your awareness to the entirety of the body from the feet through the fingertips up through the crown of the head.

And that's the entirety of the body to release and let go.

Release and let go.

And then one final time,

Just rest within this space.

Noticing,

Observing,

Continuity,

Drawing your mind back if needed to allow yourself to be,

To rest within this spaciousness.

And once again,

Draw your awareness back to your breath.

Notice the natural cadence of breath.

Again,

Just the rise and fall of the belly.

Bring both palms in front of the face and gently rub them together back and forth a few times.

And then place both palms above the eyes.

Taking a moment to,

Again,

Just be in your own essence in this way.

Slide both palms down to the heart center,

Center of the chest.

Take a round of breath into the palms of the heart.

Slide both palms down to the navel center.

Take a breath into the belly.

And then slide the palms down to the lap.

You can either let them rest there or maybe wrap up and down the thighs a couple times just to ground back in the physical body.

And then take one final moment just to be.

And then when you're ready,

Tuck the chin to the chest,

Little bow of the head,

Just to flutter the eyes open,

Returning back to the light of the room.

And then at your own time,

You can bring your head back to a normal neutral position.

Thank you for your attention.