Beginning your lung exploration by laying your body down on a comfortable,
Firm surface.
You might like to spread out a blanket on the floor or on top of a yoga mat.
As you come to lie down on your back,
Make any natural movements and then bend up your legs and place both feet on the ground.
This is called constructive rest position.
You can walk your feet wider apart and let the knees lean against one another.
Check in with yourself and see if you're comfortable here.
And if not,
What would help you to feel more comfortable?
Maybe you need to place a flat pillow under your head.
Or cover yourself with a blanket.
Take a moment here to feel the body making contact with the earth.
To feel the body giving weight.
And to feel the body receiving support from the earth.
Can you begin to notice your breath?
And sometimes we enter into these kinds of practices with a bit of resistance.
Sometimes our mind is busy or stuck in repetitive thoughts.
And our breath responds to that by also getting stuck.
Take a few deeper breaths here.
Inhaling through the nose and exhale,
Open the lips,
Soft sigh out.
Allow the exhales to be as long as they want to be,
Without forcing anything.
Let your lips close again and breathe in a way that feels natural,
Unrushed.
Feel the breath move your body and touch your body from the inside.
Bring your hands to your lower ribs,
Left and right side.
You can let the elbows rest on the ground.
You can let the elbows rest on the ground.
Just feel the contact for a moment.
Sensing the roundness,
The boniness of your ribs underneath your hands.
Let your hands be like ears,
Listening to the movement of the ribs as you're breathing.
Can you feel the ribs undulate with each breath?
Fanning open on your in-breath,
Softening on your out-breath.
Let your awareness travel deeper underneath the ribs to have a sense of your lungs.
What is it like to be with the movement of your lungs?
To be with the softness of your lungs.
Feel the lungs filling with each inhale.
And emptying with each exhale.
Just like waves of the sea coming onto the shore and retreating.
Retreating.
Let your body be gently moved by the waves of your breath.
Now release your hands from your lower ribs and place them a little higher on your mid-ribs or on your breasts.
You can also place them more on the sides of your ribs if you prefer.
Again,
Simply making contact.
Feeling your ribs,
Feeling your breast tissue.
Maybe feeling the beat of the heart that is nestled in between your lungs.
Drop your awareness deeper to have a sense of this part of your lungs.
Moving as you're breathing.
Can you bring awareness to all sides?
The front of the lungs,
The sides,
As well as the back of the lungs that are resting on the ground.
Your lungs becoming more and more alive in your presence.
Let your mind be fully absorbed by your sensations.
Letting go of thinking about what your lungs are doing.
Instead of observing the body,
What would it feel like to simply become one with your sensations?
Like you would dive beneath the waves into the deep sea where there's quiet.
And mystery.
No longer watching from the outside,
But becoming one with the experience.
Take one more breath here.
Now,
Release the hands and place them onto your upper ribs.
Your lungs here extend just above the collarbones.
And with each breath,
Let go of your awareness.
With your hands resting here,
Feel the structure of your ribs rising and falling as you're breathing.
Sense this part of your lungs breathing and moving you from the inside.
Let this exploration be really gentle,
Really natural.
Just being curious about the inner contact with your lungs.
Take one more breath here.
And then release your hands from your ribs and place your arms somewhere where they are comfortable.
Sense now all of your lungs moving and breathing.
Front to back,
Side to side.
Without focusing on any particular area.
For a few moments,
Trace the pathway of your breath from outside to inside and back.
As air enters the body through the nose and mouth,
It passes through the trachea,
Down the front of the neck,
And into the bronchi.
The bronchi branch off into smaller and smaller passageways,
Similar to the stems and twigs of a tree.
The smallest of these passageways lead to tiny air sacs that are called alveoli.
They are the leaves of your lung tree.
Here the oxygen from your lungs is absorbed into the blood vessels and carbon dioxide is released back into the lungs.
With each inhale,
Air becomes part of the internal body.
With each exhale,
It returns to the external environment,
Coming and going.
Lengthen your legs out on the floor now and widen your awareness to sense all of the body breathing.
Every cell of the body receiving the nourishment of your inhales and releasing what's no longer needed on your exhales.
Allow yourself to be touched by the felt sensations of your breath.
Take a long breath and slowly prepare to transition out of this resting position.
Rolling over to the side,
And whenever you're ready,
Make your way up to sitting or standing.
As you begin to move the body more,
Feel into the echo of this practice.
And with this new awareness for your lungs,
Walk now into your day or evening.
