Hello my loves and welcome to another guided meditation.
My name is Chris and I'll be your guide today.
In today's practice we'll go over Dhirga Pranayama.
Dhirga Pranayama or three-part yogic breath is the foundation of most if not all of our yoga breathing practices.
The word Dhirga in Sanskrit means long in space or time.
Thereby Dhirga Pranayama means to lengthen the space and time of the breath.
To practice three-part breathing we will as the name suggests combine three different types of breath which are diaphragmatic,
Thoracic and clavicular breathing.
A regular practice of Dhirga Pranayama could help calm down the body and the mind.
It could improve lung function and digestion.
It could positively influence the mood and it can also help lower blood pressure and heart rate.
So let's get to our practice.
To begin our practice let's come to a comfortable position.
Maybe that's seated,
Cross-legged or in a chair or even lying down.
Don't overthink it.
Whatever's comfortable for you.
And once we're there let's take three deep cleansing breaths in through the nose.
Open the mouth,
Let it out.
Two more times.
Deep breath in.
Open the mouth,
Let it out.
Last time,
Deep breath in.
Open and let it out.
Allow the body and the mind to relax and settle.
Feel the gentle pull down the base of the spine,
The hips releasing.
And the soft lift of the crown,
Gently lengthening the spine.
Allow the shoulders to release back and behind the body.
And then just begin to deepen the breath and start to notice how the breath travels through the body.
Maybe you feel the rise and the fall of the chest,
Or the expansion and maybe the contraction of the ribs.
Now start to direct your attention to the movement of the abdomen.
On the inhale,
Feel the belly as it rises.
And on the exhale,
The belly floats back down.
Expanding on the inhale.
And releasing on the exhale.
Few more times.
Now begin to draw your attention to the movement of the ribs.
Feeling the widening and the narrowing of the rib cage.
With each inhale,
The ribs open out wide.
And with each exhale,
They hug back into the body.
Inhale expansion.
Exhale,
A little hugging back inward.
Now let's begin to focus our awareness on the area in the chest.
Maybe in particular,
The space behind the collarbones.
Again,
On the inhale,
Feel the gentle expansion of the collarbones.
And on the exhale,
Feel the soft release of the chest coming down.
Inhale lift.
And exhale,
Soften down.
Now let's finally combine all three movements.
Breathing from the base of the spine all the way to the collarbones.
And from collarbones back down to the base of the spine.
So let's all exhale completely.
And on the next inhale,
Begin to feel the rise of the belly.
And the gentle pushing outwards of the rib cage.
And then finally,
The gentle lift of the collarbones.
And then on the exhale,
The collarbones float back down.
The rib cage hugs back into the body.
And the belly gently releases,
Making its journey back towards the spine.
Again,
Inhaling into belly and the ribs and the collarbones of the chest.
And then exhaling chest,
Collarbones,
The ribs,
And then belly.
Inhale belly,
Ribs,
Collarbone.
And then exhale,
Collarbone,
Ribs.
Flowing with this breath,
Just like this.
And if at any time the movements or the breath gets to be a little too hard to grasp,
You can always just visualize the breath traveling upward from base to the collarbones on the in-breath.
Then flowing down from collarbones to base on the out-breath.
Inhale expansion.
And exhale release.
Inhale lightness,
Airiness.
Exhale,
Deepen on down.
Ribs,
Chest.
Exhale,
Chest,
Ribs,
Belly.
And now let's complete our last cycle as we come to one final three-part yogic exhale.
And then return to your natural breathing pattern.
And like with all pranayama practices,
It's nice to sit with this for a quick second.
And just become aware and notice if there's any shifts in the body or the mind.
And then let's all take a deep breath in and bring our hands up overhead,
Stretch nice and long.
And then we can exhale and bring the hands to prayer at heart center.
We'll bow our heads down here and bow down to the great and wise teacher that resides in each and every one of us.
Thanking you always for coming and sharing this practice with me here today.
And thanking your bodies for the breath and all the wonderful things it does for you each and every day.
The God light and everything good inside me bows and honors the God light and everything good inside each and every one of you.
Namaste and love you all.
