Let's breathe.
My name is Kathy and this is a standalone breath practice and it can also be a beautiful preparation to lead you toward the state of meditation and it's all steeped in the mantra SO HAM.
Let's find a comfortable seat with the palms resting,
Palms down on the lap,
Chin parallel to the floor and a nice long spine.
Relax the shoulders down away from the ears and allow your eyes to lower resting on something that's not moving or perhaps to close down completely.
The mantra Soham means I am that in Sanskrit.
And it relates to the idea that the individual self is part of a larger interconnectedness to all beings.
As Rumi speaks to being not just a drop in the ocean,
But the whole ocean in one drop.
So let's bring together some breath practices and the vibrational aspect of Soham.
So we'll begin with a variation of alternate nostril breathing.
So you'll bring your right hand up to the bony bridge of your nose.
And you'll put your right thumb on the right nostril and your ring finger on the left nostril.
The two-piece fingers can just curl,
Or for this practice,
If you like,
You could rest them on the space right between your eyebrows.
So let's go ahead and take an inhalation and exhalation.
And on your next inhalation,
Block off gently.
The right nostril with your thumb.
And breathe in through the left nostril.
As you exhale,
Gently block off the left nostril with the ring finger and breathe out through the right.
Once again,
Block off right and breathe in left.
And block off left and breathe out right.
And one more time,
Breathing in the left.
Let the breath be easy and smooth and long.
And as you exhale,
Breathing out right.
Now let's switch the direction and we'll breathe in through the right.
Block off the right with the thumb and breathe out left.
And once again,
Breathing in right.
And breathing out left.
We'll repeat this one more time.
And knowing that if for some reason this did not feel comfortable,
You can also breathe like this mentally,
Not using the hands.
So one more time for good measure.
Let's breathe in the left.
Long and slow and smooth.
And exhaling,
Breathing out the right.
Inhaling right.
And exhaling left.
At the end of this exhalation,
Let your hands rest.
Palms down on your lap.
And a gesture of connecting the individual self with that of something larger,
You might bring the pads of your pointer finger and thumbs together to rest on your lap.
And let's begin to breathe now through both nostrils evenly and smoothly.
And begin to have an awareness of the breath like an inverted V as two streams of air move upward through the nostrils.
With an awareness of the space between the eyebrows.
As you exhale,
The breath moves downward two streams of air.
And as you breathe in,
The breath moves upward.
To the point of space between the eyebrows.
Stay with this and begin to notice the quality of temperature.
You might notice that as you breathe in,
The breathing,
The breath is cool.
And as you breathe out,
The breath is a little bit warmer.
Can you begin to sense?
A pulsation riding on the presence of the breath.
And begin to feel as if each time you are inhaling two streams of air to the space between the eyebrows,
It's as if you're depositing a bit of pulsation in this space with each breath.
Breathing in,
Two streams of air meet at the one space between the eyebrows.
Depositing a bit more vibration.
Or a sense of light perhaps.
Now we'll begin to change the pattern of awareness of the breath.
So as you breathe in to that energetic spot at the center of the eyebrows,
Begin to call that energy and breath upward toward the crown of the head.
And as you exhale,
See,
Feel,
Or sense the breath move all the way downward through the center body to the base of the spine.
Feel your focus on this awareness of the flow of the direction of the breath.
Inhaling,
The breath moves to the crown of the head.
And as you exhale,
The breath moves down the center body to the base of the spine.
There is focus here,
But at the same time,
Allow yourself to relax into it.
And begin to hear.
Or to feel.
The mantra.
So on the inhalation.
And hum on the exhalation.
Relax into the mantra.
And allow the breath to ride along.
Inhaling,
Awareness of breath moves up the two nostrils.
Pass the space at the eyebrows all the way to the crown of the head solely.
And as you exhale.
All the way to the base of the spine.
And then can you begin to feel?
The two qualities of so and hum.
Coming together to meet in the space of the heart center.
The center of the body.
So on the inhalation.
And hum on the exhalation.
Breath and mantra resting at the heart space.
As you inhale,
Soothe.
Feel the energy move.
Inward.
And as you exhale,
Can you feel or sense that the energy moves outward from the space of the heart in all directions?
Allow the breathing.
To be easy and relaxed.
Hear and sense the mantra Soham.
Allowing yourself to expand into this field.
Of energy.
That vibrates around your physical being.
Resting in Soham.
I am that.
I am both finite and infinite.
Heaven and earth together,
The space of the heart.
Stay here as long as you like.
And when it feels complete.
Lower your chin.
Rubbing the palms together.
And placing the hands directly over the space of the heart.
