Good morning,
Everyone,
Or good evening,
Or afternoon,
Wherever you may be joining from.
I'm Shea.
Thank you so much for joining me today for this meditation series every Friday this month during May.
I'm going to give it just a few more seconds,
So anybody that is interested in joining can join and hop on.
But just kind of offering a little more information about today's meditation.
So if you joined last week,
We focused on a breath centered meditation and today's meditation will offer a condensed version of that to help you just drop back into breath awareness and begin to steady the mind and bring you into the present moment.
And then we'll move into a meditation that was shared with me,
Uh,
By my teacher,
Tracy Stanley.
And it's called a Pranic Alignment Meditation.
And prana,
Often translated as life force or vital energy,
Has several different directs within our subtle body.
Prana is responsible for animating everything in the world around us,
Everything within us and about us.
Without prana,
There is no life.
And so these different directions of prana are responsible for balancing and and governing our bodily functions,
Things like respiration,
Digestion,
Nervous system responses,
Nerve impulses,
Waste removal,
Temperature regulation.
So,
You know,
When we meet with challenges on a physical level or even a subtle level,
The yogic tradition and Ayurvedic tradition would consider these disruptions in the flow of prana.
And so today's meditation is meant to bring some equilibrium back to that flow of prana.
And so go ahead and begin to just settle in.
Gather any props that you would like to use.
You're welcome to sit directly on the earth on props.
Maybe you're in a chair or on a couch.
Just find a comfortable seat that allows your spine to be tall.
And your physical body to be steady.
And if you would like to close your eyes completely,
You can.
You can also just soften your gaze.
So let the eyelids become heavy.
And take a moment to just scan across your whole body and notice if there's any areas that may want a little more support.
So maybe some cushioning under joints.
Maybe a little lift to your seat.
And then take a moment to notice where your head is in space.
Is it moving ahead of your heart?
Is it kind of leading the way,
Charging forward?
Maybe you notice that it's kind of hanging back behind the heart and you're leaning back into the sit bones.
Can you begin to find that space,
That midpoint where head and heart are aligned?
Crown of your head right over your tailbone.
And then begin to notice what it is that your senses are taking in from the world around you.
Maybe you start with sound.
So send your awareness off into the distance and notice what sounds are present.
Without feeling like you have to name or figure out where the sound is coming from,
Just let your awareness move from sound to sound.
Now draw your awareness in slightly and begin to notice the sounds of the space around you.
Then you'll bring your awareness in even more and begin to notice the sound of your own breath.
The next time you breathe in.
Do you notice a scent lingering in the air?
Maybe you just lit incense.
Maybe you have a candle burning.
Maybe you just brewed a cup of coffee or tea.
And then take a moment to swallow.
Awareness moving to the inside of your mouth,
Noticing if there's a flavor on your tongue.
Or maybe saliva coating the cheeks.
Whether your eyes are closed or gazing softly,
Begin to remember,
Imagine,
Visualize the space that you're in.
Can you recall the shape of the room?
The color of the walls.
And the texture of what is beneath you.
And then finally begin to feel those points of connection between your body and the surface you're seated upon.
Your feet.
Your legs,
Your seat.
Just feel those points grow heavy with gravity.
Anchoring down towards the earth.
On your next inhale breath.
Feel those qualities of the earth elements,
Stability,
Steadiness,
Move up the length of the spine.
Gentle lift through the crown of your head.
Sensing these same qualities of steadiness and stability in your physical body now.
Now bring your awareness to the tip of your nose and just sense or feel the breath moving in and out through the nose.
You don't have to shape the breath in any way or count the breath in any way.
You're just becoming aware of the sensation of the breath moving in and out through your nose.
Maybe you begin to notice as you breathe in.
The temperature of the air as it enters.
And then on the exhale,
How the temperature is slightly warmer.
As the breath moves back out through your nose.
Awareness remains at the tip of the nose,
Just sensing,
Feeling the breath moving in and out.
Can you begin to observe if there is one nostril that's dominant?
Meaning that it feels like the air,
The breath can move more freely in and out.
Or maybe you notice that the breath moves evenly through both sides.
Again,
You don't have to do anything,
Force anything.
Just feeling,
Sensing the breath moving in and out.
And the next time you inhale,
Follow the breath in through your nose and down into the space of the lungs.
As you exhale,
Follow the breath back out from the lungs.
To where it exits at the tip of the nose.
Just continue to follow the breath in through the nose.
Into the space of your lungs and then back out from the lungs.
To somewhere right outside below the tip of the nose.
As you continue to follow the breath in and out.
We begin to notice that without any effort on your part,
The length of the breath may shift.
The breath may become more spacious,
Moving deeper.
Into the lungs.
And begin to sense your ribcage widening.
Belly expanding as you breathe in.
And everything gently drawing back towards the spine as you breathe out.
Now begin to refine the breath just a little bit.
Noticing if the breath has a texture.
Do you notice hitches or breaks?
Can you begin to smooth the breath?
Notice the volume of the breath,
Listening intently with your inner ear.
Can you begin to.
.
.
Allow the breath to become.
Softer,
Quieter.
And here you don't hold the breath.
You don't make the breath shallow.
It's more of a releasing of effort.
Trust that the inhale will arrive.
No.
That the exhale will be released.
Receiving the inhale.
Releasing the exhale.
Now become aware of that space between each breath.
A short pause before the inhale turns into the exhale and the exhale back into the inhale.
Again,
You're not creating the pause,
You're not holding the breath in any way.
You're just becoming aware of that space between.
As you continue to rest your awareness on that space between each breath.
Begin to dissolve.
That space.
So with each round of breath,
That space,
That pause becomes shorter and shorter.
Until eventually the breath is moving from the inhale right into the exhale,
And the exhale right back into the inhale.
Now shift awareness to your tailbone.
Awareness moves to the base of your spine,
Tip of the tailbone.
On your next inhale breath,
Let awareness move up the front side of your body,
Over your belly,
Over your sternum,
Over your face,
To the crown of your head.
As you exhale,
Awareness moves back down the front side of your body over your face,
Sternum.
Belly.
Back to the tip of your tailbone.
Once again,
Inhaling,
Awareness moves up the front side of your body to the crown of your head.
Exhaling,
Awareness moves down the front of your body,
Back to your tailbone.
Please continue.
Awareness is following your breath here.
Again,
You're not.
Shaping the breath in any way.
The breath doesn't follow awareness.
Awareness follows your breath.
Next time your awareness lands at your tailbone,
Let it rest at the base of your spine for a few breaths.
Awareness study.
And on an inhale breath,
Awareness begins to move up the length of your spine.
So over the sacrum,
Up between the shoulder blades,
Over the back of your head to the crown.
On the exhale,
Awareness moves down the back of your head.
In the shoulder blades.
Over the sacrum.
Back to the tip of your tailbone.
Awareness moves up.
The backside of your body,
Up the length of your spine to your crown.
Exhaling down the length of your back body,
Down the spine.
To the tip of your tailbone.
Please continue.
As your awareness lands back at the tip of your tailbone,
Let your awareness rest here for several breaths.
Maybe you take a moment to notice sensation in your physical body.
Maybe noticing the qualities of your breath.
Maybe taking a moment to become aware of how your mind is moving.
And then bringing your awareness back to the base of your spine,
Back to the tip of your tailbone.
You inhale and awareness moves up the front side of your body once again to the crown of your head.
And on your exhale,
Awareness moves down the length of your spine,
Back to the tip of your tailbone.
Inhaling up the front side of your body.
Exhaling down the backside.
Inhaling up the front to the crown of your head.
Exhaling down the length of your spine back.
To your tailbone.
Nine more rounds.
The next time awareness lands at the base of your spine,
Reverse the flow.
You'll inhale and awareness moves up the length of your spine to the crown of your head.
And exhaling down the front side of your body.
Breathing in,
Awareness moves up the backside of the body.
Exhaling down the front side,
Back to the tailbone.
Nine more rounds.
The next time you inhale,
An awareness reaches the crown of your head.
Let your awareness rest at the crown of your head for several breaths.
Awareness is study.
Resting at the crown of your head.
Just observe.
Now let your awareness move to that space about six inches above the crown of your head.
Awareness moving six inches above the crown of your head.
And you'll begin to rotate awareness around your body once again,
This time six inches away from the body.
So on an exhale,
Let awareness move down the length of your spine,
Six inches away from the body.
To where it lands six inches below your tailbone.
The inhale,
Awareness moves up the front side of your body six inches away to that space.
Above the crown of your head.
Exhaling down the length of the spine six inches away.
Inhaling up the front side of the body.
Once again,
Landing at that space six inches above the crown.
Please continue.
The next time awareness reaches the crown of your head,
Let awareness pause right above the crown of your head.
And then take a moment to observe.
Can you begin to sense or feel that space?
Six inches away from you in all directions,
Top to bottom.
Front to back.
Side to side.
Maybe you began to sense that you're cocooned in this orb of prana.
And just allow yourself to rest in this orb for the next two minutes.
Once again,
Become aware of.
Those places where clothing is resting on your skin.
Those points of connection between your body and the surface.
That you are seated upon.
Begin to hear the sound of your breath.
The sounds of the space around you.
And sounds off in the distance.
On your next inhale.
Can you scent,
Smell the scent in the air?
Move awareness to the inside of your mouth.
Is there a taste or moisture?
And then gradually begin to visualize,
To remember the space that you're in,
The shape of the room,
The color of the walls.
As your senses move back out into the world and you continue to call yourself back.
Take your time.
There's no hurry to rush back.
You're even welcome to stay a bit longer if you have the space and the time to remain in this orb of prana.
Or if you have to move back out into your day,
Maybe you continue to hold this meditation in your awareness.
Feeling this quality of energy around you as you move through the day,
As well as within you.
Energy that animates you.
Everything around you.
That life force that's flowing.
At all times.
Slowly continue to bring yourself back in whatever way you like best.
You're welcome to rub the palms together,
Creating some heat.
Placing the warm palms somewhere,
Anywhere on your body that may want anointing or a blessing.
Or you can cover the eyes,
Gently blinking the eyes open.
Hands can release back down to the legs or into the lap.
Coming back to the present moment.
Maybe taking a moment to offer gratitude.
For this time,
This space together,
This opportunity to just check in with your life force.
With promise.
Bringing thumb knuckles to forehead center.
Together we bow in gratitude to each other and to these teachings.
Thank you all again so much for joining me this morning or this afternoon or this evening,
Wherever you may be.
Please feel free to leave comments or reviews.
I would love to hear your feedback or your insights or anything that you may be looking for in the future.
I do hope to continue some of these live meditations.
