Hello and welcome to the second of our balance breathing practices.
This one is alternate nostril breathing.
And this is a really wonderful practice for those people who already have a mindfulness practice.
I find it particularly useful as a pre mindfulness meditation practice that really gets me centered and in the zone because the practice of alternating from one nostril to another during the breathing practice really encourages a sense of focus,
Concentration,
Mindfulness and presence.
As ever,
I'm going to suggest that you start by seeing what are you bringing into the practice,
Where are you in right now or where are you right now?
What state are you in right now?
By attending to your head,
Your heart and your gut.
In a few moments,
I'm going to go quiet.
And when I do,
I suggest to you that you pay attention to what's going on in your head.
How are your thoughts?
Are they relaxed and gentle and easy to manage or are they all over the place?
And then to your heart,
What emotions are arising for you right now?
Are they difficult emotions,
Easy emotions?
Are you chilled?
Are you easygoing?
Are you under a little bit of pressure,
Perhaps a little bit of anxiety?
And then finally,
Your physical state,
Your gut,
What's going on in your physiology?
Are you tight and tense or are you loose and chilled or what else are you noticing?
And as I've said before,
One of the great benefits of doing this is it allows you to fine tune these practices to your particular physiology.
Different practices land on different people,
Different ways.
So paying attention to how these practices affect you allows you to adapt them for the future.
So I'm going to go quiet for about 30 seconds and just allow you to drop in and just take this moment to check in with your heart,
Your head and your gut.
When I deliver this practice in programs,
I generally suggest that practitioners become familiar with what yoga practitioners call the pranayama mudra,
A particular configuration of the hands and fingers that tend to make this alternate nostril breathing practice a little bit more mindful.
But if you're not familiar with that,
Don't worry.
It's not going to interfere with your ability to get value out of this practice.
If you are familiar with the concept of ocean breath or whisper breath,
Feel free to build that into this practice.
It's a perfect fit.
Once again,
If it's not something you're familiar with,
Don't worry about it.
It won't get in the way of you getting value from this practice.
So let's begin.
Close your right nostril and inhale through the left nostril to three for close the left.
Exhale to the right.
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right.
Two,
Three,
Four.
Close right.
Exhale left.
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left.
Two,
Three,
Four.
Close left.
Exhale right.
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right.
Two,
Three,
Four.
Close right.
Exhale left.
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left.
Two,
Three,
Four.
Close left.
Exhales right.
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale,
Right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
And second round of ten.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
And third and final round of ten.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale left,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close left,
Exhale right,
Three,
Two,
One.
Inhale right,
Two,
Three,
Four,
Close right,
Exhale left,
Three,
Two,
One.
And returning your breathing back to its normal pace,
Allowing a few breaths for it to settle in,
And then taking a moment just again to drop into yourself and do a head,
Heart and gut check in.
Has anything shifted during the practice?
What do you notice now with your thought patterns?
What do you notice now with the emotions?
What do you notice now with your physicality?
Always at the end of these practices,
Very,
Very useful to do this check in to understand has anything shifted.
So this was the second of our balanced practices alternate nostril breathing.
