Circuit Breath Meditation

This meditation is a mind's eye exercise of shifting the breath pattern into an imagined breath pattern, which our bodies and minds can soften to over time. Consider this an act of going to the "mental gym" to flex the muscles of awareness, imagination, and presence. This is one meditation among many that facilitates deeper "innerstanding" of Self through body, mind, and soul exploration. Utilized in this teacher's Reiki Level 1 & 2 Classes. (48)

Transcript

Hello, My name is Eden and I am a therapist, Reiki teacher, And meditation guide. Now whether you've found this meditation through one of my Reiki courses or just through the web of life, Welcome. These meditations are intended to deepen your relationship to your intuition and gifts and facilitate an understanding of your own internal landscape. Each meditation is also a tool that can be offered to yourself or a client, So I invite you to notice what shifts within you before, During, After, Beyond the meditation, Cataloging the effects with words and feelings and sensations, Just letting yourself take note. Allow it to be personal and universal. Let's begin. And wherever you're finding yourself today as you begin this meditation, Just offering yourself a little more relaxation, A little bit more space in the physical body. Maybe that's releasing the space between the eyebrows, The jaw, Letting the shoulders gently move away from the ears without forcing. Maybe that's sending the breath into the belly, Unwinding the hips, Finding a gentle curl in the fingertips, Relaxing all the way down through the soles of the feet, Offering something to yourself right now. Today we are going to be doing a little bit more of an advanced meditation, So I invite you to return back to this time and time again to just see how this has shifted within you perhaps over time it becomes easier, Like going to the mental gym, And perhaps you can catalog and notice things that shift within you as you return time and time again. This is a circuit meditation. So, Just starting to notice your breath for a few breaths here, Just watching it move in and out of the body. No need to change the breath. Just noticing. And continuing with that breath, We start to imagine, Use our imaginal resources here to imagine that your breath now enters through the crown of the head and with an inhale the breath travels down the back of the head, Down the spine, Down into the pelvis. And with the exhale the breath circles to the front of the body, Traveling up past the belly button, The front of the ribcage, The heart, The throat, And out the mouth. Inhale, The breath enters through the crown of the head and again travels down along the back of the body. And exhale, The breath loops around to the front by the pelvis, Up and out the mouth. Breathing. Just settling into this imagination as you continue to breathe and maybe that just looks like letting your inner awareness trace this way. Maybe you feel your eyes gently turning inward, Tracing down and around and up, Linking this eye movement with the breath. And maybe this just stays imaginary, But just turning your awareness to the body in this way, Linking it to the breath, Softening any muscles in the face that have tensed up. And then maybe, Just maybe, You notice that imagining the breath moving in this way becomes a little bit easier with time. Letting yourself just settle in, Yes, This is how I breathe now, Yes, It just comes in through the crown, Down, Around, Up, Out. Can you let yourself settle in and relax to breathing in this way with the mind on line as we imagine the breath? And then maybe, Just maybe, You start to feel something moving in this way. Maybe you do feel the breath travels to these places in this way, In this circuit. Maybe it more feels just like a sense of relaxation moving in this way. Maybe you notice the mind is picturing something like light moving in and around and up and out. What can you notice yourself doing now? As you ask the breath to move in this way that is unfamiliar, But with more time becoming more and more familiar and known to you right now. Letting this be personal, What can you notice in yourself today? So maybe, Just maybe, This becomes a little less imaginal and a little more felt or internally seen. Softening to this circuit, Letting it continue to be true. And if your attention falls away at times, That's okay, Just bringing it back to the circuit. Maybe noticing that returning to it is a little more easeful than it was when we began. That you're familiar with this in your body. And maybe, Just maybe, You release that inner awareness. You let your eyes rest again, Instead of turning towards the circuit. And you just breathe in this way, Where the breath just does enter in through the crown, Down the spine, And loops around to the front, Up and out. There's levels of easefulness here. And there's no wrong place to rest. In the imaginal, The felt. And then offering yourself this new reality, Oh, This is just how I breathe. All of those three places in this meditation are places where you can flex this mental muscle. There's a power here too, In our imagined experience. When we ask ourselves, What would it be like to breathe in this way, With the breath entering through the crown, Down, Around, Exhaling out the mouth? What would it be like to do that? When we ask a question of our body and mind like that, The mind and body create the answer. They're capable of finding that answer in some way, Through that felt sense, Through that imaginal experience, Through that new reality. Can you let yourself feel it, And soften to it? And we'll just usher in three more of those circuit breaths, Right now. And with that final exhale out the mouth, Releasing this mental grip, Or invitation to this circuit breathing, And just bringing breath into the chest, The ribs, The belly, And back out. Maybe taking a moment to catalog anything internally that you notice. Taking stock of who has arrived right now. Giving thanks to the power of your imagination, The mind and the body as the link. And whenever you're ready to return to the day, Gently ushering light back in with the corners of your mouth slightly upturned. Welcome back.