Hello and welcome to this short meditation for dropping into your body,
For dropping into your heart,
Dropping into a space of stillness.
So before we get started,
I want to provide you with a roadmap for where we are headed with this meditation.
We will start with a breathwork technique which involves four power breaths followed by what I call takeoff.
The power breath is getting as full as you can and as empty as you can with your breath quickly,
Followed by takeoff,
Which is a slow inhale and a calm exhale out.
So for me,
It might sound like.
.
.
So that will be our breathwork practice in the beginning.
As far as the technique that we'll be practicing,
It is a three phase technique in which the first phase is to count which breath you are on.
To count the number of your breath,
Not the duration,
But rather one on your first inhale,
One on your first exhale,
And on your second inhale,
You count two in your head,
Your second exhale,
You count two in your head.
And you go on like this until you get to seven.
Once you finish counting seven on the exhale,
You would simply release that,
Go back to one and start again.
If your mind ever gets distracted,
If it runs off,
If it starts creating a movie without judgment,
With great compassion,
You simply redirect and start again at one.
So this practice itself is not about how many times you can make it to seven,
Or about how far you can count without getting distracted.
It is actually about how many times you're willing to go back and start again.
This is a much more useful and resourceful place to be in our lives.
The second phase is then to start to notice the spaces,
The pauses in between inhale and exhale.
So by that I mean right when you finish your first inhale,
There's a space after you count one,
Before you count one again on the exhale.
And then just after you finish that first exhale,
There's another space before you then inhale again,
Once that exhale is finished,
Before you count two.
Witness those spaces in between your breath,
That's phase two.
The third phase is then to use your exhales to dive into the space in the very center of your chest,
Just beneath your sternum,
And a little to the right.
The space is considered the space of your spiritual heart.
And it's the wise and non-reactive,
The lesser reactive space in our chest,
As compared to the very reactive,
Physical,
Emotional heart in the left side of the chest.
So these are the three phases.
I'll be guiding you through these,
As well as guiding you through some of this breath work to begin with.
For right now,
Go ahead and get settled into wherever you would like to be for your meditation,
Laying down,
Sitting down,
Wiggle your body,
Make sure your ankles and your knees are as comfortable as they could be,
And we'll go ahead and begin.
So take a calm breath in,
Fill up with air,
Fill your belly.
Exhale,
Pull your belly button in towards your spine,
Just to get empty.
Take another full breath in,
Expand your belly,
Expand your ribcage.
And now whoosh all of your air out through your mouth.
And then practice four power breaths,
Followed by takeoff.
Let's go.
Takeoff.
Four power breaths through nose or mouth.
Go.
Takeoff.
Good.
Four power breaths.
Go.
And takeoff.
Four power breaths.
Go for it.
Takeoff.
Complete two more rounds.
Go.
Come into a natural rhythm of breathing now.
Begin the first phase of this technique,
Phase of counting your breaths.
Counting one on the inhale,
One on your exhale,
Followed by two.
Two.
So forth till you get to seven.
If you make it to seven,
Or if along the way you get distracted,
Your mind runs off,
You lose count.
Even your mind is trying to focus on too many things at once.
Give yourself the grace to start again.
Catch yourself.
Come back to one.
Four.
Two.
Be willing to start again as many times as you get distracted.
Be willing to start again as many times as you get distracted.
Anytime it comes time to start again,
Do so without giving weight to any voices of judgment.
Or criticism.
Come to a place of neutrality and the opportunity that it represents to start again.
Number one.
Now moving into the second phase,
Which is to continue counting.
But as you count,
Start to notice the pauses in between your inhale and your exhale.
Just after you exhale,
Before you inhale again.
Continue the practice of counting while dropping into the stillness of the pause in between.
Now moving into the third phase,
Which is to continue counting.
Now moving into the third phase,
Which is to continue counting.
As you become more skillful of witnessing these pauses in between your breaths,
You can become more skillful in your life at witnessing that there is a pause between one thought and the next.
Between one experience and the next.
You become a witness to the fact that you do not live on a treadmill,
But a continuum of your life that is actually filled with pauses in between.
Now moving into the third phase,
Which is to continue counting.
Continue witnessing the spaces between your inhale and the exhale and to start to use your exhales to dive your awareness down into the center of your chest,
Just beneath your sternum.
And a little to the right.
The infinite space of the spiritual heart.
Almost as if you were filling this space,
The center of your chest,
A little to the right,
With nectar.
Here in the darkness behind your eyelids.
Allowing that stillness inside of you to well up.
The spaciousness that lives.
The center of your chest.
The infinite space of the spiritual heart.
Before we close this meditation,
Right now,
Release counting,
Release focusing on your breath.
Totally release this technique and allow your mind to be fully free to really let your brain and your mind do what it wants right now.
And witness the spaciousness that surrounds you.
The peace that is embedded within you,
All around you.
We will close this meditation practice.
Thank you,
Thank you,
Thank you for finding this stillness in yourself.
And for walking a little bit of it out into the world,
Just for having practiced with me today.
May the rest of your day be filled with nectar.
May the rest of your night and your sleep be filled with delicates with this.
Until next time.
.
