Bone breathing,
A Taoist meditation practice.
And so bone breathing is an energy practice that roots itself into the philosophy of Taoism and the Tao.
Taoists believe that bone breathing has a regenerative effect on the marrow within the bones and bone marrow produces our blood cells as well as removing old cells from the circulatory system.
This intelligence in the body helps to fight off disease and also build healthier immune response and slow down the decay of the skeletal system.
The Taoists' philosophy is steeped into the belief that energy has a sensorial effect,
That this energy practice is a form of meditation in its own right and has a profound impact on calming the body-mind and creating a profound deep sense of muscular relaxation.
And they also practice this as a way to develop concentration,
To move the mind away from the constant chatter that might be present in the mind and bring the mind back into focused awareness.
And this is particularly important when moving through high levels of stress or high levels of pressure where the chatter of that mind feels even more constant.
The masters of the Tao would practice bone breathing in order to access higher states of consciousness,
In order to reach their highest potential.
The bone breathing has the capacity to build our life force,
Our vital force.
In Tao it's known as Chi,
In the Yoga tradition it's known as Prana and this life force can be built into the bones to bring us longevity and support us against the ageing and the decaying process.
So it has a profound impact in a number of ways,
Physically,
Mentally and in its healing capacity.
So let's now practice bone breathing together.
And so before you do begin,
Just be mindful of making sure that your clothes are unrestricted,
That you're not wearing any shoes or any tight socks,
Making sure that the whole body can feel completely free.
This might even be about moving jewellery,
If you have any feel free to remove it.
If your hair is tied back and it feels tight then just allow it to release,
Just be really conscious of all the areas of your body that need to feel completely unrestricted.
And as you make those adjustments,
We're going to now choose our meditative position and for this Taoist practice I'm going to invite you to choose the position of lying down or if you would prefer,
Feel free to sit on a chair or in your favoured seated position on the earth,
Whichever you feel most called to today,
Follow that.
And the reason why I invite you to lie down is that you want to make sure that the body is not distracting the mind in any way and that it can feel completely and deeply relaxed.
So if you're used to sitting for meditation and have done for some time then feel free to choose that position.
You can choose whichever position works best for you.
And so I'm going to provide instruction for you to lie down on a soft support of some kind underneath the body,
Just drawing the shoulder blades out slightly as you nestle into the support.
Let the chin draw slightly in towards the chest so that you can fully lengthen through the back of the neck,
Gently pressing the back of the head into the earth,
Arms resting to the side of the body with the palms turned up towards the ceiling.
Allow the legs to fall away from the central line of the body,
Feet also just falling to the side.
If you have any pre-existing lumbar spinal injuries or today it feels tight or tender then I invite you to bend your knees and to place the soles of the feet onto the earth.
You may also want to place a bolster under your knees if you have one,
Otherwise taking the soles of the feet to floor will be sufficient.
And just seeing how that pelvis and sacrum feels into the earth,
Feel free to place a pillow under the pelvis if you would like to.
Just do whatever it is that feels most comfortable for you,
Using the props that you have to support the body so it can fully release and surrender into this practice.
Allow the fingers to unfurl,
Making sure that they are completely relaxed.
Making any final adjustments now before we take our awareness onto the breath.
And then when you feel that you are supported and you're comfortable,
Begin to take your awareness to the muscles now of the face as you begin to relax the jaw,
Soften the tongue into the lower palate and invite the body to now relax completely.
Begin now to allow the eyes to gently soften and close if they're not already.
And feeling the points of the body that are connected into your support,
Reaffirming that you are supported and held safely for the full duration of your practice.
Begin now to bring your awareness to the movement patterns of your breath and without changing the breath in any way,
Just take a moment to observe how you're breathing and where into the body you're breathing.
Notice if there's any restriction or tightness,
Asking yourself how can your body release and let go even more with your breath.
Take a nice long deep breath in through the nose and now exhale out through the mouth completely as if to sigh.
Repeat twice more,
Nice deep breath in through the nose,
Trying to fill the lower belly if you can with air and exhale on out through the mouth,
Sighing it out completely.
Last round,
Nice deep breath in through the nose,
Feeling the side ribs now as the lower belly rises to receive that in-breath and exhale out through the mouth as you exhale fully and completely.
And bringing now a rhythm to the breath in and out through the nose and encouraging the inhalation and exhalation to be a little bit slower than the last.
Taking nice deep breaths in and slowly,
Patiently releasing the breath out.
As you start to find a rhythm with your breath you notice that a vibration of energy is generated through the movement patterns of your breath and this movement pattern,
This gentle vibration brings about a deep sense of peace and stillness,
Allowing your whole body to release and relax into the support.
And as you continue to follow the movement patterns of the breath,
Take that breath now into the spaces of the body that feel heavy and give your body permission to surrender as each breath passes,
Body becoming heavier and heavier and heavier as it sinks into the earth.
And just settle now breath with body,
Body with breath,
Vibration of breath moving slowly,
Deeply into the body and the breath leaving the body in full surrender in an effortless way.
As you begin now to continue the journey of the breath,
Take your focus now on the journey of your next inhalation as it starts to travel down through the central channel of the spine,
Deep into the pelvis,
Into the earth and then as you exhale the breath up through the spine,
All the way through to the crown of the head,
Letting your mind now repeat this pattern of breath,
Creating its own tempo and sequence as the breath moves fully in and down the body and breath releasing fully out as you exhale up and through the body up through to the crown of the head.
Invite every exhalation to carry any mental tension away with it,
Any physical tightness that may be present.
The exhalation is your opportunity to fully release,
Fully let go.
Again take your time to find your movement patterns,
There is no hurry,
There is no rushing and the relief of that knowing gives your whole body the permission to be present fully to this practice,
To the breath,
To the release,
To the peace and to the stillness that is always present within you.
Begin now on your next inhalation to bring your awareness to the tip of the base of the left index finger.
So at the tip of that index finger and at the base of that index finger,
Just start to breathe into that left index finger and taking your awareness into the bone of this finger.
Now take your awareness to the base of the left index finger and just breathe into that space as if communing with the bone of this finger and then take your awareness now all the way up through the centre to the tip of the finger,
Focusing solely on the tip of the index finger.
And as you breathe and take your awareness and energy there,
Start to feel the flow of energy move through from the base to the tip,
Keeping your awareness fully on the movement of the breath.
Perhaps starting to feel the sensation of warmth,
Of heaviness and weight in this index finger of the left hand.
Taking several breaths now into that finger,
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Keeping your mind focused on your awareness only on the bone of the index finger.
Breathing in and breathing out.
As you keep breathing into this left index finger,
Now begin to observe the right index finger as you begin to witness any subtle differences,
Maybe a contrast of the left versus the right that may be present and if not that's okay too,
Just a gentle awareness.
Now begin to take your awareness to the base of the bone of the left middle finger,
The base of the left middle finger,
The bone here and the matrix within that bone.
Now take that energy all the way up into the centre of that finger to the tip of the middle finger.
Feel as if there is a wave of breath,
A wave of energy that moves through that left middle finger.
Feeling warmth,
Maybe heaviness in that bone.
Maybe now feeling similarly to the left index finger and bringing your awareness now to the left ring finger at the base,
Breathing at the base only,
Maybe a pulsation of energy is starting to be felt in that space.
Breathing into the base of the left ring finger,
Now to the tip of the ring finger,
Breathing all the way through that heaviness,
That warmth deep into the bone of that finger from base to tip.
Now awareness to the left little finger,
Base of that finger first,
Awareness,
Heat,
Energy,
Taking that now through the centre of the little finger to the tip of that little finger.
And again a wave like motion of breath moves on through.
And now those four fingers feel quite dense and heavy as your awareness now comes to the left thumb and base of left thumb first.
Breathing into it,
Connecting into the bone,
Breathing into the bone,
Breath moving through the centre of the left thumb to the tip and again a wave like movement begins to rise and fall through your left thumb.
And breathing in and out as you are present to the bone of the left thumb and a real sense of pulsation moving through now all the four fingers and thumb of the left hand from the base to the tips of the fingers and thumb.
Continue here for several breaths from base to tip,
Maybe each finger not flowing in energy in unison with the others,
Maybe that flow of energy is a little bit slower or faster than each other,
It doesn't matter,
Just be aware of observing your experience as it is.
Observe now the heaviness of this left hand,
Left palm,
Back of left hand,
Dense,
Warm,
Heavy.
Breathing in and breathing out,
Continuing that pulsation of energy as it moves through as you bring your awareness to the base of the right index finger.
And now take the awareness to the tip of the right index finger and the flow of energy now from base to tip,
Flowing through effortlessly,
Starting to feel heavy,
Starting to feel warm.
Notice the subtle flow of energy,
Is it slow,
Is it fast?
Breathing in,
Breathing on out.
Moving over now to the awareness of the middle finger and the base of that right middle finger.
Notice awareness of the bone here,
Going deep through the layers of the skin and the tissue.
Breathing into the tip of the right middle finger and that wave of motion and energy again moving through that middle finger.
And as you breathe it through,
Notice if there's any warmth manifesting anywhere else in the body as that left hand continues to pulsate with energy and vibration.
And moving now to the right ring finger and the base of this right ring finger and bringing awareness into the bone here,
Moving up through the central channel,
Up towards the tip of that right ring finger,
Waving from tip to base and base to tip,
Heavy,
Dense,
Warm.
Breathing here into the right ring finger and moving now through to the little finger of the right hand and the base of this little finger.
The whole hand now is starting to feel warm but your mind takes its focus to the base of that little finger and the bone that is held at its centre,
Moving through the tendons right the way through until you can almost go into the bone itself.
And now the tip of the little finger of the right hand and again that wave-like motion moving through as it moves on through observe,
Compare,
Contrast to the other fingers of the right hand.
Allowing all four fingers now to feel dense and heavy as we move our awareness to the base of the right thumb and the heat energy.
Notice if it feels tight or tender.
Again just observing just as it is.
Then awareness to the tip of the right thumb and the wave of breath travelling through the bone of that right thumb.
Until now all four fingers and thumb of right hand feel heavy,
Warm,
Dense,
Wanting to move further and further into the earth.
Feeling the heaviness now through all fingers,
Both thumbs in both hands.
And just be with your experience for a moment.
Be with the breath as if the breath is what is charging the energy that is moving through the bones of your hands.
Bring your awareness now to the palms of the hands,
The wrists,
The lower arms,
The elbows,
The upper arms.
And breathe into the bones of your arms,
Wrists,
Fingers,
Thumbs.
Breathe into the shoulder joints,
The collar bones,
The shoulder blades.
Pulsation of energy and warmth follows all the way through the upper limbs.
And bringing your awareness down through the body,
Movement of breath,
Sensation of warmth and heaviness.
You bring your awareness now to the left big toe and the base of the left big toe,
The tip of the left big toe and the breath flowing through.
Awareness to the second toe from the base to the tip and the tip to the base.
Breathing now big toe,
Second toe,
Third toe from the base to the tip.
Washing through,
Observing any tightness,
Let go of any held restriction,
Soften into the lower limbs.
Awareness now to the base of the fourth toe,
Tip of the fourth toe,
Breathing through the toes and the bones go deeper than the layers of the skin.
The breath is into the bones of the toes of this left foot.
And now the little toe,
Awareness from the base to the tip again.
Breath flowing through all five toes of the left foot and the pulsation of breath moving through the bones of the toes of the left foot.
And taking your awareness now to the right big toe,
Second big toe,
Third toe,
Fourth toe,
Little toe.
Moving the breath through all five toes,
Breathing in from base to tip and tip to base,
Taking that pulsative breath all the way down to the toes.
Notice if they're wanting to move in response to this breath.
Observe how they are responding to your conscious awareness.
Breathing through all ten toes of both feet.
Bringing the awareness now to the arches of the feet,
The soles of the feet and the ankles,
The left lower leg,
Lower right leg,
Left knee,
Right knee,
Left thigh bone,
Right thigh bone,
Left hip socket,
Right hip socket.
Now moving the energy into the two halves that form the pelvis.
Breathing into the bones of your lower limbs,
Almost feeling now the warmth of blood as it travels through,
Going deep into the matrix of your bones as you send healing breath into the spaces,
Into the sinews as you breathe in and breathe out.
Moving your awareness back to the two halves of the pelvis.
Notice how the feeling starts to create even more warmth now to the lower spine into the coccyx,
Up into the five fused vertebra that creates the sacrum,
Holding the two halves together.
Breathing into the bone of the sacrum,
Up into the five dense wide heavy lumbar vertebra.
Breathing up through the twelve vertebra that make up the thoracic spine,
The mid spine from lower to mid to upper spine.
And now taking your awareness into the seven cervical vertebra that make up the neck,
Sending that heaviness,
That heat,
That warmth to pulsate through the whole centre of the spine.
Breathing in and breathing on out.
Taking your awareness now to the bones that encase the brain and form the bones of the skull,
The side of the head,
The back of the head,
The front of the head,
The top of the head.
Breathe into the jaw and the teeth as you bring warmth and heaviness into the fused bones of the skull,
Into the eye sockets,
Whole head,
Breathing life back into the bones,
Feeling that pulsation.
And now bringing your awareness into the sternum,
The breast bone and the ribs that encase the lungs as you breathe in and breathe out.
Every breath allowing the bones of the ribs to receive a wonderful feeling of vitality and energy as the warmth of the breath allows more expansiveness into the ribs.
Now feel as if the whole body is breathing.
Allow this warmth and heaviness to move through all 206 bones of your body.
Feel as if the bones breathe and receive nourishment,
Energy and vitality.
The body breathing as one vibration of energy.
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Always bringing the breath down into the body,
Releasing the breath out through the centre and up and out through the crown of the head.
The body now feels like a sponge as the bones absorb the energy of the breath,
Absorbing prana with every breath and rejuvenating the cellular matrix of the bones and the whole factory of white blood cells that are there to support you to build a healthy immune response within your body that nourishes,
That restores and that brings you energy and vitality.
The heaviness increasing into the density of the bones,
The marrow nourished to bring blood,
Healthy blood throughout your whole systemic circulation.
Allow yourself to be held here for a while as you breathe the life force back in.
Feel the pulsation and vibration move as one with breath.
Allow yourself to simply experience your experience just as it is.
Avoid moving into your story of how the body is responding and just be the presence,
The witness that is aware.
As you breathe,
The wind of energy known as viyana vayu allows prana to course through your whole skeletal system.
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Almost feeling as if you can now interoceptively enter into your body,
Into your bones and see the bone marrow at its centre,
Receiving this prana,
Going inwards with each breath,
Inviting you to take an even deeper dive into an aspect of the self you may not have seen before.
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Pulsation moving through,
Effortless,
No longer even feeling the body.
You feel that you are the breath pulsating through,
Travelling through and restoring the bones.
As the bones receive that vital force,
The muscles that attach to the bones via your tendons also absorb this nourishment and any physical tension that may be present begins to simply fall away.
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
When you feel ready,
You begin to start preparing yourself to leave this practice.
You can feel the prana moving from your bones,
Vibrating to the outer layers of skin and even further to the outer layers of your subtle energy body.
Breathing in and breathing out and deepening the breath now,
Longer inhalations,
Longer exhalations.
Feel the belly rise to receive that deep breath,
Feel the belly fall as it releases the out breath.
Side ribs expanding now a little more as the breath travels deeper,
Alerting your body that you are moving towards the end of this practice.
And as you deepen your breath again,
Bring your awareness back into your surroundings,
Starting to connect into the sounds of your external environment,
How your body is held.
Take your time to slowly return back into the full presence of being here.
Just allowing this density to stay in the bones,
To encourage you just to move a little bit slower than you normally would,
Particularly if your default pace is to always rush.
Welcome in this opportunity to take it a little slower.
As you continue to deepen the breath,
Start to move the fingers and the toes.
Notice if you can sense into any shifts,
Any changes.
Allow the body to just move just as you need,
As you feel your body is always your best guide.
You may even have the desire to stay here and to not move.
You may wish to rest,
You may wish to sleep.
I invite you to do whatever it is that you feel is most nourishing and is in the highest service of what you need right now,
Knowing that rest is an intelligent choice.
And then when you feel ready,
Gently roll to your favoured side.
The left side is therapeutic for low blood pressure and the right side is therapeutic for high.
Simply move to whichever side you feel intuitively drawn to move towards most.
And just holding yourself there for a while as the body readjusts having laid down for a while or sitting in the same position for a while.
Breathe deeply again as you are on your side,
Just returning back holding the warmth in the bones,
In the skin,
In the tissues,
In the muscles,
In the cartilage,
The tendons,
The ligaments,
Every cellular matrix of bone rejuvenated,
Reinvigorated with your life force of prana again.
Fully present,
Fully back into the space,
Breathe deeply again.
The path of the yogi is to always be aware,
To have a sense of the witness.
And so as you come out of this practice,
Just being aware of the responses,
Whatever they have been,
With every practice it will shift and change.
Observe it,
Be aware of it.
Witness,
Be in the presence of what is here before you now at the end of this practice.
Drawing the palms in prayer position at the centre of the heart and just bowing to the heart centre,
Bowing to the sense of compassion that's held in the centre of your heart,
Bowing to honour the time that you have given for this practice today.
That it has been in higher service to meet what you need right now.
Your meditation practice is now complete.
Bone breathing is now complete.
Om.
