Breathe With Me #1: Alternate Nostril Breath
by Alison M
Breathe with me series, part 1: Alternate Nostril Breath with short retention (Nadi Shodana). This practice is for balance: balancing both sides of the brain (left and right), and also the active and passive sides of our nature. We do 9 rounds total with a ratio of 4:4:4 for inhale:retention: exhale. This is a wonder exercise to prepare you for additional practices: meditation, yoga etc. or as a standalone practice. We use two mudras (gestures), Chin mudra and Vishnu mudra.
Transcript
Sitting comfortably,
Cross-legged on the floor or in a chair,
Soles of the feet flat on the ground,
Bringing the back as straight as possible,
As straight as comfortable,
Shoulders back and relaxed,
Neck relaxed,
Head facing forward,
And allow the eyes to close or find a soft gaze,
Focusing on the floor or the wall in front of you.
And together,
Let's take a few slow,
Deep belly breaths.
So first,
Exhaling completely,
Then inhaling deeply,
Belly through the ribs and through the chest.
And then exhale from the chest to the ribs,
Back to the belly.
Inhale,
Belly,
Ribs,
Chest,
And exhale,
Chest,
Ribs,
And belly.
Again,
Inhale,
Belly,
Belly,
Ribs,
Chest,
Exhale,
Chest,
Ribs,
And belly.
Inhale and exhale.
Inhale and exhale.
Inhale and exhale.
Continuing to breathe,
We bring our hands,
Left hand into chin mudra,
Thumb and index finger touching,
Palm coming up,
Resting on the lap.
The right hand comes in Vishnu mudra,
Middle finger,
Index finger down,
Ring and pinky up,
And thumb up.
These will be doing our blocking of the nostrils.
So exhaling completely,
And then we block the right nostril.
And we inhale through the left,
Block the left,
Retain the breath,
Release right,
Exhale right.
Inhale through the right,
Block right,
Retain,
Release left,
Exhale left.
So this was one round.
We'll do a few more together.
Inhaling through the left,
Block left,
Retain,
Release right,
Exhale right.
Inhale right,
Block right,
Retain,
Exhale left,
Inhale left,
Block left,
Retain,
Exhale right.
Inhale right,
Block right,
Retain,
Exhale left,
Inhale left,
Block left,
Retain,
Exhale right.
Inhale right,
Block right,
Retain,
Exhale left,
Inhale left,
Block left,
Retain,
Exhale right.
Inhale right,
Block right,
Retain,
Exhale left,
Inhale left,
Block left,
Retain,
Exhale right.
Inhale right,
Block right,
Retain,
Exhale left,
Inhale left,
Block left,
Retain,
Exhale right.
Inhale right,
Block right,
Retain,
Exhale left,
Inhale left,
Block left,
Retain,
Exhale right.
Inhale right,
Block right,
Exhale left,
Inhale left,
Block left,
Retain.
Last one.
Exhale right,
Inhale right,
Retain,
Hold,
And then exhale left.
Then we can slowly take the hands from the face,
Bringing both hands to rest on our lap,
And just taking a moment to observe your body,
Your mind,
And the effect of our practice today.
Thank you.
Meet your Teacher
