Namaste dear one,
This is J Chodakam.
Today's practice is deep breathing.
Breathing is the only aspect of the autonomic nervous system you can control.
It is the key to unlocking your parasympathetic nervous system which is your rest and restore aspect of your nervous system.
It'll help you calm down,
Increase your concentration,
Make it easier for you to fall asleep and much more.
The way you breathe impacts your heart rate,
Your blood pressure,
Your stress response,
Your posture,
Pain and even states of your brain.
Now for the next 10 minutes or so leave aside all distractions.
This is your time for yourself.
There's nowhere more important to go,
Nothing more important to do.
Then begin this process of self-healing.
Find a comfortable position where you're relaxed yet alert.
Let there be an alignment between your head,
Neck and your spine.
Rest your arms on your knees or on your lap or lay them besides you.
Relax the jaws,
Ease the face,
Drop the shoulders,
Soften your belly and relax the entire body.
If you haven't already done so,
I invite you to gently go ahead and downshift your gaze and close your eyes and bring your awareness to your breath.
Breath is the only thing that's moving in your body.
Fall into the pace of your breath,
Into the pace of your heart,
Into the pace of you.
Now we'll practice something called infinity breathing.
Visualize the infinity symbol in your mind's eye and we will draw a ribbon with our breath as you make your way around this infinity symbol.
Inhaling as we traverse one side of the symbol and we come to the intersection,
We exhale,
Inhale,
Exhale as you switch to the other side of the symbol.
Continue this practice at your own pace,
The pace of you.
When you breathe deeply,
You do more than inhale and exhale air.
You're sending a message to your brain to relax.
Your brain then in turn directs that message and sends it to the body,
Giving it permission to relax deeply.
Now this next practice is done while being seated.
It's called morning breathing.
We exhale as we slightly bend forward ever so gently and at the end of the exhale hold and as we inhale we slightly lean backwards and at the end of the inhale hold for a moment.
Continue exhaling as you slightly lean forward.
This is a very subtle practice,
Very gentle movements,
Inhaling as you lean backwards.
This morning breathing exercise is a great way to relieve any muscle stiffness to get you off to a good calm start of your day.
I invite you to repeat this at your own pace.
I'll watch the time.
You can do this practice anytime during the day whenever you feel a bout of anxiety creeping up on you,
Any sluggishness,
Some blockage or tiredness.
I invite you to drop this practice and notice how you feel.
Notice a sense of aliveness,
Lightness or clarity.
Now let go of this practice and invite you to bring your palms together in prayer position at your heart center and briskly rub your palms kindling the prana and when you feel a nice warm ball of energy weld up between your palms I invite you to go ahead and cup your eyes one with each palm and bless yourself.
May I be healthy,
May I be happy,
May I be at peace.
As we come to the end of this practice I want to thank you for joining me.
Wishing you an abundant day.
Namaste.
