Surrender To Joy : Breathwork + Meditation

Surrender is the first act to allowing joy to reveal itself. It's your natural state of being, your body recognizing itself. Surrender is the bridge into feeling okay, happy, open, optimistic, and eventually to realizing your self as a being free. Sometimes, however, getting across that bridge can be tough. This set of breathwork and meditation will help you reach your natural state of joy.

Transcript

First,

I'm gonna lead you through some pranayama,

Which is ancient Indian wisdom on breath work.

And then half of the time we're gonna do a breath work,

And the other half of the time we're gonna do a meditation.

Today I have a very powerful meditation for you,

Which is learning to let go,

Let go for joy.

If you let go of a little,

You experience a little joy.

If you let go a lot,

You get lots of joy.

And if you totally let go,

You have absolute joy.

And so that's what I'm gonna lead you through.

All right,

So let's jump right into the practice.

I want you to go ahead and downshift your gaze.

If you're seated on a chair,

I want you to please keep your back straight,

Shoulders dropped,

Sitting upright.

If somebody were to watch you from behind,

They should see the silhouette of a majestic mountain.

And as you're beginning to take in these deep,

Comfortable breaths,

I'm gonna teach you how to breathe in using your diaphragm.

Your diaphragm is what is truly under your control.

Everything else,

The mind is hard to rein in,

External situations are impossible to rein in.

The controlling of different functions of the body becomes autonomic,

But what you do have in your control is your ability to regulate your breath.

And that's what we're gonna use today.

We're gonna leverage that to control everything else because the breath controls the brain,

The brain controls the body,

And that ultimately controls your feelings,

Your emotions,

And your expression.

All right.

So let's go ahead and downshift our gaze.

And go ahead and put your arms on your lap.

Assuming you're sitting down,

If you're lying down,

You're welcome to go ahead and put them on the floor next to you.

I want to make sure that your joints are not locked.

I want you to keep a slight bend in your joints because this is a way for you to be able to allow the chi or the prana that we're going to invoke.

We're going to activate energy to flow into our entire body in this next 15 minutes or so.

And for that,

You want to keep the limbs open.

No channel is going to be blocked.

And so in this breathing first exercise,

I want you to go ahead and put your palms right below your rib cage.

This is the place where you can feel the soft tissue just beneath the bones.

And as you're breathing in,

I want you to make sure that your two palms are going out horizontally and not vertically.

This is the right way to breathe.

Allowing the belly to expand and collapse.

We take in 24,

000 breaths a day.

And how we breathe,

The muscles that we engage and how those are connected to our spine,

Our rib cage and our entire posture determines the aches and pains,

Whether we're actually alleviating that or we are increasing our tendency to feel body aches and pains.

And if you're noticing that your rib cage is expanding out horizontally,

You're breathing right.

Make sure you're breathing in deep and letting it all go.

So now I want you to please take in a breath through the nostrils for a count of five.

Exhale for a count of seven through the nostrils.

And then hold for three at the empty lungs before we take in an inhale for five.

Exhale for seven.

Hold for three at the bottom of the lungs.

Inhale for five.

Exhale for seven.

Hold for three.

Five,

Inhale.

Exhale for seven.

And hold for three.

Inhale for five.

Exhale for seven.

And hold for three.

Last round,

Five in.

Exhale for seven.

And hold for three.

Allowing your breath to come back to a natural flow,

Which is five in and five out through the nostrils.

I'm going to explain the next exercise.

This is belly breathing in which you're going to use the muscles of your abdomen to pull them back to empty the lungs completely.

So when you breathe in,

I want you to let your belly expand like we did in the first exercise,

A horizontal opening up of the abdominal area.

And as you're exhaling,

Squeezing the muscles of your belly to take them towards the spine,

As if you are completely creating a concave cavity inside your abdomen.

Obviously,

You don't want to be doing this if you're pregnant,

But for the rest of us,

Let us try this exercise.

And if you feel uncomfortable at any time,

Abort,

Go back to the five in,

Five out.

So let's do three rounds of this.

Inhale,

Allowing the belly to expand,

Making sure that you're using your diaphragm,

Deep breathing.

Exhale by letting it all out and squeezing your muscles of your belly to go towards the spine,

Creating that nice cavity.

This is activating your digestion system besides relaxing your body,

Besides getting all of the toxins out of your system.

And then let's hold there for a count of five.

Inhale for five.

Exhale,

Squeezing the muscles of your stomach,

Taking them back towards the spine.

And hold.

Inhale.

And then squeeze it all out,

Every last ounce of air,

Pushed out using the muscles of your abdomen,

Your belly to go towards the spine,

Creating a nice,

Tight,

Almost like you're squeezing it,

Like pushing air out of a bag,

Completely emptying it out.

And then hold there.

And then inhale.

Moving on to the next.

In this next round of exhalations,

We'll inhale through the nostrils,

Exhale from the mouth,

Extend with each passing exhale.

So we're going to first exhale for a count of seven.

We're going to extend the second round to a count two more seconds,

Nine.

Add two more seconds in the third round to 11 until we get to 15.

All right?

Inhale.

Again,

Making sure your belly is what is doing the work.

And exhale through the mouth.

Inhale through the nostrils.

Exhale through the mouth for a count of nine this time.

Inhale.

And as you're exhaling,

Can you add the sound of the ocean as we go to a count of 11?

Inhale.

Let's go for 13 as we exhale.

Inhale.

And final round of 15,

Nice,

Thin stream of air.

Now regular five in and five out.

Notice already you're beginning to activate your parasympathetic nervous system.

You could start feeling that right now.

You feel much more present,

Much more relaxed,

Calmer state of thoughts in your mind.

Beginning to feel probably some sensation of tingling in your body as we go into the last exercise of the pranayama set today,

Which is kapalbhati.

In kapalbhati,

You will be using your diaphragm to push out the air and the focus is going to be completely on the exhale.

Sometimes referred to as javelin breath.

So it comes out as sharp,

Short breaths.

It looks like this.

Okay,

So what I'm doing is I'm using my muscles in my abdomen,

The diaphragm,

To push the air out.

The focus is on the exhale.

Don't worry about the inhale.

When you learn to give,

The universe teaches you how to get.

We're going to do three rounds of this.

First round of 14,

Second round of 21,

Third round of 42,

Slowly building up our stamina for this.

Now,

If any time you should feel uncomfortable,

You feel lightheaded,

You feel uneasy,

Abort.

Go back to the five,

Seven,

Three breathing we did at the beginning of this exercise.

All right,

For the rest of us,

I want you to attain what is referred to as vayamudra,

Which is the tips of your index finger at touching your thumbs,

Arms rested on your lap or on the floor next to you,

Depending on whether you're seated or lying down.

Let's go ahead and downshift our gaze.

Eyes are always closed in pranayama.

The focus is on the hearing because you want to make sure that you're hearing right.

Inhale,

Exhale.

Inhale.

Inhale.

Three quarters of breath out and first round of 14 together.

And go back to normal breathing,

Five in.

Taking a break,

Five out.

Inhale.

Three quarters of breath out and second round of 21 together.

Go back to regular breathing,

Taking a break,

Five in,

Five out.

Inhale.

Inhale.

Three quarters of a breath out and final round of 42 together.

Inhale.

And we are done.

Just dropping into the experience,

Noticing how you feel in your entire being.

The lightness that may have pervaded your state of being.

Acknowledging the ease with which you breathe right now.

Noticing the slower pace of your thoughts.

This is how you activate your rest and restore part of your nervous system.

Breathing deep,

Doing pranayama even for 15 minutes is compensation for the rest of the day where you inadvertently breathe shallow,

Hold your breath,

Deprive your body of the much needed life force,

The oxygen.

And as we are holding breath as we did in some of the exercises,

What you're doing is you're actually facilitating actively the exchange of carbon dioxide.

You're asking,

You're telling your brain to have a complete exchange of the carbon dioxide to be replenished with oxygen.

So a lot of emphasis in pranayama.

It's not just on the exhale,

But also the holding of breath.

We call it bandha.

Rechaka is the exhale and the bandha,

Which is the holding,

Deepens the quality of your oxygenation.

Now in the next course of 20 minutes or so,

We will shift gears and I will guide you to transform your fears and disappointment into trust and hope using the art of letting go,

Surrendering.

When we let go of our need to completely control our surroundings and we surrender to the love and that wisdom of the universe,

We attain great joy.

So I thank you for joining me in this process.

At many times we tend to grasp things or events because we know what we want.

Perhaps it's a romantic partner,

Or a friend,

Or a friend's friend,

Perhaps it's a romantic partner,

A certain job,

A body that looks a certain way.

Understanding what exactly we desire helps direct our attention and action towards a particular goal.

But often we overlook that there are several things outside of our control.

You could be the most charming,

Attractive person in the world and that special someone might not be interested.

You could have the best interview in the history of interviews and you still may not be selected for that job.

You could be an Olympian and not achieve that specific physical goal.

Some things aren't possible and we don't know what they are.

If this is disturbing,

Then all you need to do is to shift your perspective.

On your next breath,

Breathe in compassion for yourself.

On your next breath,

Breathe in compassion for yourself.

Compassion for others.

And as you exhale,

Let go of control.

Let go of control.

Let go of fear.

If you knew everything that was going to happen,

Or if you got exactly what you wanted all the time,

You wouldn't grow as a person and you wouldn't have as much fun.

Today's terrible first date is tomorrow's bedtime story for your grandchildren.

Losing a job today might pave the way to a career so fulfilling you cannot imagine it right now.

The universe is trying to give what you want but it may not look the way you expect it to.

If you're orchestrating your life to the finest detail,

You're not living any room for pleasant surprises and the deep wisdom that comes only with failure.

Would you rather have a life full of planned,

Safe experiences or spend each day in righteous laughter?

Earth-shaking love,

Meaningful relationships,

And tears that come from seeking and achieving them?

Let go of control.

Let go of control.

Allowing your life's careful architecture to shift with the changes you experience and it requires vulnerability.

Like surrender,

Vulnerability is often marked in our contemporary culture.

Yet vulnerability is not a weakness.

It is your willingness to drop the facade and be in integrity with every part of your being.

It is your willingness to trust your intuition,

The universe,

And the web of the seven something billion people who are seeking the same thing as you.

You are a small ship in a sea of life.

You are a small ship in a vast and majestic river.

The current will carry you where you need to go if only you stop rowing upstream.

You stop rowing upstream.

In a day or a week or even in a year you will look back at some of the most difficult things that you're going through with fondness no matter what happens.

At this very moment you're learning and changing,

Being carried into a beautiful new awareness by a kind loving presence.

You can only control yourself.

You can only control yourself but you're enough to enact big changes in the world.

Love,

Compassion,

Trust,

And vulnerability are your tools.

And with them you can change everything.

You can do anything.

I and your fellow companions here on this journey through life know you will not only succeed but you will thrive.

You are a masterpiece in progress.

Believe it and anything is possible.

Now I want you to take a moment to name whatever has recently shifted in your life.

It could be a happy occurrence such as a new relationship or a birth of a child or something sad like the loss of a family member,

A job,

Or it could be something neutral,

A new goal,

A new change in objective,

Some other twist.

Know that whatever it is,

The outcome is out of your control and that could be very unnerving.

In much of the western world we have a lot of people who are very much in control.

And that could be very unnerving.

In much of the western world we are taught that control,

Objectives,

And contingency plans are what keep us safe.

You probably have a plan for any given area of your life.

A backup plan in case the first one doesn't work out.

And an absolute worst case scenario on how you would cope with when all else fails.

There's nothing wrong with that.

Thinking strategically usually reduces anxiety and produces good results.

But what that doesn't teach you is that you can't control everything.

Even if you are centered in the most compassionate being,

This could be somewhat unsettling.

And when you look past this fear,

There is a peace inside of you.

A peace that is impossible to disrupt.

And let's journey into that awe of peace.

A peace that is impossible to disrupt.

And let's journey into that all-encompassing serenity.

And as we go through this process you may encounter some painful,

Frightening memories.

I'll ask you to do is as we go through this healing you just keep continuing.

You're being guided by angels,

Supported by my voice and all these other people around the world who are meditating with us right now.

They're helping you in this process.

And know that no matter what,

You are safe.

So take a deep breath and allow your muscles to soften.

You are safe.

You are safe.

From the tips of your toes to your ankles to your feet.

Know that they are safe and make them relax.

Your calf muscle is supple and relaxed.

Your knees,

Your thighs,

Your hips are relaxed.

Surrender.

Let go of the bottom half of your body.

Just surrender.

Your stomach,

Chest,

Back,

Neck,

Supple,

Relaxed and nurtured.

Let it go.

Feel it dissipating.

Release your head and shoulders.

Your arms all the way down to your fingertips.

Relaxed and let go.

Trust the process.

And you will feel the freedom.

Release.

Let it go.

Surrender.

Your mind opens and expands.

You are safe.

You are free.

You have let go.

In all of the universe,

In every galaxy,

There exists only one thing that you can control.

That thing,

That loving being is you.

You cannot control the weather,

You cannot control any other person's action.

At best,

You can offer your support,

Your love or your presence.

At worst,

You can try to manipulate others with psychological tactics or force.

But you can only control you.

And you are a universe within yourself.

A vast sea of emotional processes.

A garden of biology.

A creature capable of surviving at the bottom of the ocean or on any other planet.

You are totally unique.

A heady cocktail of experiences,

Memories and passions that will never ever be created the same way again.

You have almost infinite choices in every moment.

What to do.

How to react.

When to do it.

They are your choices.

And how you respond is the only thing you can control.

If this realization feels painful or foreign,

Embrace it.

If it feels freeing,

Welcome it.

Something greater than us exists.

It doesn't matter if you follow a specific faith tradition or general spirituality or don't believe in anything at all.

However you understand the greater intelligence and the purpose of the universe.

You know that something created the world around you and some greater order keeps it safe.

Breathe in this love.

Breathe in this safety.

Breathe in this greater intelligence that surrounds you and is within you.

You were born of this universe.

You are treasured by it.

This higher consciousness,

Whether you call it God or something else,

Is caring for you at every moment of every day.

It is responsible for this shift that you are experiencing,

This delicate earthquake that has disrupted your life.

Whether you realize it or not,

This gentle rumbling has happened for a reason.

Take a moment now to let go,

To drift off,

To float free into the stars of the universe,

Knowing all the while that you are 100% safe and nurtured.

Breathe in this love.

Breathe in this love.

Breathe in this love.

Breathe in this love.

Bring your palms together in prayer position at your heart center.

I want you to please rub your two palms against each other.

The palms are an energy vortex.

And as you ignite the chi or the prana,

The life force,

You are activating this life energy.

And when you feel like you've activated a nice,

Warm,

Mushy,

Gooey ball of prana between your palms,

I want you to go ahead and apply them,

One palm on each eye.

And bless yourself.

Let this energy be a healing for you.

I am safe.

I am free.

I am being nurtured.

I am being nurtured.

I want you to take your palms and now place them facing outwards as if you're sending a blessing to the world.

And I want you to think of somebody,

Some people or a place that could use a blessing right now.

As if there's a beam of light that is emerging from your heart center and it's being cast on that person,

People or place that could use the blessing.

May they feel safe.

May they feel free.

May they know that they're being nurtured but by that higher supreme intelligence of love.

Bring your palms back to pray position at your heart center.

Let's take a bow of gratitude for everything that we've received in this last 40 minutes.

And I want you to notice what has shifted.

How do you feel right now?

And if you had to describe how you feel right now in one word,

What would that be?

I want you to go down please,

Put that word down in the comment section.

Reviews

I feel lighter in my shift. The actual word that came to me is less. Lovely.

Lighter. I loved this, so much. Fantastic way to start the day & I'll be incorporating this into my regular practice!

Loved this. I feel whole, plentiful and at ease. Thank you!

Thankyou .. I feel safe, loved and protected. It feels good.

Shifted

Beautiful meditation, gave me lots of insights and energy 🙏

Amazing. First time felt that I let go of…. Thank you 🙏

Calm.

Thank you. I really needed this today and the days to come. Thank you.

My word is Ease. Thank you for a wonderfully healing journey.

Weightless, and also I am grateful and so excited about the day ahead. Thank you Jay for sharing a powerful, enlightening practice with us 🙏🏾✨

This was the most liberating meditation I’ve ever experienced wow. Thank you 🙏 . May your God continue to bless you in Abundance 🥰

Blissful! 🙏🏽❤️ Thank you, Jay. A transformative and joyful way to begin a new day. Blessings to you!

Ease....thank you for sharing the blessings if your life. Peace. Mary

Peace.

Light 💡 and 😇 blessed..🙏💕

Grateful 🙏

Excellent! Feel grateful 🙏 thank you!

Grateful.

So Special, Jay!!!
Pranayama, meditation and Sankalpa for humanity! Namasté, Hari Om!!!🌻🌻🌻🧘🏼🙅🏼‍♀️👼🙏
Hat Om

Thank you Jay. Full of insight and wisdom.

This was so good. I need and crave this in my life. Thank you Jay.