Find a comfortable seat and close down your eyes,
Making sure your spine's long,
Shoulders are down,
Belly's soft,
Soften your belly and just bring your attention and your awareness to your breath.
Notice the flow of breath in,
The flow of breath out.
Notice the qualities of your breath today.
Smooth,
A little jagged,
Shallow or deep.
And become aware that even by placing your awareness on your breath,
The breath changes.
Slows,
Softens,
Smooths.
As you breathe in,
Get to the top of the inhale.
Notice it roll gently into the exhale.
At the bottom of the exhale,
It rolls back into inhale.
Circular,
Unbroken movement.
Focus on that circle.
Inhale an equal length of the exhale.
Breath smooth and unbroken.
Smooth,
Circular breaths.
Notice how this type of breathing changes how you feel.
Maybe you're able to drop your shoulders just a little more.
Relax some of the muscles in your body.
And clench your jaw.
In a moment,
We're going to practice Kapalabhati,
The brightening breath,
Bringing spaciousness to our minds,
Space for awareness.
Just so that we're all on the same page.
Take a big breath in,
Big breath out.
And then breathe in three quarters of the way,
Leaving some space.
Start to pump your abdomen,
Like this.
Sharp,
Short exhales.
No need to inhale,
The inhale happens automatically.
Short,
Sharp exhales,
Allowing the inhale just automatically happen.
Finding your own rhythm.
Just a little longer.
And then take a full breath out.
Deep breath in.
Just hold the breath at the top of the breath.
Feel that brightening sensation in the mind.
Spaciousness opening up.
And exhale.
Allow the breath to return to its normal rhythm.
Without control,
Or counting.
Just allow the body to breathe itself.
And bring your attention to the tip of your nose.
Just where the breath is entering and leaving the body.
And focus all of your awareness on this space.
Noticing each breath as it enters,
And each breath as it leaves.
Feeling the cooler air on your nostrils as it enters,
The slightly warmer air as it leaves.
Witness every breath.
If your attention wanders,
Which it naturally may,
Just draw your attention back to the breath.
The space where it enters and leaves your body.
Full,
Focused awareness on one single point.
Allowing you to be fully present in this moment.
Allowing your awareness to focus just on now.
And you're just going to start to follow the breath's journey a little.
Following the breath from the nostrils up into the midbrain.
Space between your eyebrows.
And then back down again,
Out through the nostrils.
Gently following the breath.
Up into the midbrain.
And then back out of the nostrils.
Gentle rhythmic flow.
As your attention comes to the space between the eyebrows,
You may notice some sensation.
This is normal,
Different for everybody.
Continue to follow the breath's journey.
The opening of the nostrils.
The space between the eyes.
Okay,
And if the mind starts to wander,
Which it may,
Bring your attention back to the breath.
When your awareness next reaches your midbrain,
Space between your eyes,
Just rest there.
Allow the breath to continue to flow.
You no longer need to follow its journey.
Rest in that space.
Place all of your awareness in that one space.
Allow that space to open up.
Experience all it has to offer.
And rest in this space as long as you want.
I'll leave you here.
Thank you for practicing with me.
