Steady Heart

In turbulent times finding steadiness outside of yourself can be challenging. This guided pranayama and visualisation session helps you to turn inwards and restore the physical heart to coherence which in turn helps to settle the mind and emotions.

Transcript

Welcome to Steady Heart,

A guided breathing exercise and meditation to help with exactly that,

A steady heart.

I think in the times we find ourselves now there are so many things that consistently on a daily basis gets the heart maybe a little bit agitated,

Excited,

Nervous and over time that tends to add up.

We get to a space where we almost struggle to find our way back to steadiness in heart,

In mind,

In breath.

In many cultures the heart has traditionally been considered the seat of the soul.

In traditional Chinese medicine the Shin,

The spirit,

Is considered to live in the heart.

In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna speaks to Arjuna and he says that he is in the heart of all beings.

In some ways there is a parallel for this cultural knowledge of thousands years old.

In the Sino-Atrial node which is nestled inside the heart muscle.

This node is essentially what is responsible for that spark of electricity which helps to make the heart beat.

In more recent years an institute called HeartMath has found that the heart has many functions besides just circulating blood in the body.

The heart has such a dense neural network that it actually processes information that doesn't need to go to the brain,

It has a memory.

So the heart is quite an intelligent organ that does a lot more than what we originally learned in biology.

To access the heart and the functioning of the heart we use the breath.

The breath is the gateway through which we access the nervous system which is then what speaks to the heart.

In yoga therapy specifically the breathing exercise that is used to treat conditions of the heart is Nadi Shodhana.

Nadi Shodhana is alternate nostril breath and in this case it is done in a very particular ratio where the inhalation is one and the exhalation is two.

It is the slowing down of the exhalation which encourages the heart to beat a little bit more slowly.

Gradually every time you exhale longer than you inhale the heart begins to respond by slowing itself down and finding steadiness once more.

So to start the practice find yourself in a comfortable seated pose,

Legs crossed sitting upright in meditation or if you like you can sit with your back on a chair and your feet on the floor.

But if your back is feeling tired and sore just lying down is also fine.

The most important thing is that you should be able to breathe freely without having to hold yourself up and tense your muscles.

So the most comfortable position you can find is the best position in which to do this exercise.

So I'll give you a moment just to find yourself in a place where you are really comfortable and at ease.

And then once you're settled if you're seated let your hands just rest on your knees if you're lying down let your hands just rest on your belly.

And I invite you to close your eyes as you come into this comfortable position.

And just take notice of the breath,

Take notice of your mind,

Take notice of your heart and just encountering what is currently present.

So even if what is present at the moment is not something that you necessarily like that's okay just noticing what is without getting scared,

Without getting demotivated or upset.

And just noticing the physical state of your body.

And see if you can find a little bit of lightness coming up towards the eyebrow center as you take a moment to realize that we're about to start with practice and engage very gently but also directly with this energy that you're experiencing.

And then from here take the tip of your tongue,

Press it up and see if you can let the tip of your tongue point backwards to the throat rather than forwards towards the teeth.

And take the underside of your tongue to touch your palate.

So setting up here in Kachari mudra of the tongue.

And when the tongue touches the upper palate in this way we begin to naturally constrict a little bit through the throat so it makes it easier to find your ujjayi breath.

So with your tongue touching your upper palate,

Breathe slowly in and out through your nose.

Not yet changing the ratio of the breath but just finding steady breath in and out.

And you'll find that your breath naturally makes the sound of the ocean almost like a very light or gentle snore.

So there's this vibration in the throat that goes up towards the ears.

It has a soothing effect on the throat.

And taking a few more of these ujjayi like breaths in and out through the nose while you keep your tongue pressed up towards your palate.

On your next inhalation,

Naturally count the length of your inhalation.

So maybe it's two,

Maybe it's three,

Maybe it's four.

And then when you get to the fullness of your breath,

Take a momentary pause and then see if you can double that number as you exhale.

So if I'm inhaling to the count of three,

I pause and then I exhale to the count of six.

Good.

See if you can do five more breaths like that just to establish the ratio of one to two.

And don't worry about counting being perfect and it being precise to the microsecond.

It's just a general feeling of lengthening the exhalation.

If it gets a little bit too long and you feel uncomfortable,

Just take another breath in.

Over time it becomes easier to lengthen out the breath.

So let go of perfection,

But just see if you can really find yourself beginning to relax and release on that exhale.

We'll take two more breaths like that.

So inhale through the nose.

Pause and exhale.

And if you can,

One more breath like this.

Good.

From here we take our right hand or your left hand if it's more comfortable.

Up to you to decide.

We take the hand up towards the face and we gently close our right nostril.

So it's a very light pressure from the fingertip into the nostril.

And for the next 10 breaths,

We'll breathe in and out through our left nostril only using that same ratio of breath.

So as you inhale to the count of two or three.

And then as you exhale to the count of four or six.

Nine more times repeat inhale.

Inhale.

And exhale.

Inhale.

And exhale.

Inhale.

And exhale.

Do a few more rounds on your own.

And really focusing on finding steadiness.

If your spine has grown tired,

See if you can maybe just lift tall,

Keep the chest spacious,

Keep your shoulders soft.

If your arm is getting tired,

Use your opposite hand to gently support the arm from the bottom up by holding the elbow.

And just keeping the body as soft as you can but keeping the spine tall with as little effort as possible as we do three more rounds of breath in and out through the left nostril.

Good,

Finishing your last breath on the left side.

And then you can switch hands or you can use the same hand but we'll close our left nostril this time and switch our breathing over towards the right.

So on the inhalation,

Inhale through the right nostril.

And then exhaling out through the right again.

Establishing that ratio of one to two.

So inhaling to the count of one.

Two.

And then exhaling to the count of four.

Work with the breath that feels natural to you.

So gently extending the exhalation without straining,

Without feeling like you need more air.

If you start feeling oxygen hungry you're maybe lengthening the breath out a little bit too much.

The breath should be easy,

It shouldn't be stressful on the body.

Because the moment we start craving oxygen we're basically undoing all of our good work.

So even if the breath is very short and not very long,

That's fine.

The most important part is the steadiness as you inhale and exhale.

We've got another three breaths left here on the right side.

And then on the next exhalation,

Release the hands down for a moment if you like,

Take a little roll through your shoulders.

And then choose one hand with which we'll move into the alternate nostril breath called Nadi Sodana.

So I prefer my right hand but you're welcome to use your left or your right.

And I usually put my middle finger and my index finger on the space between my eyebrows.

And then use my thumb and my ring finger to open and close my nostrils.

So middle and index to the eyebrow center,

Closing the right nostril first.

From here we find the exhalation through the left.

And then inhaling on the left.

Closing the left nostril and exhaling on the right.

Inhale through the right.

Exhaling through the left.

And again inhaling left.

And exhaling right.

Inhaling right.

Exhaling left.

Inhaling left.

Exhaling right.

Inhale on the right.

And then exhaling on the left.

And then carry on inhaling again on the left,

Exhaling on the right.

Now that you're established in this pattern of breath,

Feel how with every inhalation the air travels from your nostril up to your eyebrow center.

And then switching it over to exhale on the opposite side.

Finding how on the inhalation it comes back up towards the eyebrow center before switching over opposite to exhale on the other side.

So cultivate this mental image of the breath as you inhale and exhale.

And then once you feel steady in this pattern of breath,

Just check in whether you are able to replicate that ratio of one to two.

So the inhalation being half the length of your exhalation.

And it doesn't have to be perfect but with every breath that we take we find ourselves very gently kind of bringing ourselves closer to how that feels.

So really feeling into the long exhalations.

Feeling how the body grows a little bit softer as we lean into the exhalation.

Melting from the shoulders,

Softening through the knees,

The thighs.

And feeling how every inhalation buoys you up so it brings lightness to the mind,

It brings lightness to the chest.

And there's the sense that the whole of the body and the whole of the nervous system becomes very light and effortless in what it's doing.

And there's the sense that time almost slows down as you keep breathing in and out through alternate nostrils.

And that slowing down of time might agitate the mind when it notices everything going on in the moment.

But when this happens just gently redirect your focus back to the breath.

It's okay if time slows down,

It's okay if the mind is agitated.

But see if you can just very gently hold on to this pattern of your breath and let that be the thing that gives you rhythm and steadiness.

We'll do a few more rounds of breath and you're welcome to create gentle natural pauses between your inhalation and your exhalation.

The pauses don't have to be very long,

It's a very subtle lifting and waiting and deciding to flow into the next part of the breath.

We'll do another five rounds here,

Noticing any feeling in the belly that makes you want to rush and get through what is happening.

And really catching yourself there,

Catching that thought before it becomes action.

And gently taking that energy and anchoring it into the breathing.

If the mind gets doubtful or suspicious about what's happening,

Also just notice that but don't follow the thought.

Keep anchoring back into the breath,

Two more rounds,

Seeing if you can gently lengthen your exhalations one last time.

Doing one last round of breath,

Inhaling left and right,

Exhaling left and right.

And then when you finish exhaling onto your left,

Gently release the hands to the knees,

Let the shoulder rest.

Come back to Ujjayi breath.

You're welcome to take the tip of your tongue up and back into the palate,

Finding that breath that sounds like the waves of the ocean,

Feeling that vibration moving through your throat.

As you settle back into Ujjayi breath,

Focusing on your exhalation,

I invite you for the next five breaths every time you inhale to think of one small thing that you really appreciate.

Something nice that somebody did for you today,

Maybe the birds singing outside.

But something that is in your day,

Something that is close,

Something that you can really experience with your senses.

And as you inhale,

Bringing one of these things to mind.

And then as you exhale,

Lengthen the breath out,

See if you can pull that appreciation down into your chest,

Really feeling what it feels like to appreciate this thing in this moment.

Maybe it brings a bit of happiness,

A little bit of joy,

A little bit of contentment.

Maybe it makes you feel loved.

And as you inhale for your next breath,

Bring another thing that you appreciate to mind.

And again,

As you exhale,

Draw down into the chest and let a little spark of positive emotion arise in the heart space.

Three more times,

So three more breaths and every time that you inhale,

Finding one more thing that you appreciate,

Just a small little thing in your day.

And on the exhalation,

Really bringing it into the heart,

Feeling that appreciation,

Feeling all the emotions that it brings.

One last time,

Inhale and exhale,

Drawing the thought down to the heart.

And then take a moment,

Take one or two deep breaths,

Just feeling into the heart space,

Feeling how the steadiness of your mind is gently melting down into the rest of the body.

And if that steadiness feels strange and uncertain,

Allow yourself to remain curious.

Take a moment to affirm,

I am safe,

I am okay,

In this moment I am safe.

And then holding on to that,

Allow yourself to be curious about what the steadiness could feel like in the body.

We'll finish the practice with a hand mudra that relates to the pericardium and the heart.

And specifically the pericardium,

Which is the protective cocoon or bag around the heart which keeps it safe.

So on the inhalation,

Bring both your hands together in front of your chest,

Like you're taking your hands into a prayer.

And then as you exhale,

Interlace your fingers so your fingertips move over to the back of the opposite hand.

So the hands are basically now in one big fist.

And then on your next inhalation,

Extend your middle fingers up towards the sky,

Keeping the rest of the fingers where they are.

And then gently letting the pads of the middle fingers touch and connect.

Take your index and thumb on the left hand and let them touch.

And then take the index and the thumb on the right and let them touch.

So there are two circles or two loops between left hand and right hand,

Middle finger and thumb.

And then as well the middle fingers where they connect and this is called mutangi mudra.

And from here draw the hands into the heart space,

Let your hands rest against your heart center,

So against your sternum.

Gently push your elbows out,

Let your shoulders release down away from your ears.

And then draw your awareness to the middle fingers,

To the thumbs and the index,

Where all these fingertips gently touch each other.

And feel like this gentle cocoon that you have around your heart space,

So the arms being almost like a bit of a barrier,

A protection,

A door.

And then see if you can follow that feeling into the physical chest itself.

Maybe imagining your heart beating inside your chest.

And then imagining the pericardium,

The cocoon around the heart,

Holding it safe.

And we'll take a few breaths here,

Imagining the physical heart itself,

Holding onto that steadiness in mind,

That steadiness in our energy.

Staying with the steadiness of our breath,

Maybe recalling those little moments of appreciation that we brought into awareness a little bit ago.

And feel all of that sealed up in this protective cocoon of safety around the heart.

Take a moment to invite in wellness,

Wellbeing,

Health for the heart itself.

Your heart that works so hard on a daily basis,

Constantly pumping blood to keep you alive.

And the heart that feels and processes everything that happens to us in life.

All of our emotions passing through the heart space,

All of our ups and our downs.

And if you found yourself recently experiencing more downs,

Take a moment to invite yourself to put those things down.

As you exhale,

Feel yourself releasing the past off your shoulders,

Knowing that everything that is in the past is in the past.

And all we can really work with is right now.

And in order to do that,

We need to be fully present,

We need to take care of ourselves.

We need to strengthen ourselves from the inside,

Giving steadiness to our energy so that we can essentially do the long run.

That we can go the full mile,

Do the whole marathon.

And in that way,

Not letting thoughts or worries about the future necessarily destabilize us in this moment either.

So taking a few more steady breaths in and out of the nose.

Feeling your heart cocooned in the protective gesture of your hands,

Your breath and the steadiness of your mind.

Take one more deep breath expressing deep gratitude for this opportunity to tap in directly into your energy,

Into your vitality and into your spirit,

Knowing that in this space is where you can make all of the difference.

When you're ready,

Slowly release the index fingers and the thumbs,

The middle fingers,

Uncapping or unfolding the hands,

Resting the palms onto the knees,

Soften through the shoulders.

Take one or two more deep breaths.

And then take as much time as you need before you move and carry on with the rest of your day.

Feeling free to practice either the breathing or the mudra at any point when you need to tap back into steadiness.

Thank you so much for joining me.

Wishing you a wonderful rest of the day.

Namaste.

Reviews

Thank you. Very clear and helpful breath practices calmly spoken. It was just what I needed after being through a stressful experience.