Welcome to destress practice.
Begin now to settle into your comfortable meditative seat or feel free to lie down on your back for this meditation.
As you're making yourself comfortable,
Begin to notice the breath.
Begin to gather a long deep breath in through the nose and then sigh out the exhale,
Hearing the sound you make all the way to its finish.
And again,
We take a deep breath in through the nose and a long sighing exhalation out.
And one more time.
Let the breath return now into its natural tide and rhythm.
Without willing the breath or shaping the breath consciously,
Simply be with the breath just as it is.
You are a conscious witness watching your body breathe.
So guide your awareness up to the nose.
Begin to follow the trail of the breath in and out of the nasal membrane.
The breath gently rises effortlessly through the nostrils and gently exits out the nostrils.
Keep following the rhythm of the breath here in the nose.
Notice a gentle warmth as the breath flows out and a gentle coolness as the breath flows in.
We're going to add a little bit to the breath now.
So on a scale of one to ten,
We're utilizing the willing of the tide of the breath and its power at about a two maximum.
So this is a soft sipping of breath in the nose.
Let's inhale together through the nostrils.
And then with the mouth closed,
Exhale cultivating a gentle ujjayi breath or ocean breath.
Hear the sound all the way to its finish and then again we will the tide of the breath through the nostrils and a gentle ocean breath on the exhale.
It's as if you're fogging up a mirror but with the mouth closed.
Continue inhaling through the nose,
Sipping the smooth tide of the breath,
And then exhale with a gentle ocean sound,
Feeling a soft resonance at the back of the throat.
Continue.
On your next inhalation,
Begin to cultivate a slight retention or hold at the top of the inhale.
As you do so,
Bring all of your awareness to the midbrain and gently exhale with an ujjayi breath,
Ocean breath.
And once again we inhale through the nose,
Sipping the smooth tide in and up.
Pause and hold comfortably,
Awareness at the midbrain.
Exhale,
Ocean breath.
Continue.
Notice how long and smooth the exhales become.
How long and smooth that ocean sound is and how it's soothing you,
Calming you,
Grounding you.
The next time you exhale,
When you feel and notice the slight pause at the end of the breath,
Hold,
Slight retention comfortably,
And then inhale through the nostrils.
At the top of the in-breath,
Pause and hold,
Awareness at the midbrain.
Exhale,
Ocean breath,
Hearing the sound all the way out,
Pausing gently at the base,
And then repeating,
Inhaling through the nose.
Pause and hold,
Awareness at the third eye or midbrain.
Smooth ujjayi,
Ocean breath on the exhale,
Pausing in the warm and friendly silence at the end of the exhale before the inhale arrives.
Continue.
Notice the mind resting in the held sensations of the breath and the pauses between the breaths.
On this next inhalation,
Pause and hold,
Awareness at the midbrain,
And then let the practice go.
Allow your breath to return into its natural rhythm and tide.
Notice how the breath has become involuntary.
It's just happening.
Continue to gaze inward at your inner landscape,
Letting the breath come to you.
Scanning and observing any shifts that may have taken place,
Not only in your body and in the felt sensation of your body's breath,
But also the mind.
Join the palms together in front of the heart,
Bowing the head,
But also the mind.
We'll join the palms together in front of the heart,
Bowing the head.
Namaste.
