Welcome.
I'm April and I'm so grateful to connect with you today.
This meditation is simple yet very effective and leans into the wisdom of yoga and Ayurveda to promote the balance of prana,
Our life force,
And ojas,
Our vitality.
Through their optimal expression in our body,
Breath,
And mind,
We can more naturally settle and discover our inherent nature as relaxed,
Easeful,
And at peace.
In this meditation,
We'll incorporate mindfulness,
Affirmation,
And the power of sacred Sanskrit sound in the form of the word shanti,
Which is the vibratory resonance of the inner experience of peace.
So let's join in together.
Please find a comfortable,
Sustainable seated position.
It could be on the floor with a meditation cushion or two,
Perhaps with a folded blanket.
You might even choose to lean up against a wall or sit in a chair.
As you find your seat,
Encourage your eyes to draw softly closed,
Releasing the impressions of the external field.
Invite your sit bones to evenly settle into the earth,
Into the props beneath you,
Like you become cradled,
Held,
And supported here.
And with this seated support,
Stream your spine long.
Bring freedom to your shoulders.
Relax your shoulders.
Soften your facial expression.
Quiet your inner gaze.
Quiet your forehead.
So to quiet the mind.
And as you continue to settle deep into yourself,
Notice the calling of your breath,
The inhalation as it rises,
The exhalation as it falls.
Become carried by your breath,
The breath,
Your breath,
That fuels the illumination of consciousness.
Breathe life through you and within you,
The inhalation and the exhalation.
Embraced here by mindfulness,
We enhance our pranic experience and reap the gift of universal life force.
Continue to experience the inhalation as it receives the exhalation,
And your exhalation as it receives your inhalation.
Do your best to lean into the empowerment of your breath,
The empowerment of your breath as it centers all of the layers of yourself.
Feeling connected,
Internally aligned.
And in that cohesion,
Guide your awareness to your heart space.
Invite yourself to settle and soften around that poignant center.
Now for you,
This connection with the heart space might show up as alignment with your physical heart.
It could be alignment with your energetic heart,
The heart chakra,
The Anahata chakra,
Or maybe even the deeper,
Internal,
Spiritual heart,
Hridaya,
Or perhaps all of those aspects together.
So resting here,
With all of your awareness softening in the center of your chest,
We'll incorporate a short affirmation silently within your mind.
The affirmation is,
My heart is shanty.
Join me silently here for three rounds.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My body is shanty.
My body is shanty.
My body is shanty.
My body is shanty.
Begin a cyclical rotation of these three affirmations and locations,
Heart,
Mind,
And body.
Moving through one recitation each,
Silently,
An internal unfolding here.
All begin out loud for your support.
Direct your focus to your heart,
And repeat within,
My heart is shanty.
Awareness to your mind,
Repeat within,
My mind is shanty.
Awareness to your whole body,
Repeat within,
My body is shanty.
Be open to receive the settling that the resonance of shanty provides.
Shanty itself is a formula of primal sound that emanates from pure consciousness.
It encourages an unfolding,
A release,
And reharmonizes the forms of prana and life force,
So to restabilize and center the mind.
Let's continue with this cycle.
Allow your awareness to move through the positions,
The locations,
Along with the affirmation,
My heart is shanty.
My mind is shanty.
My body is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My mind is shanty.
My body is shanty.
My heart is shanty.
My mind is shanty.
My body is shanty.
Continue here on your own,
Silently with this rotation of affirmation and potent sacred sound.
I'll guide you back when it's time.
If at any time during this rotation you find your mind wandering,
Without worry,
Without any attachment,
Simply guide your focus back to the rotation of affirmation.
Finish up the rotation you are on and slowly settle into your own inner stillness,
Dissolving the affirmation completely.
Here we'll remain for a few moments to receive the nectar of this meditation,
The fruit.
When it's time,
I'll guide you to return.
Gracefully allow all of the threads of your awareness to return here in the fullness of yourself.
Lean into the support of your breath once again,
The soft inhalation,
The soft exhalation.
And together,
Let's find a releasing breath.
Inhale through your nose.
Exhale out your mouth.
One more time.
Inhale through your nose.
Exhale out your mouth.
Feeling yourself draw back to presence.
This meditation reorganizes prana and enhances ojas,
Our vitality.
It's a wonderful practice to apply daily and can provide even greater benefit when approached in a 30 or 40 day practice or sadhana.
So I invite you to return and receive the great gifts of yogic technology that have been offered to us and preserved for thousands of years.
I would love to hear how this meditation went for you,
So please feel free to leave a comment or ask a question.
I'm very happy to connect.
Thank you for joining.
Have a beautiful day.
