Welcome everyone.
Today I'll be shedding light on a very simple yogic technique that helps ease the mind into a state of stability even when the waves of the outer world are quite tumultuous.
Now for those of you that don't know me,
I'm April and over the last 20 years I have been immersed in the holistic yogic lifestyle which has really opened my dharma to support those that are inspired to feel and learn to feel at home within themselves using the power of yoga.
Now today's technique is actually twofold.
So the first is Brahmari Pranayama or Brahmari breathing which you may or may not already be familiar with.
For those that are not familiar with Brahmari Pranayama,
It's often referred to as the honeybee breath or the humming breath.
And in this breath we guide a natural inhalation through the nose and we create a humming sound through the nose on the exhale.
So to give a short demonstration,
Inhale through the nose.
So it's just like that.
And this Brahmari Pranayama very effectively calms the nervous system.
It is extremely grounding and it encourages the earth element to manifest within the mind in a very serving expression.
So the result of that serving manifestation or Pada manifestation is the stability of the mind.
It is the focus of the mind and it is the calmness of the mind.
Now here is the yogic secret behind this sound.
So this humming sound that we find in Brahmari Pranayama,
It is also interestingly enough the final sound in the mantra Om.
And this humming sound is referred to or known as the Anusvara.
The Anusvara.
And the Anusvara translates as the remover of sorrow because it does just that.
The remover of the sorrow,
It really supports us here as humans in this human condition.
Now the Anusvara is a nasal sound.
We can experience that nasal sound.
It travels up the nasal passageway and it vibrates into the prefrontal cortex.
So that Anusvara sound stimulates the prefrontal cortex which enhances greatly actually our ability to remain mentally stable,
Mentally steady even when the world is moving very very rapidly.
Okay,
So this Anusvara sound awakens our ability to respond rather than react.
To remain in the stability of the earth element.
Okay,
It's very simple.
It's extremely accessible.
With small amounts of this sound in our bodies experienced we can receive those benefits.
So we're going to very quickly practice this breath together and we're actually going to layer it with a posture.
A posture that enhances grounding and stability.
Child's pose that many of us may be familiar with already.
So you can move into your child's pose.
We can start by finding a kneeling position and then it's often nice to spread the knees maybe hip distance or even wider.
We're going to lower ourselves down and you might choose to extend the arms out in front.
You might prefer to sweep them back alongside the body or you could even create a little pillow with the hands or the fists.
Now here in our child's pose position just allow your body to soften and allow your presence to expand through your entire physical body and your awareness to become enveloped by your breath.
And as we settle now into the cradle of Mother Earth beneath us and into the cradle of presence we'll incorporate three of those Brahmari breaths that humming Anusvada sound.
Gather a long inhale.
Two more times.
And here you can allow your breath to return to normal and seem to soften into the physical body even more.
Soften the mind.
Soften the hold on the mind.
Any of those thoughts passing through the field of the mind and really receive the benefits of that vibration of child's pose.
And as you hold that integrity roll yourself up to a seated position.
So we unravel out of child's pose and guide the shoulders back and down.
And of course feel free to remain here in more of a meditative space which you might have very easily slipped into just from those three rounds of Brahmari Pranayam.
So I really encourage you to sprinkle this throughout your day.
Even a few rounds can make a huge impact on the state of the mind.
And for those of you that are teachers I encourage you to offer this to your students now with this different light,
This connection to the Anusvada sound,
The remover of sorrow and its potency.
So just let me know how it goes in the comments below and I'll see you next time as we continue to establish our foundation.
Namaskar.
