Sit cross-legged on your meditation cushion or any cushion that you have in the house.
You can even sit on the sofa for this meditation.
It will involve an internal movement of energy which in Hatha yoga we call Kriya.
And in this particular meditation we will exhale down the front body,
The front energy channel,
The Yin channel,
And inhale the back body up which is the solar,
The yang channel.
So we'll be moving the energy and awareness in the circular motion.
And the switch of the channels at the top is at the tongue and at the bottom is at the base of your spine.
So please settle in,
Relax your arms,
Make sure your spine is long,
And start connecting with your breath.
Notice your belly gently rising as you inhale,
Your chest following as well,
And your belly and chest sinking back toward the spine as you exhale.
So please continue with this slightly deeper breaths than usual,
Bringing your awareness to the breath and allowing your mind to come into this rhythm of restful awareness.
As you focus on your breath you can gradually take some more distance from your thoughts.
Even as the thoughts appear,
Just notice that and come back to the awareness inwards,
Inside of your body,
To your breath.
If that helps you can see your thoughts as waves on the surface of the ocean.
But what you are doing right now,
You are diving deeper.
Stay with this smooth deep breath.
So you'll stay with this breath as we continue with the circular movement of energy.
This is called the microcosmic orbit.
And this meditation comes from the Taoist tradition.
However,
We work with the same kind of energy.
Prana in yoga is called Chi in the Taoist tradition.
Exhale everything out.
And next time you inhale,
Move your breath and awareness from the base of your spine back on through your back body up.
So through the back,
Through the spine up to the back of your head,
Top of your head,
The forehead.
And as you exhale,
Move it down more or less from the level of your tongue,
Down the whole front body,
Down to the base of your spine.
So let's move it again up.
Feel your whole back body as you inhale,
Your glutes,
Your sacrum,
Lower back,
Your shoulder blades,
The back ribs,
The back of your neck,
Of your head,
The top of your head,
Your forehead,
Your nose.
And as you exhale,
Feel your tongue,
The throat,
The collarbones,
Your chest,
Your abdomen,
Lower belly,
Your pubic bone,
And finally the base of your spine.
And please continue in the circular motion,
Inhaling up the back body,
Feeling the whole back body as the awareness and breath moves up.
And switch it at the tongue.
Exhale all the way down the front body and see how much can you sense in the front body as you exhale.
Please continue like this.
If it feels comfortable for you,
You can rest your tongue behind the front teeth without tensing your jaw.
So please do it only if you can do it without tensing your jaw,
Resting your tongue at the front teeth.
So as I said before,
The tongue acts as the energy switch between the two channels.
And see how your experience is if you use this little internal movement.
Exhaling down the front body,
Feeling all the part of your front torso,
Switching at the base of your spine,
And inhaling up the back body.
So please continue breathing in the circular motion just for a few more minutes.
This meditation should feel relaxing,
Rejuvenating.
If you notice thoughts being taken away by your mind,
Bring yourself back to your breath and to this circular motion of energy.
Please do three more circles with the energy up and down the front and the back body.
And now for the last part of this meditation,
For a minute or so,
Simply rest your awareness in your belly and feel this natural movement of your belly as you breathe.
Soft,
Smooth breaths.
Start slowly deepening the breath,
Feeling into your body,
Feeling into this moment.
Bring your hands together and take a moment to finish your practice with expressing one thing that you are grateful for today.
Slowly open your eyes.
Thank you for practicing with me.
Namaste.
