Okay,
So welcome to this morning's meditation.
And we're going to start with a breathing exercise called Nadi Shodhana.
And this is alternate nostril breathing.
So you can either do this by closing off opposite nostrils with your fingers,
Or just close your eyes and imagine that you're only breathing through one nostril at a time.
So whatever feels more comfortable,
We want to gently close our eyes.
And first,
Let's take a few cleansing breaths.
So cleansing breaths are long,
Slow inhales through the nose.
And then exhaling through the mouth.
Let's do that again,
Even slower inhaling through the nose.
And exhaling through the mouth.
One more time.
Good.
And now keeping your eyes closed.
Gently close your lips and do all your breathing through your nose.
Just observe your breath coming in and out.
And visualize your breath coming in through both nostrils circulating through your body,
Reaching deep into your lungs and belly.
And then when you exhale,
Flowing back out both nostrils.
Just observing these breaths coming in and out.
And now we're going to move into the Nadi Shodhana,
The alternate nostril breathing.
So using one of the methods with your fingers or simply with your attention and imagination,
We're going to start by inhaling through the left nostril only.
Gently hold the breath and then exhaling through the right nostril.
And then inhaling through the right nostril.
Close and hold.
And then exhaling through the left nostril.
So inhaling left a beautiful silver.
Inhaling right a beautiful gold.
Inhaling gold on the right.
Exhaling through the left.
Inhaling silver on the left.
Exhaling through the right.
Inhaling gold through the right.
Exhaling through the left.
Inhaling silver through the left.
Exhaling through the right.
So just continue to alternate your breathing.
Inhaling and exhaling through one nostril at a time,
Closing off the opposite nostril.
Either mentally or with your fingers.
So I'm just going to be silent for a few moments.
And if you'd like you can sit down even more.
Perhaps inhaling to the count of eight.
Holding to the count of four.
And exhaling to the count of eight.
If you desire.
One.
And make this your final round of alternate nostril breathing.
And once you exhale through the left nostril,
Just resume to breathing normally through your nose.
And again just observe your breath coming in and out.
This practice of alternate nostril breathing or Nadi Shodhana can help to bring our bodies into balance.
To bring the feminine and masculine energy flows,
The pranic flows in the body into balance and harmony and even balance the two hemispheres of the brain.
So while breathing normally and naturally through your nose,
Gently move your attention to your third eye center.
Between the eyebrows and just up a little bit in your forehead.
Testing your awareness here.
And from this point drawing your awareness into your head.
To the parallel point at the back of your head.
And now just bring your awareness from this point to the center of your head.
So at the level of the third eye center but within the very core center of your brain.
While simultaneously being aware of the energy flows into the center point through your forehead and the back of your head.
Funneling in and resting,
Joining,
Meeting.
In the center of your head.
Resting your awareness on the center point and visualizing or imagining a beautiful sphere or ball of light.
And with each breath you take you're drawing more light,
More breath,
More prana energy into this ball of light through the front of your head and the back of your head.
And allow this ball of light to expand and grow until it fills your entire head.
If you'd like you can visualize this light to be purple and visualize this purple light casting a glow all around you.
So while keeping your attention on this center point within your head.
Imagine that your body is coming into complete balance,
Symmetry.
That you are balanced in your divine masculine energies as well as your divine feminine energies.
That you are balanced in receiving and giving.
That you are balanced in creative energies and production.
That you are balanced left and right.
So just imagine that the two separate sides of your body are like the two separate sides of a scale or a seesaw.
And that you can bring yourself into a state of perfect balance.
So that both sides are level.
Bringing your awareness to your feet,
Feeling balance in both feet.
Feeling that balance in both legs,
Including your knees.
Feeling that balance in both hips.
Feeling that balance in both kidneys.
If you only have one kidney,
Just visualize both kidneys being there.
We can still bring energetic balance.
And now visualize balance in both lungs.
Visualize balance in both ears.
Visualize balance in both eyes and nostrils.
And visualize balance in both hemispheres of your brain.
Visualize balance in both hands.
And now take a nice deep breath in and let it go.
And we'll move into the silent portion of our meditation using the mantra Shiva Shakti.
Shiva Shakti.
So just begin to silently repeat the mantra to yourself over and over.
Shiva Shakti.
Shiva Shakti.
Your repetition should be very gentle and relaxed.
No need to focus or concentrate.
Just repeat it gently.
Shiva Shakti.
And whenever you find that you've drifted away from the mantra to anything at all,
Other thoughts or sounds or even feelings in your body,
That's okay.
Don't judge that.
Don't resist it.
As soon as you realize that you have drifted away from the mantra,
Just gently choose to come back to it.
Shiva Shakti.
Shiva Shakti.
So I'll be watching the time for us as we continue in the silence with our mantra.
And when you once again hear my voice,
Just continue to rest with your eyes closed.
So let us begin.
Shiva Shakti.
Shiva Shakti.
Shiva Shakti.
Shiva Shakti.
Shiva Shakti.
Shiva Shakti.
Shiva Shakti.
Shiva Shakti.
Shiva Shakti.
Shiva Shakti.
Shiva Shakti.
Shiva Shakti.
Shiva Shakti.
Shiva Shakti.
Shiva Shakti.
You can stop repeating the mantra,
But continue to rest with your eyes closed.
Once again placing your attention on the center of the third eye chakra in the center of your head.
And just visualizing that balance once again between the left side of your body and the right side of your body.
Feeling that sense of balance,
Evenness of mind,
Evenness of emotion,
Evenness of energy,
Evenness of light.
Balance And you can take this balance state with you throughout your day.
And if you do find yourself during your day feeling off balance,
Just take a moment to gently close your eyes,
Take in a deep breath and bring yourself back to this moment right now.
Finding that balance in Shiva Shakti.
And when it feels comfortable,
You can gently open your eyes.
None of this is worth it.
You you you
