Hi everyone,
Welcome.
My name is Nadine and I will be leading you through a meditation on finding balance.
When I say balance here in this context,
I don't mean balancing and standing on one leg,
Which can be very fun and useful of course sometimes.
But in this context I'm talking about finding balance in the mind,
In the body,
In our emotions,
In all the things we do,
In all parts of our life.
So that means balance is moving your body in a way that distributes work evenly through the muscles and the joints.
It can mean practicing different movement modalities instead of just one.
Balance also means taking time to move,
To play,
But also taking equal time for rest and digest.
Taking enough movement breaks,
Working breaks during a hard working day.
It may mean turning off your devices for a few hours a day.
Balance can even mean sometimes to break out of our usual routines,
Getting a little messy and not caring about it.
Sometimes it can even mean eating a donut or a chocolate bar.
It's all about finding balance in all what we do in life.
And in this particular meditation here today,
We are practicing a breath that is called Samavritti breath.
It is a foundational breathing practice that is a perfect one to begin with,
Using for your meditations to start and also to return to time and time again.
And Samavritti in Sanskrit means equal fluctuations or equal flow,
Even flow.
In practice,
It is a steady inhalation and exhalation of equal duration.
So we're inhaling and exhaling for the same count.
And this even breathing pattern is both soothing for the mind and for the body.
So it's a very powerful yet simple technique that you can use whenever you find yourself anxious,
Stressed,
Overwhelmed,
Or simply disconnected from yourself.
This breath teaches you steadiness and it supports a gentle shift from your sympathetic fight or flight mode into your parasympathetic,
More restful,
Rest and digest mode.
So it balances out our nervous system.
It grounds and stabilizes and oftentimes overactive mind.
Okay,
So let's start first by finding a comfortable and balanced seat.
So make your way to your place where you're going to meditate,
Where you're going to sit.
So it can be on a chair,
It can be on the floor,
On the sofa,
On your bed.
Just finding a quiet place where you won't be disturbed for the next few minutes.
And then find a nice,
Comfortable,
Long spine.
So you might take a pillow or something behind your back if you need some support.
And then first just take your hands under your butt and remove the flesh from under your sit bones a little bit back.
And just start to shift your hips side to side,
Shifting from left and right,
Feeling both sit bones,
Your right and left rooting down into the surface underneath.
And then even out,
Balance out the weight between your right and left hip,
Your right and left sitting bone.
So that you feel a balance in your seat,
Rooting down through those sit bones like the roots down into the surface.
And from that rootedness and groundedness find a lengthening and a gentle lift up through the whole spine,
The back of your neck,
All the way up through the crown of your head.
So you're finding a nice balance between rooting down and rising up.
Notice if you're tensing up your back or your shoulders as you do that.
See if you can find in the effort of sitting tall,
Still find the sense of ease.
So you're balancing out your effort,
Your ease to have an alert but easeful seat.
And then allow your eyes to close.
Let your hands rest on your thighs.
You can turn your palms up if you need a little more grounding.
If you feel open and ready to receive,
Turn your palms up.
And then we'll start just by taking three deep cleansing breaths together.
So take a deep inhale through your nose,
Let your lungs fill up.
And then let a nice long exhale out the mouth.
Maybe even a sigh.
And do this two more times in your own time.
Deepest inhale through the nose until there's no more space to breathe in.
And then with your exhale,
Can you let go something that is holding your attention right now so that you can become a little more present.
One more time deep inhale through your nose and a nice cleansing exhale the mouth release and let go.
And then allow your breath to return to a natural rhythm in and out through your nose.
Finding your natural neutral breath.
Let your shoulders relax.
Let your facial muscles relax.
Your jaw,
Your eyes and eyebrows.
Just gently bring your awareness,
Your attention to your breath without changing it for now.
Without controlling the breath.
Just follow the breath in and out of your body.
Notice where you're feeling your breath at the moment.
Notice the quality of your breath right now.
Is it shallow?
Is it deep?
Is it fast?
Is it slow?
Short or long?
Is it all the way up into the chest or deep down in the belly?
There's no right or wrong or good or bad answer here.
Just observe.
Notice your breath at this moment without touching,
Without trying to analyze it.
And then we're going to start with our Samaritthi breath.
I will count you through it so you don't have to count.
We'll start with a count of 4 and we'll raise it up to a count of 5 after a few rounds.
If that feels too much for you,
Of course you can do shorter breath.
You can count to 3 instead or 2.
Whatever works for you.
So let's first exhale all the air out.
Squeezing out every little bit of air.
And then we'll start through the nose.
Take an inhale for 4,
3,
2,
1.
Exhale 3,
2,
1.
Inhale 4,
3,
2,
1.
Exhale 4,
3,
2,
1.
Inhale 4,
3,
2,
1.
Exhale 4,
3,
2,
1.
Inhale 4,
3,
2,
1.
Exhale 4,
3,
2,
1.
Inhale 5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Exhale 5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Inhale 5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Exhale 5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Inhale 5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Exhale 5,
4,
3,
2,
1.
Continue on your own.
3 more full rounds.
Counting in your mind silently.
You can keep your count of 5 or you can lower your count or go up to a count of 6.
Whatever works for you.
Just trying your best to keep your face relaxed,
Your jaw,
Your shoulders.
Evening out your inhale and your exhale.
Nice and smooth and smooth.
And when you're done with your third round,
You'll release the counting and any control of your breath.
Just let your breath return back to its natural rhythm.
Without any effort,
Without any counting.
Allowing your body to breathe on its own.
And simply notice the effects of your practice on your body,
On your mind,
On your breath.
Maybe your breath feels a little more even,
A little more balanced and smooth.
Maybe it's a little deeper,
A little slower.
Why is it important how we breathe?
Because the way we breathe is directly linked to the way we live.
The breath is our energy force,
Prana or chi,
Life force.
And the quality of the breath reflects the quality of the mind and the quality of the mind reflects the quality of the breath.
So breath and mind are directly linked.
So this breathing technique is a very simple,
Powerful tool that you can use at any time of your day.
Any situation where you find yourself stressed,
Disconnected,
You just simply need a moment of grounding and connecting with yourself.
If you feel your mind gets overactive and takes over,
This breath can help you to shift,
To reconnect to a calmer state.
And it teaches you steadiness and it helps you shift from your sympathetic to your parasympathetic nervous system.
So I hope this was helpful and useful for you and that you can integrate this breath into your life as a useful tool for yourself,
For your self-care.
Have a wonderful rest of your day and thank you for joining me.
Namaste.
