My name is Olivia Montiel and I will be guiding you through a kapha balancing breathwork practice.
In Ayurveda,
A kapha dosha is a bioenergy made up of water and earth elements.
The word kapha translates to that which binds things or holds together.
Kapha is associated with stability,
Substance,
And support within the physical body.
These next breathing techniques will help to enliven any dull thinking and reinvigorate your energy.
I recommend sitting upright either seated in a chair or on the ground with either a bolster or a block underneath your seat.
You may pause here to prepare.
Let's begin.
Tapping into the sensations of the ground underneath your seat.
As you settle into your stance,
Lengthen the spine,
Adjusting the shoulders over the hips and then down the back.
Observe what shows up mentally,
Emotionally,
Physically.
Without judgment,
Allow yourself to feel the notions of the energy that exists within.
Then allowing your eyes to soften,
Either gazing down the nose towards the earth or with the eyes closed.
Allow your next inhale to rush in through the nostrils,
Filling up the chest,
Expanding the diaphragm down the depth of your navel.
Allow the exhale to empty out audibly,
Similar to sounding like this.
Take two more expansive breaths,
Inhaling through the nose and audibly out through the mouth.
Continue breathing at your pace,
Maintaining the breath in and out through the nostrils.
As the inhale begins to build,
Allow the length to grow a little bit longer and the exhale to empty out completely,
Connecting to the three parts of our torso,
The chest,
Ribs,
And abdomen.
Emptying out the abdomen,
Ribs,
And chest,
Connecting this three-part rhythm in and out through the nose.
You may notice some tension as you build on the expansion of your breath.
Know that that's natural.
Visualize your breath breaking through any stagnation,
Physical fatigue as it subdues stress.
As you continue this breath,
Our body and nervous system begin to switch off the stress response.
Three more deep breaths,
Breathing in and out through the nose,
As the breath fills up the chest,
Ribs,
Navel.
The exhale filters out the navel,
Ribs,
And chest.
On the third round,
Allow your breath to return to its natural rhythm.
Tapping into the sensations left behind,
The subtle imprints.
Our next technique will involve some stamina.
An invigorating and heating breath is not only a pranayama,
But a kriya,
A cleansing technique.
This helps to clear out any excess kapha within the physical body.
This can be water retention,
Issues within the sinuses,
Kapalabhati,
Helps to balance the kapha dosha.
This technique involves crisp,
Smooth exhalations that pump the diaphragm in and around the solar plexus.
The inhale is passive.
Let's take an expansive breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.
On the next inhale,
Fill up halfway,
Inhaling through the chest and into the ribs,
Pausing with that inhale retention for a moment,
Then beginning the crisp exhalations through the nostrils,
As if you are blowing out a candle.
This is what it sounds like.
So,
Continue that rhythm.
Inhale,
Passive.
The exhale,
Smooth,
Swift.
Slow down the breath.
Take a resetting inhale through the nose and exhale out through the mouth.
The second round.
Inhale,
Halfway fill up the chest,
The diaphragm.
Begin crisp exhalations,
Pumping the diaphragm.
So,
Continuing with that rhythm as you ride through the exhales,
Encouraging your energy to soften downward,
Easing through the shoulders.
As you keep a tall spine.
On the next exhale,
Let the technique release.
A resetting inhale.
An audible exhale.
A final round.
Inhale,
Halfway fill up the chest,
The diaphragm.
Begin again,
Crisp exhalations through the nose,
Expressing the diaphragm.
Continuing with your rhythm,
Smooth,
Not rushed,
Crisp exhalations.
Slow the breath down.
Clearing breath in.
Complete breath out.
As your breath returns to neutral,
Take this moment to pause with the eyes closed,
Absorbing the benefits,
The sensations you may notice.
You may feel enlivened through the arms,
The palms,
Behind the eyelids,
Within the sinuses.
When you feel called,
You may allow the eyes to open as the light filters back within the room.
This cup of balancing breathwork practice helps to re-energize the mind,
Body,
And emotional body.
Thank you for taking the time to breathe intentionally in gratitude.
