Hello and welcome.
My name is Caitlin.
I'll be guiding you through a brief pranayama meditation today.
Pranayama is the ancient yogic practice of breath work in which we get to step back from our presence and our mind that always overrides and overruns what's happening and step into our witness consciousness instead.
So stepping into a space of non-judgment where we're just noticing what is happening and then able to begin to control what is happening.
We'll go through three phases.
The first,
As one of my teachers used to say,
Is we do nothing.
So we'll just observe the breath.
The second phase,
We will do something.
We will do an active pranayama.
And then the third phase,
We will come back to just that observation,
That witness consciousness that is paramount to being able to start to write your own narrative and start to notice when your mind has wondered where it is wondering and why it is wondering without judgment of it wondering,
However.
So if you are new to a pranayama practice,
I would invite you to actually lay down for this.
If you are more experienced in your pranayama,
You might choose to sit.
And as you come into whichever position is more comfortable for you,
Taking a moment to settle in,
To take any wiggles that you feel you need.
There is no prize for being still if you are suffering because you are uncomfortable.
And then asking yourself as you settle if there's anything you could do to make yourself five percent more comfortable.
Pillow under the knees or under your seat.
Perhaps sitting up against a wall so your back feels supported if you are choosing to sit.
Or support under your head if you are lying down.
Perhaps loosening any clothing that is tight.
And then begin to notice your breath.
Not trying to change your breath at all.
If possible.
I know often when we bring our attention to our breath,
The very first thing it wants to do is change.
And seeing if you can notice the natural breath.
Perhaps bringing your attention to just the tip of your nose.
Feeling of the breath moving in and out there.
Or focusing attention on the rise and fall of your abdomen and your chest.
Without judgment taking stock of the qualities of your breath.
Fast or slow.
Smooth or rough.
Deep or shallow.
Noticing where the breath flows if it's in the abdomen or more in the chest.
And not trying to change or control your breath at this moment.
Just noticing.
Observing without judgment in the witness consciousness space.
The mind wanders.
Bring it back.
No judgment for the mind wandering.
It's a natural part of the way our brain functions.
Gently bringing it back.
In the present moment.
Now begin to find a little more conscious control of your breath.
You inhale counting to four.
Exhale counting to four.
Inhaling for a count of four.
Exhaling for a count of four.
Keeping the count going at whatever pace is yours.
The count of four feels too long or too short.
You could take it for three.
Or for six.
Trying to keep an even length for inhalation and exhalation.
As you become comfortable with whatever your count is.
You might choose to lengthen it out account.
If you're beginning with four,
You might lengthen it to five.
Perhaps after a few rounds there you might lengthen it to six.
But if at any point anxiety or energy start to spiral up,
Return to your natural breath.
Releasing any hold,
Any control.
Exhale.
As you feel even through inhalation and exhalation.
Keep that evenness going.
That sameness between inhalation and exhalation.
And now see if you can make your inhalation and your exhalation smooth from start to finish.
Notice that the intensity of your inhalation and your exhalation perfectly matches across all the counts.
Begin to see if you can evenly breathe into both the front and the back side of your ribcage.
Expanding equally in both directions.
Contracting back in equally in both directions.
Evenness and sameness front and back.
In length and in intensity.
With inhalation and exhalation.
And begin to see if you can breathe evenly between your right lung and your left lung.
Evenness side to side in expansion and in contraction.
If you're laying down you might be able to notice this and which side presses more into the mat or the ground beneath you.
And seeing if you can even that sensation out.
Evenness,
Sameness in length,
Intensity.
Expansion front and back.
And left and right.
Now seeing if you can find an evenness top and bottom.
Breathing evenly into the top of your lungs,
Into your collar bones.
And evenly down into your abdomen.
Same amount of expansion in both directions.
Bringing all those elements together.
Even in length.
In intensity.
Top and bottom.
Front and back.
Side to side.
Perfect evenness and sameness.
Between inhalation and exhalation.
Throughout the whole body as you breathe.
Like everything you breathe.
You take this moment and you DON'T breath it.
Take one more beautiful,
Even breath.
And then release your control over your breath.
Let yourself return to a natural rhythm.
Coming back to the witness consciousness space.
Returning your attention to a fixed point.
Either on the tip of your nose,
Or the feeling of expansion through your abdomen and your ribcage.
Without judgment,
Noticing your breath's qualities.
Noticing perhaps if you feel it more in an area of the body now than you did at the beginning of the practice.
Without judgment,
Noticing any changes throughout the entirety of the body.
Without judgment,
Noticing any changes throughout the entirety of the body.
Shifts physically,
Mentally,
Emotionally,
Or even energetically.
The mind wanders.
Bring it back.
Like gently giving your hand out to a child to help it off the floor.
Gently come back.
Abiding in your own breath,
With its natural rhythm.
In your own non-judgmental witness consciousness space.
Let the mind come back.
Witnessing your last few rounds of breath here in the practice.
Take a bigger breath in.
Gently open your mouth and sigh it out.
Moving very slowly.
Like you're in a still pond and you're trying not to disturb the ripples.
Start to find movement through fingers and toes.
Keeping your movement soft and subtle and slow.
So as not to disturb your mind.
Gently blinking your eyes about halfway open so that the room just falls into them.
Coming back to your day.
Perhaps as slowly as you can.
So the steadiness of mind maybe lasts for another few minutes.
Carry the steadier state of mind into the next part of your day.
You can tap into it at moments throughout the rest of your day.
So that that witness consciousness can steadily build.
Helping you to notice your own mind,
Your own story.
And giving you the power to write that however you want.
Thank you for spending time with me today.
Be good to yourself.
Be good to others.
And have an amazing rest of your day.
