This practice today,
We're going to play with two very different and distinct practices that will allow you to experience both an activating breath and a breath which calms.
So take a moment to notice what's happening in your physical body.
Your emotions,
The quality of your thoughts.
Are they racing?
Are they slow?
Do you feel present?
So you don't need to change anything about your state,
Just notice.
Are you excited?
Flustered?
Happy?
What's happening in your mind?
Then notice the quality of your breath.
Sit down with your spine straight.
You may find the need to close your eyes in order to notice the quality of your breath.
Are you breathing in through your nose or mouth?
And where do you notice your breath the most?
Is it your lungs,
Your chest,
Your belly,
Your throat?
Does your breath feel shallow?
Deep?
Easy?
Is it hard to breathe?
Notice all the information about your breath right now.
Your breath,
Body,
Nervous system,
Mind,
Spirit are all completely interlinked.
So we're going to start controlling the breath now,
Being the mindful controller of your breath.
Continue paying attention to the mind,
To your spirit,
To your emotions,
And to your thoughts.
So now what I invite you to do is just using a finger or a thumb of your right hand,
Close your right nostril,
And you're going to begin to breathe exclusively in and out through the left nostril.
Just slowly,
Not forcing the breath,
Just allow the breath to be natural in and out through the left nostril.
And we'll do this for one minute.
Beautiful.
Release that breath and just notice.
Notice what's going on in your body,
In your mind,
With your emotions,
With your thoughts.
Now we're going to move into a more dynamic breath,
Which will bring more energy into the nervous system.
So for this breath,
We're going to do dynamic nose breathing.
So just quickly inhaling and exhaling through the nose like this.
So begin this and we're just going to do this for about 30 seconds.
So in and out through the nose,
Nice and quick.
And then releasing this practice.
And again,
Notice.
Notice how the body feels.
Notice the breath.
Notice your thoughts.
Just sitting in this energy,
Witnessing any changes in your body.
And then we'll move back to inhaling and exhaling through the left nostril.
Through the left nostril.
So plugging the right nostril,
Closing it with a thumb or finger,
And just breathe naturally through the left nostril.
Just do this for about 30 seconds.
Beautiful.
Allow yourself to release this practice.
So you've experienced the polarity of the nervous system.
In the yogic traditions,
The left nostril relates to our parasympathetic nervous system,
The part of our nervous system related to rest and relaxation.
And taking rapid breaths increases activation through our sympathetic nervous system.
Notice which practice felt better for you.
Maybe they both felt good.
Maybe neither did.
Just observe how potentially different they made you feel.
This is all just such useful information as you build your toolbox of practices and resources to help you become the master operator of your nervous system.
