Namaste and welcome to today's meditation practice.
Basically,
What we will do today is we will go through a slightly changed process than what we have normally been following and the process will be as follows.
Initially we will spend some time to scan through our body and relax our body first because a relaxed body is essential to relax the mind.
And then what we will do is we will spend some time to watch our mind,
The thoughts in our mind the way it is today at this point of time.
And when you watch those thoughts,
All you are doing is just observing what your mind is thinking,
What are the various kinds of thoughts that are going on in your mind.
And then we will go through the practice of alternate nostril breathing to deepen the relaxation of the body and also prepare your mind a little bit more for meditation and then further deepen your mind by doing deep breathing practice and then we will sit down for the meditation practice.
So that's the sequence that we will follow.
So we will now begin the meditation.
Stand down,
Swing a little backwards and forwards and get to that equilibrium position and gently reach your back and neck,
Clasp your hands placing it on your lap,
Close your eyes.
For the first few minutes scan through your entire body starting from your toes,
Working your way upwards to the crown of your head.
And as you scan your body,
Wherever you find any muscular tensions,
Auto suggest and relax them.
Just a simple practice of paying attention and auto suggestion.
Pay attention to calf muscles,
Thigh muscles,
Lower back,
Upper back,
Neck,
Shoulders,
Facial muscles,
Feel your body relax and as you let go of this tension you will feel your body heavier and heavier.
Relaxing the physical body is just paying attention and auto suggestion.
Likewise,
We will now relax the mind and the process is very simple.
You just pay attention to your thoughts for a few minutes.
Slowly shift your attention to your mind which is nothing but the thoughts,
The flow of your thoughts.
It could be anything,
Verbalized,
Non-verbalized,
Emotions.
Just pay attention to that.
It is said that the seat of your mind is not in the head but in the region,
In your heart,
In your heart area.
Relaxing the mind and the process is very simple.
You may notice just paying attention alone is settling your mind,
Calming it down.
With the body and mind relaxed,
We will now deepen the relaxation process.
We will use alternate nostril breath as a technique to relax the body and also prepare the mind for deeper relaxation.
Let's now begin alternate nostril breathing.
Closing your right nostril,
Begin by breathing in through your left.
Without holding the breath in your lungs,
Breathe out through the right.
Breathe in through the right and breathe out through the left.
That is one round and we will do several rounds.
As you do this alternate nostril breathing,
Remind yourself of the purpose.
The purpose is it balances the five essential physiological functions within your body.
Respiration,
Digestion,
Elimination,
Circulation and reversal processes.
And think of the breath as a flywheel connecting two gears and influencing them both,
Your body and your mind.
Breathe in slowly,
Deeply,
Consciously using your diaphragm with every breath.
Remember the ideal ratio is that your exhalations should be twice as long as your inhalations.
And the minimum ratio is the exhalation should be equal to your inhalation duration.
Slow,
Steady,
Deep,
Conscious breaths.
Let's now begin alternate nostril breathing.
Breathing in through your lungs,
Breathe out through the right.
Complete two more rounds of alternate nostril breathing.
And when you have exhaled through your left nostril,
Just pay attention to your breath for a minute.
Make a gentle check in with your body and your mind.
You feel how they feel.
Now begin the deep breathing process with both your nostrils.
Breathe in as slowly,
Deeply,
Consciously as you can using your diaphragm with every breath.
Again,
The ratio,
Minimum one is to one,
Maximum one is to two with the exhalations at least equal to the inhalation or twice your inhalation duration.
Slow,
Steady,
Deep breaths.
Now slowly.
We will begin the meditation.
In this,
We are going to give a task to our mind to focus on one thing and only one thing which is to pay attention to your breath,
Your normal breath.
Slowly,
Let go and letting your body breathe in its own way.
You become an observer of your breath.
Every time your mind pulls you in some direction,
Use your higher mind,
Your intellect and gently bring it back to pay attention to the one task of watching your breath,
Your normal breath.
Allow yourself to become aware of your listening totally.
Stay with your breath.
Stay with your breath.
Stay with your breath.
Stay with your breath.
Stay with your breath.
Stay with your breath.
Stay with your breath.
Stay with your breath.
Stay with your breath.
Stay with your breath.
Stay with your breath.
Stay with your breath.
Stay with your breath.
Now gently expand your awareness from your breath to your entire body.
You may notice that your body may actually feel a lot lighter.
Feel the air permeating your entire body,
Nourishing it.
Now further expand your awareness beyond you as far as your imagination could take,
Including people,
Living beings,
Objects in the universe.
Notice the interconnection between you and the different entities in this universe,
Not just with your breath or the space or the food in multiple other ways.
As you recognize this interdependence,
Be grateful for everything that you have.
Also be grateful for the opportunity to contribute.
Stay with this attitude of gratitude throughout your entire day.
And whenever you are ready,
You may gently open your eyes.
