Meditation: The Magic Of The Body, Breath, & Nature

You'll welcome the sense of balance that arises in this guided meditation on the magic of the body, the breath, and the natural world. Through the clarifying effects of alternate nostril breathing and 8 minutes of silence, you'll embody a sense of calm and peace.

Transcript

So we'll come into our morning meditation.

Take just a moment to be here in this moment wherever you are.

Maybe before you close your eyes just look around,

Notice the time of day,

The sunlight,

The lighting in the room or wherever you are.

Notice the temperature,

Any sounds that you hear,

Any movement that you notice,

Maybe through shadows.

Feel that sense of whatever is just moving through your head,

All the thoughts,

All the busyness.

And imagine how you would like to leave those thoughts outside the door.

Imagine this sense of just shedding your everyday life and then stepping out of the sensation of all the thoughts,

All the decisions,

All the concerns,

All the memories that travel with you every other moment of your life.

Take a full breath.

Take another full breath and this time come into the room.

Notice the air you're breathing in and as you exhale visualize that sense of releasing your breath into the room,

Into the space.

Take one more full inhalation,

A full exhalation.

Bring your attention into your heart.

Setting an intention for today's meditation with the thoughts about the magic in the world around you,

The magic of nature,

The magic of your own body,

Your own breath.

And setting an intention to step outside your analytical thoughts.

Simply observe and witness and wonder all the things that make your body function as it does,

That make your brain function as it does,

And that open your heart,

Filling it with gratitude and joy.

Bring your awareness into your face,

Scrunching up through the eyebrows,

The nose,

The forehead,

And release.

Clenching through the teeth and the jaw,

Around the nostrils and the ears,

And release.

Tightening through the back of the skull as best you can,

The back of the neck,

Drawing the shoulders up,

Clenching around the throat and the collarbones,

And release.

Tightening through the armpits and the upper arms,

The elbows and forearms,

Release.

Constricting through the wrists,

The hands,

The palms,

The fingers,

The thumbs.

Jiggle out,

Wriggle out circles,

Shake it out as you release through both hands,

Both arms,

Both shoulders,

And let that go.

Constrict through the throat,

The upper part of the chest,

Around the breasts,

The rib cage,

The soft belly,

All the way down to the pubic bone,

And release.

Tighten through the upper part of the back,

Draw the shoulder blades together,

Constrict around the spine,

The kidneys,

The back of the waist,

The small of the back,

The tailbone and the glutes,

And let that go.

Jiggle out through the torso,

Left and right,

Twist as you like,

Pelvic rock,

The belly forward,

The belly back,

Finding your alignment.

Release from the shoulders all the way down to the glutes and the pelvic floor.

Constrict through the pelvic floor,

Through the glutes,

Through the thighs,

The knees,

The lower legs,

The ankles,

The toes,

And the feet,

And relax.

Jiggle that out.

Jiggle through the hips,

The thighs,

The knees,

The lower legs,

Ankle rolls.

Spread the toes wide,

Spread the fingers wide,

Really opening and releasing.

And then coming into your meditation posture,

We're going to do a very slow Brahma Mudra today that I'll talk you through.

Opening through the neck.

Begin first by swallowing once or twice,

Noticing any gripping you can release around the throat,

The TMJ area,

The jawline.

With your next exhalation,

Ever so gently draw the chin down to the chest.

Very slowly notice that sensation as you breathe of opening through the back of the neck.

There's a little gentle stretch from the collarbone as it's constricted and through the back of the shoulder blades.

There's a little muscular awareness from the shoulder blades along the spine,

All the way up to the nape of the neck and the back of the skull.

Soften and breathe.

This is not a stretch,

It's just an opening.

Notice if there's a little extra softness through the top of the shoulders,

Could they release away from the ears just a bit?

Soften through the lips,

Through the jaw.

On your next inhalation,

Gently draw the chin back to horizon level and release.

Ever so slowly with your next inhalation,

Gently lift the chin towards the sky.

The face opens up to the heavens.

Let the lower teeth and lower jaw separate from the upper teeth and release.

Notice now an opening from the breastbone between the breasts,

Around the collarbones,

The front of the throat,

The back of the throat,

Around the jawline.

Notice again how you could soften your shoulders away from the ears.

A little softening around the back of the neck,

Although it's constricted.

A little softening through the upper part of the back.

The breath is slow and smooth.

With your next inhalation,

Gently bring the head back to center.

Draw the chin back to horizon level,

The face is forward and release.

With your next inhalation,

Ever so slowly move the head until you're looking over your right shoulder.

You may take a breath or two to get to your edge.

Again,

This is not a stretch,

It's simply an opening.

Soften that right shoulder,

Let it relax,

And then bring your attention to the left top of the shoulder,

The left part of the neck,

Around the back of the neck,

The left shoulder blade,

Left collarbone,

And let go.

With your next inhalation,

Ever so slowly draw the chin back towards the front until you find you're looking forward,

Your chin is at horizon level,

And let go.

And on your next inhalation,

We'll look over to the left.

Moving with intention and awareness,

Focus on the muscles around the neck.

Notice that sensation first on the left side and how you could soften through the left shoulder,

The left part of the neck,

And then draw your awareness to the right side and where you could release air from the right shoulder blade,

Right side of the spine,

Right collarbone.

And then on an inhalation,

Bring the face back to center and exhale.

Sit for just a moment and notice the magic of the flow of blood and oxygen through your body.

You notice the magic as the breath comes into your nostrils,

Flows through the face,

Down into the throat and the lungs,

And how molecules of oxygen attach themselves into the bloodstream,

Passing from the lungs to the heart.

And you follow that magic of oxygen flowing through the blood out to every inch of your body,

Every living cell,

Life flowing in.

You visualize the sensation of your bloodstream gathering what it no longer needs in your system,

Attaching itself,

Waste products,

Toxins,

To the blood cells flowing back into the heart,

Back to the lungs,

CO2 flowing from the lungs out through the nostrils.

The magic with each in-breath of what your body needs and how your body receives it,

And the magic of how your body knows what it no longer needs and what it can release.

Situate your seated posture.

Make sure your hands are well supported.

There's no stretching anywhere,

The sensation that you could give into the supports beneath you or behind you.

Begin our alternate nostril breathing.

For the next couple of breaths,

Notice the breath at both nostrils.

Imagine that you could soften the nasal passages and receive just a little more breath through each nostril.

No strain,

Just simply an observance,

Awareness,

And intention.

And then exhale completely,

Empty all the way out as you bring your attention to your left nostril.

The hands are down.

This is in your mind's eye only.

Imagine that you could inhale up the left nostril,

Fill up completely.

At the top of the breath,

You follow the flow over the bridge of the nose and you exhale out the right side,

Empty completely.

Slow,

Smooth,

Gentle breath.

At the end of that exhalation,

Short pause as you inhale back the same side,

Inhaling right,

Noticing the sensations through the nasal passages,

The nostril,

Following the breath over the bridge of the nose and exhaling left,

Emptying out completely.

Nothing else to do in this moment,

But inhale up one side,

Flow the breath over the bridge of the nose and exhale out the other.

Inhale the same side and exhale out the other.

You might want to add a little rocking motion as you inhale up one side.

Maybe your spine shifts a little or your throat opens on that side.

So you're inviting your body to help you receive the breath on that side.

And as you let that go,

There's a little shift maybe through the neck or the side of the face,

A little movement around the waistline,

As if your body could imagine receiving the breath through all the muscles,

The tissues,

The joints on one side and releasing it and letting it go on the other side.

A little gentle side to side rock in partnership with the breath.

Try to get out of your head,

Soften through the forehead,

The eyebrows,

The temples.

You just simply observe and notice the breathing up one side and down the other,

Up the same side and down the other.

If it feels right for you to begin three-part breathing along with the alternate nostril breath,

As you inhale you visualize filling up first through the low belly.

Continue to inhale up through the chest,

The ribcage,

The lung.

Continue that inhalation up into the collarbones,

The throat and the face.

A slight pause as you switch for the out breath and you let the breath go with control.

Imagine letting go through the face and the upper chest.

Let go a little more through the ribs and the lungs.

Let go completely through the soft belly out through the hip.

Each breath,

Three-part breathing,

Slow and smooth,

Full and deep.

No rush.

This is your breath.

Explore it.

Notice if there's any tension that arises through the forehead,

Through the brain,

The jawline or the shoulders,

Through the belly or the hips.

You visualize that magic of two sides of the breath,

The receiving and the releasing,

The gathering and the surrendering.

That sense of balance left and right,

The sun and moon,

The moon side on the left,

The sun side on the right,

Heating and then cooling.

The next time you exhale out the left side,

Let the breath come back to its natural pace.

We'll sit for a moment and notice the magic of how that feels.

How did that alternate nostril breath feel through your nostrils and nasal passages?

What was the impact of your sensation through your sinuses,

Your brain,

Your face,

Your throat,

Your lungs?

We're going to come into our silent meditation.

It's all about the magic and I invite you to bring your attention,

Let your focus,

Your anchor today be on the magic of nature.

The magic of one thing in nature that just draws your attention,

Draws your heart and your interest.

One tree,

One rock,

One plant,

One body of water and ask yourself what is magical about it?

One chime at the beginning and three at the end.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

You're welcome.

You're welcome.

You're welcome.

You're welcome.

You're welcome.

You're welcome.

You're welcome.

You're welcome.

You're welcome.

You're welcome.

You're welcome.

You're welcome.

You're welcome.

You're welcome.

You're welcome.

You're welcome.

You're welcome.

All that magic together in both hands,

Bringing them together to the heart.

Bowing the head to the hands and noticing how the magic feels.

Start lifting your face and visualize how you'll share this with everyone that you meet.

Come back into the room.