We got a meditation today.
Meditation is quite a broad word.
As I'm really,
Really sitting with it.
I often think of meditation as this like cross-legged position with my back sitting up straight.
But it seems as my meditation journey is unfolding that meditation is actually like an approach to anything that I'm doing.
And while a daily formal sitting meditation practice can be absolutely beneficial in supporting that meditative kind of experience to permeate into other parts of my life.
What I want to encourage is like the dissolving of this picture of what meditation is.
And to include anything that you really love to do that brings you into presence.
Meditation.
So with that today we're actually going to be exploring a breathwork experience.
Which is also meditation.
And you get to lay down.
This is a great practice.
It's really,
Really simple.
And really,
Really effective.
And I find those to be my favorite practices.
That are very easy,
Very simple.
And you can apply them anywhere.
So I'll have you lay on your back if you'd like.
And if you'd like you can put a pillow underneath your lumbar spine,
Your lower back.
Lengthwise.
So that it creates an arch in your back if you desire.
You definitely don't need that.
But it'll create kind of like a wider positioning for your ribcage.
It'll give you more space in your ribcage.
Which will make the practice even more defined.
So I'll give you a minute to get in that position.
And if you're laying down you can just totally chill out.
And you can place your hands on your ribcage.
Or you can place one hand on your belly,
One hand on your chest.
Or anywhere you want.
But those are two great places to orient your hands for this practice.
You can close your eyes so you can keep them open.
But soften.
And this practice is really simple.
It's called belly chest collar bones.
It's a very fancy name.
And I'll give a little explanation and then we'll dive into it.
So the idea is we'll create an awareness of where we're placing the air.
Where we're filling our body.
So we'll start filling our belly with air.
And only the belly.
Isolating the belly.
And then once we hit its capacity we'll move toward the chest.
So then we fill up the ribcage and the chest.
And then we fill up the collar bones.
And we exhale collar bones.
And then the chest.
And then the belly.
And we fill belly,
Fill chest,
Fill collar bones.
We can even hold at the top for a second.
And exhale collar bones,
Chest,
And belly.
So let's continue this rhythm.
Belly,
Chest,
And collar bones.
Super slow.
Slow as you can.
As slow as you can as comfortable.
And exhale in the opposite order.
And continue on your own rhythm in this structure.
Slowly filling from bottom to top.
And emptying from top to bottom.
Isolating each part of our body to bring a greater awareness of how we're bringing life into us.
It's often that we only breathe into the chest and it actually activates our sympathetic nervous system.
Releases cortisol and adrenaline.
And when we breathe into our belly it's sending signals to our body that it's okay to relax and rest.
So as we first fill the belly,
Our body is receiving this really gentle reminder that we're safe.
There isn't a threat.
And as we continue in this rhythm,
We kind of sink deeper into the more subtle layers of reality.
Sometimes we call this dropping in.
It's like dropping in between the fabric of this physical world.
And into this more subtle quantum world.
And we can actually reside in that space over time.
In this very subtle world.
Like a place that we go to visit during meditation,
But over time we actually end up moving there.
We end up seeing this place.
We end up spending more time in our vacation home than our other home,
Than our previous home.
And the vehicle,
The plane,
Or the car that takes us to this vacation spot is our breath.
Belly,
Chest,
Collarbones,
Collarbones,
Belly,
Chest,
Chest,
Belly.
Allowing the current of life force to simply wash you away.
As mind is far dissolved.
And body sinks into the earth,
Into the ground beneath you.
Legs,
Arms soften.
The tissues soften.
The heart slows.
Belly,
Chest,
Collarbones,
Collarbones,
Chest,
Belly.
This current,
Like a flowing river,
Like a flowing river,
Like a flowing river through the borders of your body.
Consciousness,
Awareness,
Wider and wider,
Less focus.
Wherever you are,
Take a deep inhale.
And we exhale.
And you can hold the air out for three or four moments.
And take a deep inhale,
Hold the air in at the top.
Holding this kumbhaka,
This breath retention,
This entering into the void in the suspension,
In between inhale and exhale.
And slowly release.
Coming into a neutral breath,
A neutral space.
And integrating,
Allowing the body to just integrate that practice.
Witnessing the subtle shifts that are available.
Notable.
Noticing perhaps the dissolution of the physical body within our perception.
And the alive nothingness that is present in each cell of the body.
And simply just being with this very simple practice.
Yet the profound effect that it has on our conscious perception.
Our gate into non-ordinary reality.
So please,
If you want to continue laying,
You can simply just reside in this world in between.
And I'll leave you here.
Sending love to you wherever you are.
Sending love to this beautiful human body.
And I'll leave you here.
Sending love to you wherever you are.
Sending love to this beautiful human body.
Sending love to this beautiful human body that you're in.
The enlightened me sees and honors the enlightened in you.
The void,
That which fills all of us.
Like I see you.
I'm speaking through Bodhi right now,
But we're the same.
Namaste.
