Welcome.
We offer these meditations freely and your donations make a real difference.
So thank you.
So this morning we are coming to a practice for harmonizing.
So a harmonizing practice is probably the most helpful practice to have in your bag.
Just to bring everything back into balance.
Body loves being in balance,
Mind loves being in balance.
So let's come back to balance.
So letting yourself come to a comfortable position and spine straight and tall.
You could lie down or you could be sitting.
And then starting to notice the quality of your breath.
Gently resting the tongue up on the roof of your mouth.
Allowing softness,
Openness to spread through the jaw,
The palate,
The teeth.
You might have your eyelids down or you might just be glancing towards the floor.
Let's drop into our sense of hearing.
Noticing the sounds.
Testing your sense of hearing wide.
Tracing the furthest away sounds.
Then coming in close to the intimate sound of your own breath.
A little bit of movement as you start to circle the head.
Gives you the opportunity to feel what's happening in your neck.
A slow movement.
And changing direction.
Finding your way back to your centre and circling your shoulders,
Your elbows or your arms.
And then perhaps letting the heart start to circle as if you were drawing a large circle around the circumference of your hips.
Finding your way back to centre.
A little bit of rocking forwards and back through the pelvis.
Maybe even at a subtle circling.
Coming back to centre.
Just acknowledging where you're starting from in this moment.
Notice your breath.
Notice the length of your breath when you're not trying to change anything.
You might silently start to count what the length is of the inhale and of the exhale.
Very often even though we're not trying to change anything,
Just bringing awareness to breath creates change.
Then start to deepen to lengthen.
So we can start to introduce the four stage breath.
So beginning to come into that space between the end of the inhale before the start of the exhale.
Just holding there with your lungs full.
And then dropping down through your exhale and at the end of the exhale waiting there and just noticing and holding and holding and staying suspended in that empty lung space before you travel to the next inhale.
And with your awareness focused on your breath,
Perhaps begin a silent count of all four of those stages.
Just to become aware of where the focus is,
Where the comfort and the ease lie in that four stage process.
And perhaps notice the number that feels most comfortable on those stages,
The count that feels most comfortable.
And start to bring that to all four stages.
So we're evening out,
We're harmonizing the four stages of a four step breath.
So that number could be four,
It could be six,
It could be eight.
Try to edge it up towards six if you can,
But there's nothing to be forced.
So wherever you're at today is perfect.
All four stages of that breath,
The same length.
So so so so Then we're going to come into an alternate nostril breath practice,
Super harmonizing.
If you have a cold,
We're in that season,
Aren't we?
Then grab a tissue before we start.
And if your nostrils are blocked for any reason,
Then just carry on with the four stage breath that in itself,
Everything you need is in that practice for harmonizing,
For focusing,
For coming into a meditation practice.
And sometimes when we do breath practices,
We can touch against things that feel a little bit uncomfortable.
And so that four stage breath is always there.
It's like your safety blanket,
You can drop into it anytime.
We don't have to force or push ourselves into any corners we don't want to go to.
So just know that that four stage breath is there for you at any time.
In the meantime,
Alternate nostril breathing,
You're going to raise your right hand up to your face.
You're going to rest your right thumb against your right nostril and your right index finger against your left nostril.
Your elbow is pointing down towards the ground.
It's not uncommon for it to swing out to the side.
So just be sure that it is pointing down and let the shoulders drop away from the ears.
And even with the fingertips pressing against the nostrils,
You can actually still breathe through your nose.
It's constricted,
It's restricted,
But it's not blocked.
We'll do a very simple practice.
I'm going to use a ratio of six.
So it will be an inhale for six,
A hold for 12,
An exhale for six,
An inhale for six,
Hold for 12,
Exhale for six.
Exhale for six.
And that will move through the nostrils almost like a rainbow.
So we inhale through the right,
We hold at the top where the lungs are full,
We exhale out at the left,
Inhale the left,
Hold at the top and exhale the right.
If that ratio feels too long,
You can play with changing it.
So it could be inhale for four,
Hold for eight,
Exhale for four,
Inhale for four,
Hold for eight,
Exhale for four.
And of course you're welcome to make it longer.
These ratios,
They change every day.
So just be curious as to what is your ratio today.
Nothing forced.
Let's soften into a smile,
A felt sense of a smile.
And to start from zero,
Let's breathe out through the left nostril.
Moving across,
Inhale right.
Hold.
Hold.
Exhale left.
Inhale left.
Hold.
Exhale right.
Inhale right.
Hold.
Exhale left.
Inhale left.
Hold.
Inhale right.
Inhale right.
Hold.
Exhale left.
Inhale left.
Inhale left.
Hold.
Inhale right.
Inhale right.
Hold.
Exhale left.
Inhale left.
Hold.
Inhale right.
Exhale right.
Keep everything soft.
Inhale right.
Hold.
And as you hold,
You might also lift your pelvic floor.
Exhale left.
Exhale left.
Inhale left.
Hold.
Pelvic floor.
Exhale right.
Inhale right.
Hold.
Exhale left.
Exhale left.
Inhale left.
Hold.
Hold.
Pelvic floor.
Exhale right.
Inhale right.
Inhale right.
Hold.
Exhale left.
Inhale left.
Hold.
Inhale left.
Hold.
Hold.
Exhale right.
Now we come to the last three rounds.
Do them in your own time.
Inhale right.
Hold.
Inhale left.
Hold.
When you're done,
Resting your hands down in your lap,
Taking a moment to notice the feeling,
To let the practice settle.
We're offering the fruits of our practice up to all beings so our personal,
Private,
Real wellbeing becomes collective.
Namaste.
