Welcome,
We offer these meditations freely and your donations make a real difference,
So thank you.
Finding your seat,
Taking a moment to notice the connection of body with ground,
Perhaps particularly on the exhale noticing how heavy your body feels,
The weight of the pelvis,
The legs,
Almost a sense of blending with the ground beneath you,
Letting your spine rise tall from the pelvis,
A reminder of that central column,
The midline,
Primal streak,
The notochord,
That part of yourself that was there at the beginning,
Noticing your ability to pull yourself back to your midline whilst also staying grounded,
And then bringing awareness up to the occiput ridge at the back of your head.
You might find a sense of openness,
Spaciousness,
Chin might drop down just a little so the back of the neck can open.
And within this framework of grounding,
Midline,
Openness in the occiput ridge there is a tidal flow of breath,
In-breath expansion,
Out-breath contraction.
So we don't hold the framework as if it was solid,
It's more of an oscillating,
Shifting,
Merging framework,
Both in sensation and body,
And in awareness and energy,
A subtle push and pull of breath,
Of awareness,
Of sensation in the present moment.
And perhaps that allows the breath to deepen still.
Our practice today is an energising practice,
And the word used in yoga for energy is prana.
Prana is riding the waves of breath,
So we call in a deeper breath,
Inviting increased prana into ourselves,
Our awareness.
Sometimes we become aware that we've almost been limiting our intake and out-breath,
As if keeping them small somehow keeps us safer.
Now is an opportunity to reverse that,
To recognise that letting the breath enlarge,
Take up space,
Keeps us safer.
We're going to move into a tummo breath practice.
We're all familiar with tummo,
We've done it many times before.
For me,
Very often the challenge is to really allow myself to take that deep,
Full breath in,
And a deep,
Full breath out.
We do 30 rounds of that,
And it's intense.
It's allowed to be intense.
A deep breath in,
A deep breath out,
And it's fast,
And it's powerful.
Prana drenching every cell.
And then after 30 of those deep in-breaths and deep out-breaths,
We pause with the lungs full,
And just hold,
And everyone will have their own pace of how it feels to hold with the lungs full.
And wherever that is for you,
That's allowed.
And then we move from that,
When we start to feel the tipping point,
The edge,
We move into a deep exhale and hold with the lungs empty.
And again,
It's a sensory awareness that allows you to notice when that edge arrives,
And it no longer feels like a nourishing place to be,
To hold with the lungs empty.
And then just let your breath return.
I'm not sure how many rounds we'll do,
Depends how the time goes.
And all the while,
His two-mode breath is gently nudging the nervous system.
We offer it huge respect,
And at any time,
If it feels too much,
Let go of the practice,
Return to an easy,
Natural breath,
And focus on finding your ground,
Returning to your midline,
And opening up at the occiput ridge.
That practice is always available to you.
It's like coming home.
Okay,
So let's start with a deep exhale,
And we begin.
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Breathing through the nose,
Unless it's blocked.
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in.
It's not a battleground,
There's ease even though it's strong.
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Finding your breath,
How deep can you go?
Full breath out,
Noticing sensation,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out.
That's the first round of ten.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
Bring yourself to the practice.
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Breathing in,
Gentle but intentional.
Breathing out,
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Allowing the deepening to happen,
Not forcing.
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
That's twenty,
Last ten coming up.
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Dissolving any of the resistance.
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out.
Last one,
Full breath in,
At the top of the breath,
Hold.
Pelvic floor might naturally lift to support.
Holding,
Noticing sensation,
Story,
Anything else that comes in with a smile and then exhaling when you're ready.
Coming to the deepest part of your exhale and holding.
Returning to your natural breath when you're ready.
Remembering your relationship with earth,
Midline,
The occiput ridge.
We'll do one more round of thirty.
Remembering that you choose the tone.
You're always in charge of how deep the practice is.
You're always invited to just come into awareness and let the practice go anytime.
Okay,
Deep exhale,
Everyone together.
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Full breath in,
Full breath out,
Breath in,
Last three,
Breath out,
Breath in,
Breath out,
Breath in,
Breath out,
Breathing all the way in to hold.
And then when you're ready,
Breathing all the way out to hold with lungs empty.
And then flowing into a natural breath.
A moment to notice what's happening in the body,
Noticing where sensation can be felt.
You might bring in some easy movement,
Maybe gentle turning of the head,
Circling of the shoulders.
The spine might want to oscillate and move as we allow space for the emergent nature of being rather than holding a tight framework,
Allowing a sense of flow into the body,
Offering up the fruits of our practice to all beings.
Namaste.
