Welcome.
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So thank you.
Morning and welcome.
Let's get ourselves comfortable.
So you may choose to sit or to lie down.
Sit in a chair or down on the floor.
Take a few moments to just organize your limbs in a way that feels good.
And allow yourself to steady your breath as we settle.
Resting your tongue up against the roof of your mouth.
Allow the jaw to soften.
The teeth,
The gums.
Notice the sensation of the in-breath and the out-breath through the nose.
How that feels around the nostrils.
So so notice in the sense of hearing what you can track through your ears and the space around you.
Furthest away.
So and then coming in close as you listen for the sound of your breath.
Maybe you can hear even more intimate sounds,
Perhaps a gurgle or two from your digestion.
Maybe you can hear the pulse of your heart and your circulatory system.
And the fluid body.
And then notice the parts of you connecting to the floor or the chair.
Perhaps your feet are on the floor or parts of your legs and your feet if you're sitting cross-legged.
Just let them become heavy.
Notice if there's any accidental tension being held.
Now that to dissolve.
So it's okay to be heavy right now.
Floor's got you.
Notice the sitting bones and the weight of the pelvis.
It's not uncommon to have one side feel a little heavier than the other.
Just notice for yourself if you can distribute your weight across your pelvis with balance,
With equanimity.
And again letting the material physical body,
The bones of your pelvis be heavy.
And letting the spine rise up from the pelvis.
So offering some space for the lungs.
Tucking the chin gently under so there's space for the back of the neck.
And then tuning into the rhythm of your breath.
Noticing the length of your inhale without trying to adjust it or shape it.
Just notice and then noticing the length of the exhale.
So as you start to see if we can lengthen.
So exploring if there's the possibility of breathing for somewhere around a count of six.
If that feels like too much then just find the place that does feel good.
And if you feel like you can go on longer then do.
So you'll find your pace but I'll use six as the number.
So breathing in for six and breathing out for six.
So it's crucial not to be forcing anything.
The breath expands when it feels safe,
Kind,
Gentle.
So we're not putting pressure on ourselves to be a certain way.
It's more playful than that.
And we'll do some alternate nostril breathing.
As a preparation for the pranayama.
So bringing your arm up in front of you,
Your hand up in front of you.
Resting the tip of your thumb,
The tip of your index finger,
Either side of the bridge of your nose.
And applying just the softest amount of pressure so that you can actually still breathe through your nose but it is obstructed.
And to begin with we'll do three rounds of breathing in through the right nostril.
Pinching both nostrils and holding for twice the length.
Exhaling out of the left nostril.
And breathing in through the right nostril.
Holding for 12.
Exhaling for six out of the left nostril.
So it's like a circle.
Breathing in through the right nostril for six.
Holding for 12.
Pinching both nostrils and then exhaling out of the left nostril for six.
And again that ratio is open to interpretation.
By all means use four in which case it would be inhaling for four,
Holding for eight,
Exhaling for four.
Or if you want to come up to eight or ten then it would be breathing in for eight,
Holding for 16,
Exhaling for eight.
Or inhaling for eight or inhaling for ten,
Holding for 20,
Exhaling for ten.
Stay playful with it.
Let your shoulders melt away from your ears.
We'll all begin by exhaling out of the left nostril.
Then breathing in through the right nostril.
Pinch and hold.
And then exhaling out of the left nostril.
Inhaling right nostril.
Hold.
Exhaling left nostril.
Inhaling left nostril.
Inhaling right nostril.
Hold.
So exhaling left nostril.
And then we'll switch sides so inhaling left nostril.
Hold.
Inhaling left nostril.
Hold.
Exhaling right.
Inhaling left.
Inhaling left.
Exhaling right.
Inhaling left.
Hold.
Exhaling right.
And then bringing your hands down into your lap,
Breathing effortlessly through both nostrils.
Perhaps the breath can go deeper,
Perhaps the count can start to lengthen.
Ojai breath,
We're breathing through the nose.
There's a faint vibration through the throat,
As the throat is gently closed but not at all forced.
Sometimes it sounds a bit like a snore.
I'm going to draw our next in-breath right down into the center of your heart.
And then let the exhale move from the heart back up and out through the nostrils.
There is a visual flow of breath inhaling through the nostrils,
Down through the throat,
Into the very center of the heart and exhaling from the center of the heart up through the throat,
And out through the nostrils.
And whilst we're still in this curious open mindset,
We're not forcing anything,
But the breath is deliberate.
We're consciously drawing it in,
Lengthening,
Letting it become fuller.
And the same on the exhale.
Into the center of your heart.
You may notice sensation as the heart expands to create more space for this new flow of prana.
Stronger,
More deliberate flow of prana.
Higher lever Both Bloomington's.
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You you And drawing the inhale down into the very deepest part of the belly It might well be right behind the belly button In the tummy and as you inhale allowing the breath to expand tummy to expand And as you exhale Allowing that breath to travel up from the very center of the navel up through the spine The throat and out through the nostrils So sometimes that can be visualized almost like a mist moving or a ribbon or light very deliberate breath inhaling to the center of your navel Exhaling up and out through the nostrils you you you And seeing if we can drop down breathing right the way down to the very center of the pelvis as you inhale You might visualize it going to a point right in the center of the pelvic bowl And then exhaling letting the exhale flush up through the spine up through the throat and out through the nostrils So now the breath is very deep very strong To allow you to travel that distance still not forced but deliberate You You You You And then taking the breath for the final stage inhaling down into the pelvis And exhaling up through the spine the throat up through the skull and up through the crown of the head Taking that exhale right up to about 12 inches above the crown of the head And then inhaling all the way back down through the spine into the very depths of the pelvis long sweeping cleansing breaths You You You And then releasing the practice allowing the breath to take its own journey back to however it would like to be Softening the muscles of the face the lips the jaw The space around the ears in the ears Softening the eyes A moment to notice how it feels to be you this morning this body that you inhabit how it feels Gently asking what's important for today You Really bounce together dropping forehead to fingertips Closing our practice this morning Offering up the fruits of our practice to all beings Namaste
