Let's begin our breathing practice.
Find a comfortable sitting position either in a chair or on the floor.
If you are sitting on the floor,
Place a folded blanket or cushion under the sit bones so that the legs are a little lower than the abdomen.
This will help you to align your upper body directly over the pelvis,
Opening the abdomen to receive the breath.
Now close your eyes.
Become aware of the places your body touches the chair or the ground underneath you and begin to let the weight of your body settle into the sit bones.
Allow the weight of the legs and feet to settle into the floor and your hands relaxing onto your lap or thighs.
As you continue to settle,
Become aware of yourself sitting in this room and be mindful of just how your body is at this moment.
Notice how you feel.
Just observe without judgment.
Notice how you breathe.
Become aware of any tension in the lower half of the body,
In the feet and legs,
And let it go.
If you find tension around the pelvis and low belly,
Allow these muscles to soften.
Release the lower back and the side muscles of the waist.
As you begin to open and relax,
You may notice the breath spontaneously moving to fill these places as you go.
Allow this to happen,
But don't force it.
Now soften the upper belly and middle back in the area of the kidneys.
Just relax and open.
Bring your awareness to the heart,
Softening all of the muscles and tissues around the heart and lungs.
Melt the muscles around the back of the chest and along the side ribs,
Again noticing how the breath naturally moves to fill these places as you relax.
Now soften the upper chest just under the collarbones,
And let the shoulders melt away from the ears,
The shoulder blades releasing down your back.
Soften the back of the neck and the throat,
The throat opening from the inside out,
The breath moving through freely.
Soften the root of the tongue and the soft palate at the roof of the mouth.
Soften the muscles in your cheeks and the bridge of the nose,
And feel your sinuses and nostrils opening from the inside out.
From the tip of your nose to the floor of the pelvis,
No restriction on the movement of breath.
Now mentally scan the body for any remaining tight places.
If you notice something,
Bring the breath to the area and as you exhale let that tension go.
The whole body open to receive the breath.
Now the body is ready to practice the complete breath or dirigabreath.
To perform dirigabreath,
Imagine that your lungs extend from the floor of your pelvis to the top of your shoulders.
Think of this area as having three parts,
A bottom,
Middle and top.
We'll start by focusing on each of these three parts one at a time.
As you now breathe in,
Soften the floor of the pelvis and allow the breath to expand downward.
Allow the low belly to also expand and release it,
Letting the breath go in one continuous stream.
Again,
Fill the bowl of your pelvis with breath.
Don't force it.
Simply relax,
Allowing the lower abdomen and back to expand with the breath,
And exhale.
Notice how this feels.
Move your breathing focus to the middle of the body,
The area just below the rib cage and the kidneys and back.
As you breathe in,
Imagine that you're expanding an elastic band around the upper waist.
And again,
Release the breath in one uninterrupted stream.
Continue to expand and contract the breath at your middle,
Noticing how it feels.
And finally,
Expand the breath into the upper body.
Soften at the breastbone and the space between the shoulder blades.
Breathing into the collarbones and into the side ribs,
The whole upper chest together,
Again noticing how it feels.
And let it go.
Surrender control of the breath back to the body for a moment.
Just let the next few breaths happen naturally.
Let's now do the full three-part breath.
Breathe into the pelvis,
Then the upper waist and the chest.
Let it go,
Exhaling from the top down,
One continuous stream of breath.
Again,
Inhale bottom,
Middle,
Top,
And release top down.
Find your own pace,
Bottom,
Middle,
Top,
And exhale.
Stay relaxed.
Let your body's need set the pace.
Stay with the breath,
Intentionally drawing into the bottom,
Then the middle,
And the top.
As you continue,
The three parts merge into one continuous inhale from the floor of the pelvis to the top of the chest,
The breath naturally rising up through the body and naturally releasing from the top down.
This is dirge breath.
Stay with the flow of breath,
Allowing it to lengthen on exhale as you relax more and more.
Keep it going,
Long deep continuous breaths.
Inhale and exhale.
Now let it go.
Release all control of the breath.
Surrender completely.
Your body knows when to breathe.
Observe the body riding the waves of breath.
Imagine your entire body expanding and contracting as you breathe.
And if the mind wanders,
Just come back to breath.
Stay with the flow of breath,
Each breath unique.
Now begin to notice that the breath will naturally pause,
Usually after the exhale.
Allow this to occur.
As the breath rests,
Allow your awareness to travel into this place and linger here in the deep stillness.
This is known as Sukabha Bodé,
The realm of inner peace.
Continue to breathe and observe these spaces between breaths.
The yoga tradition says that the life force itself enters the body with each new breath.
They call this prana or grace.
Imagine now that each breath bathes the body in this divine energy.
Picture it clearly.
The legs,
Belly,
Chest,
Arms and face.
The whole body bathed in grace.
Feel the sense of gratitude for the gift of each new breath.
To complete this practice,
Take a few more deep breaths.
And as you open your eyes,
Take a few moments to sit with this feeling of inner awareness before moving on to the rest of your day.
Namaste.
Namaste.
Namaste.
