Ujjayi Breathing & Eco-Grief Awareness

Cultivate space to bring awareness to grief from ecosystem loss (eco-grief) through mindfulness + ujjayi pranayama. Recommended for professionals in the sustainability + impact space or anyone feeling ungrounded due to the 24-hour news cycle of constant devastation. Let's make space for emotions of helplessness, mourning, and loss. Together.

Transcript

Welcome. My name is Sarah and I'm so happy you're here. Today we're going to focus on bring awareness to our grief around ecological systems, Also known as eco grief. We'll then practice ujjayi breath from the yoga sutras. It is commonly referred to as the wave breath as a way to say thank you and honor the ecosystems that we are a part of. I invite you to get comfortable where you find yourself, Whether that's seated or lying down. Open and close your jaw, Roll out your neck. Take a deep inhale in. Open mouth exhale side out. What are the emotions that arise and feelings when you hear the word eco grief. When I see images of wildlife dying wildfires people being unable to breathe. I feel a sense of helplessness and a sense of mourning, Anger, Frustration. What are they for you? With eco grief, It's slow, It's cumulative. It comes from many different directions. As we breathe the ujjayi breath today, Let's allow for those emotions to arise with the inhale and move through our body on the exhale. Let's begin. Inhale through the nose. Pause and then constrict air at the back of the throat. Exhale slowly through the nostrils. You want to sound like the ebb and flow of a wave as you do this. Inhale for a count of one, Two, Three, Four. Exhale in the nose. Exhale out for three, Two, One. Inhale in. Exhale out. Inhale in. Exhale out. As the emotions arise, Just label them, Do not judge them. Whether it's anger, Loss, Mourning, Let them be as they are. Inhale for a count of one, Two, Three, Four. Pause. Exhale out for three, Two, One. Inhale in. Exhale out. Inhale in. Exhale out. Remember to bring compassion and awareness to the emotions as they arise. Inhale for a count of one, Two, Three, Four. Pause. Exhale out for three, Two, One. Inhale in. Exhale out. Inhale in. Exhale out. Exhalation, Return to your normal breath, Noticing the inhales, Feeling the air come through the nostrils, Noticing the exhales, Feeling the air exit the nose. And And just notice how you feel. Acknowledge the emotions that have arisen and appreciate your body and your mind for letting you know how you are feeling about the state of the world. I invite you to take one last breath in, Inhale through the nose. And open mouth exhale.