Hello everybody and welcome back.
For today's meditation we will get started in a comfortable seat.
Feel free to sit on the floor on your meditation cushion or a bolster or maybe a blanket or pillow.
You can also sit at the edge of a chair,
The edge of your couch,
Or the edge of your bed.
Wherever you feel comfortable and you have minimal distractions.
And then place your hands wherever feels most comfortable.
If you have a mudra or a hand gesture that you like to practice with you are more than welcome to incorporate that.
One of the simplest ones is to just bring the tips of your thumbs and the tips of your index fingers together and then just let the other fingers fan out.
You can also place your right hand on top of your left hand and then connect your thumbs.
Now if it feels safe close your eyes and if not just find a point that's in front of you to focus your attention on but allow your gaze to be soft.
Now bring awareness to the points of your hips,
Your legs,
And your feet.
Notice where and how they have contact with the floor beneath you.
And then begin to become heavier through those points.
Allow yourself to be held by the earth beneath you.
And then bring awareness into your shoulders and your arms.
And then allow them to be soft drawing them away from your ears so your neck can be long.
Bring awareness to your chest.
Allow your shoulders to draw back so your chest broadens and your collarbones open.
And then notice your back.
Allow your spine to be a little bit taller and lengthened.
And then invite a deep inhale through your nose.
And then sigh it out through your mouth.
Two more like that.
In through the nose.
Out through your mouth.
One more.
Now tune your attention to your breath and start at your nostrils noticing the air passing in and out.
Notice if the air has a texture.
Notice the temperature of the air that you're breathing in and out.
And then bring your awareness to your lungs and your rib cage.
As you inhale,
Notice the gentle expansion of your ribs from left to right,
Front and back.
And as you exhale,
Notice as your ribs hug the center of your spine.
And then bring your awareness to your belly and your abdominals.
Notice the expansion of the belly and abdominals as you inhale.
And the softening and contraction as you exhale.
And then bring your awareness to your entire torso.
And in unison,
Feel the belly and your rib cage expand together in all four directions.
And as you exhale,
Feel your torso hug into the spine.
Now bring awareness to your hips and your legs again.
And in connection with the breath,
On each exhale,
Allow your hips,
Your legs and your feet to sink and ground deeper into the earth.
And then bring awareness into your spine.
And in connection with the breath,
With each inhale,
Feel the spine grow tall towards the heavens.
And then bring your awareness to your shoulders,
Your arms.
And in connection with the breath,
With every exhale,
Allow your shoulders,
Your arms and your elbows to pull and gravitate towards the earth beneath you.
And then bring your awareness to the crown of your head,
The gateway to your higher self.
And with every inhale,
Feel and allow the crown of your head to rise high to the sky.
And then finally,
Bring your awareness to your entire body.
And in connection with the breath,
Feel the movements of all of those quadrants.
Just watch and observe that undulation of expansion and rising as you inhale.
And grounding and security as you exhale.
And then once more,
Invite a deep inhale into your body.
And a cleansing exhale out through your mouth.
So moving into Samavriti,
Even rhythmed breath.
So take an inhale through your nose.
And then out through your nose.
And then inhale for the count of 4-3-2-1.
Pause lightly at the top.
And then out through your nose.
Exhale for 4-3-2-1.
Pause at the bottom.
Inhale for 4.
Suspend and float the breath.
And then exhale for 4.
Pause at the bottom.
And then inhale for 5-4-3-2-1.
Exhale for 5-4-3-2-1.
Inhale 5.
Exhale 5.
Inhale 6.
Exhale 6.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Hold the breath out.
Ground to the earth.
Slowly and gradually breathe in all the way to the very top.
Hold it at the top,
Feeling the expansion,
The rising of your spine.
And then gradually,
Slowly exhale all the air out.
At the bottom,
Pause.
Inhale all the way to the top,
Rising your spine up to the heavens.
Hold and feel your expanded self.
And exhale.
At the bottom,
Hold.
Draw your belly in and up and lift your pelvic floor.
And then relax as you inhale all the way to the top,
Gradually,
Slowly.
Hold at the top.
Tilt your chin slightly down and in,
Sealing the energy within.
Lift your head and then exhale slowly and gradually.
Hold,
Engaging belly and pelvic floor.
Release and breathe in.
Hold at the top,
Chin slightly forward,
Down and in.
Lift your head,
Open your mouth and sigh it all out.
Just take a moment to notice how you feel.
So our next breathing exercise will be Valoma 2.
Valoma means against the grain or interrupted breathing.
And our interruptions will be on the exhale.
We'll warm up with interruptions of 2 and then we'll move to our standard interruptions of 3.
As you're doing this breathing technique,
Connect it with the physical body in the way we've explored so far.
So take a slow inhale through your nose.
Hold at the top.
Now exhale only about half of the air.
Hold.
And then exhale the second half.
Hold.
Ground your hips.
Hug your belly in.
Slowly,
Gradually inhale.
Hold at the top.
Feel the crown of the head rise.
And then exhale half of the air.
And the second half.
Hold.
Slowly,
Gradually breathe in.
Hold at the top.
Now exhale a third of the breath out.
Exhale the second third.
Empty out completely.
Pause.
Slowly,
Gradually breathe in.
Hold and suspend the breath.
Exhale a third.
Ground your hips.
Exhale a second third.
Shoulders gravitate towards the floor.
Last third.
When you're empty,
Draw your navel in and lift it up along with your pelvic floor.
Keep that lifting as you slowly inhale.
Feel the energy of your breath move all the way up to the crown of the head.
Hold at the top.
Tilt your chin down and in slightly.
Jalandhara Bandha or Throat Lock.
Lift your head.
Exhale a third of the breath.
Exhale a second third.
Exhale the last third.
Navel draws in.
Pelvic floor lifts.
Breathe in all the way to the top.
Energy rises to the crown of the head.
Hold at the top.
Chin locked.
Sealing the energy within.
Lift your head.
Exhale a third.
Exhale a second third.
Exhale all the way out.
Hold it at the bottom.
Visualize and feel the energy building from deep within.
Gradually inhale.
Energy rising all the way to the very top of the head.
Hold it at the top and visualize a light pulsing within the third eye center.
And then slowly,
Gradually breathe all the way to the very bottom.
Hold it at the bottom.
Visualize this ball of energy strengthening,
Brightening.
As you inhale,
Energy rises all the way to the crown of the head.
Hold it at the top.
Again,
Visualize that light pulsing.
And with each pulse,
Mentally and silently pulse the mantra Aum.
Release the mantra and the visualization.
Open your mouth and sigh it out.
And then just take a couple of recovery breaths.
Just notice how you feel physically and energetically.
And then allow your breath to come to a steady pace and rhythm.
And then bring your awareness and attention to the very center of your being.
And at this very center,
Imagine a ball of light.
Notice the color of it,
The shape of it.
And then as you inhale,
Imagine that ball of light grows an inch in all directions.
Maybe soon that ball of light fills your entire physical body with its glow.
And then as you continue to breathe,
It begins to glow outside of you,
Continues to grow and spread into the space that you're in,
Even outside of your space.
And if your attention becomes distracted,
Which it may,
Just turn your attention back to your breath or to that glowing and growing light.
So if your attention has expanded far,
Just gently guide it back to your physical body.
And just envision yourself filled with this energetic light.
And through the hips and legs and feet.
And it breaks into the earth and fills down in the space beneath you.
And even though the energy is moving down and transferring into the earth,
It doesn't deplete.
Because with every inhale,
The energy and light grows from that center through your body.
And then as you exhale,
It moves and transfers,
Deepening your connection with the ground beneath you.
After your next exhale,
Allow all the visualization to go.
And then attune your attention at the third eye,
The space of your inner knowledge and intuition.
Ask yourself and contemplate,
In what area of my life could I expand myself more in?
Now ask yourself and contemplate,
In what area of my life could I be more grounded,
Stable and secure in?
And with those two areas in mind,
Turn your attention down to your heart space.
With the area in your life that you could be a little bit more expanded in,
Find a word which will help ignite you to be able to expand in that area.
And then find another positive affirming word,
Which would allow you to be more grounded,
And secure and stable in the area that you wish to find more grounding in.
And with these two words in mind,
Insert them into this following mantra.
I expand with,
I ground in,
I expand in blank,
I ground in blank.
Just take the next few moments to repeat this affirmation and mantra,
Instilling it into your heart.
After your next exhale,
Release the mantra.
Knowing and having faith,
It'll guide you to creating more expansion and more grounding in your life.
And then slowly draw your hands together in prayer at your heart,
Thumbs pressing up against your sternum.
And then bow your head down towards yourself,
Acknowledging your effort and the infinite wisdom that lies deep within you.
Thank you so much for sharing your practice.
Namaste.
