Hello and welcome to this uplifting spring pranayama meditation.
You might hear in the background the flowing water here in the highlands of the Northeast Kingdom,
The snow melt and that big gushing forth of light into the season.
It's right at the end of April here.
And when we come to a juncture of seasons,
It's always helpful to bring balance back to the flows of our energy which are so influenced by elements,
By the water,
The increase in water,
By the change of the temperature,
By the weather,
The daylight,
All of the factors that really play a big role in how much prana,
How much life energy.
We're able to absorb and bring through our system.
So we'll just take a moment here as you find your comfortable seat.
You can sit on a chair with your feet on the floor.
You could sit up on a cushion or right on the ground if you're outside or you can even lie down if you need to.
But sitting upright is ideal for this type of meditation.
So close your eyes now and just bring your attention to the inflow of breath,
The cool air moving in through your nose,
Traveling down your throat,
Expanding your lungs,
Expanding your ribs,
Following that deep full in breath.
And then when you come to the fullest expression of the breath,
When you're all the way full,
Pause there for a moment and just experience melting into the form of the body filled with breath and then exhale.
A few more breaths like that.
Deep breath in,
Retaining that full in breath,
Feeling the chest lift,
Feeling the ribs expand into the back body and then exhaling.
And for just a moment,
Dropping into your rooted breath pattern so whatever breath pattern arises when we step away from the doing of the breath,
The efforting.
Practice the texture of the breath and make your awareness really refined right now and see if you can detect the breath moving more into the left or right nostril.
It seems like one is predominant.
Usually during the day our predominant breath is moving in through the right nostril and at night we're breathing more on the left side.
These are the solar,
The gateways to the solar and lunar channels of the breath.
So now with your eyes just lightly closed and your spine reaching up and your sitting bones resting down,
Take your breath in through the right nostril.
So feel the breath moving in more through the right side of your nose,
Moving down along the right side of your spine and find that fullness of breath,
Pause there and then as you exhale release the breath up through the left side of your body,
Up through your left nostril.
It's okay if you can't feel this,
Don't stress too much about it but just use your imagination to guide the breath.
And then as you inhale now taking the breath in back in through the left nostril,
Drawing the breath down into the core of your being,
This is the lunar channel,
Using that movement of awareness to move prana down into the core of your being through the lunar channels and as you exhale release the breath up through the right side,
Out through the right nostril.
Notice the end of the breath just relax into the pause before the next in breath begins,
Breathing in through the right,
Containing that full breath,
Breathing out through the left,
Breathing in through the left,
Feeling the whole left side of the body radiant with that movement of awareness and exhaling out through the right,
Continuing with this alternate nostril pattern,
Nutty shodhana,
Breathing in through the right,
Charging that solar channel,
Energizing,
Awakening and then exhaling and releasing through the lunar channel,
Releasing anything that's stuck in that pathway along with that movement of awareness up and out through the left nostril,
Breathing into that clarified lunar channel down into the left,
Pulling into our channels of intuition,
Deep knowing and the wateriness of the changing cycles,
Pausing the fullness,
Exhaling out through the right side,
Purging and purifying the solar channel,
Releasing the breath completely,
Making sure you finish out that cycle and now breathing in through the right side,
Charging the solar channel,
Opening our pathways for deeper connection to source,
Exhale releasing through the left side and that release there's a softening and then when you inhale into the left side there's more space to take up,
There's more awareness,
There's more sensitivity,
Pause in the fullness,
Exhale through the right side,
Softening the right side of the body,
Soften the exterior of the body,
The physical body,
The energetic imprint of the body and then taking the breath in through the right,
Releasing up through the left,
Softening with the release,
Inhale on the left,
Exhale on the right,
Breathing in through the right,
Exhaling on the left,
Exhaling deep,
Clear breath coming in through the left,
Pouring into your being and the energized awareness arising through the out breath on the right side.
Then you can release that pattern,
The Nadi Shodhana pattern and just return to the easeful natural,
Surrendered version of your breath.
Take a moment to really drop into the support of your seat on the exhale,
Feeling the connection of the exhaled breath down into your hips,
Through your legs,
Into your feet,
Into the ground.
Imagine that this awareness could continue moving through your feet,
Dropping deep into the earth,
Moving towards the very center of the earth as though little rootlets were growing and just reaching for nourishment.
And now on the inhale through these rootlets,
Breathing up into the core of your being just like the sap being drawn up through the trunks of the trees this time of year,
Rising on the inhale.
Now on the exhale,
Reaching wide through the crown of your head,
Expanding your awareness to take up the space around your body,
The space in the range of the sounds you hear,
The currents of air moving on your skin.
And then we'll conclude by gently placing your hands together in Anjali Mudra at your heart and taking a moment to offer some gratitude for the opportunity to practice today,
The opportunity to move into the wellspring that is the depths of our being.
Namaste.
