Today is going to be about the Anamaya koshas.
Koshas are basically our body's anatomy from the yogic perspective and it's the many sheaths or layers of our body and there's five of them from the yoga perspective and sometimes they're considered treasures and you don't hear that very often.
But koshas are,
We can think of them like Russian nesting dolls.
Oftentimes that's how they're referred to as Russian nesting dolls.
So we have our physical body as the outer layer,
The Anamaya kosha that we're going to be working with today and then we have our mental body and we have our spiritual body,
Our emotional body and our the mental body.
So these five different koshas we're going to be working with over the next five days.
So today's mudra is called the purtivi mudra and basically we bring the ring finger next or to the thumb tips and then the other fingers just extend out.
So it's going to be resting in the lap,
Ring finger and thumb finger come together.
The purtivi means earth.
So we're going to place those hands in the lap welcoming in our body.
So getting comfortable in meditation can be a big part of the practice and also if you've ever experienced you know like a really stressful situation or maybe you've experienced some level of trauma,
Physical,
Emotional,
Mental trauma,
We become disassociated with our bodies.
So this is a really important practice to just kind of bring us back down into our bodies and get us out of that monkey mind.
This mudra should really provide a true sense of grounding of earth and so you can have your eyes closed or open as we begin our practice together today.
So just meeting yourself where you're at,
Your breath,
Just noticing your breath today.
This mudra,
This earth mudra,
The gesture of earth designed to increase the feeling of stability.
So just sensing the breath as it is in this moment.
This earth mudra is also intended to help deepen our breath deeper into the abdomen,
Into the diaphragm,
More diaphragmatic breathing rather than chest breathing.
So just as we travel into our bodies today,
Just notice if there is a sense of grounding.
Just feeling the surface that you're resting on,
That earth surface made of earth's material,
Whether it be wood,
Whether it be cotton,
Linen,
Maybe you're on a sheep skin,
Lion's skin,
Whatever you might be resting on,
Made of earth,
Leather,
Whatever material it is just note that and if you're sitting,
If your feet are touching the earth just note that and let's bring your awareness into the feet.
Noticing the toes and the bottoms of the feet,
The tops of the feet,
The ankles,
Noticing the sense of connectivity,
Whether the heels are resting on the earth or whether the bottoms of the feet are on the earth and all the things that the feet do for us every day on the earth,
Standing,
Walking,
Running,
All of our activities.
Noticing your lower legs,
The calf muscles,
Noticing the knee joint,
The space in the joint and if you're sitting in a meditative position,
Cross-legged,
Sometimes there can be pain,
Discomfort,
So just notice that and just acknowledge it.
Try not to change or shift or adjust,
Modify,
Judge,
Anything about that.
Noticing the upper leg,
Noticing your hips and noticing the breath now as it's maybe gotten more calm and maybe it's drawn down deeper at the navel center or below.
Noticing maybe the belly moving with the breath forward or up and down and then the width of the breath,
Sides,
Front and back,
Maybe touching the surface behind you,
Below you as your torso breathes,
Feeling the rise and fall,
Noticing your shoulders again,
Maybe they're touching the surface either behind you,
Below you,
Even to the sides of you and feeling the sense of stability in the torso,
Feeling a sense of stability in your breath,
Noticing your arms,
The elbows,
The space in the elbows,
The wrists and the palms of the hands,
Your fingers,
Your fingers in the Purtivi mudra,
The earth mudra or not,
Noticing your whole torso with the arms,
Noticing the backs of the hands either resting on the lap or the floor,
The surface,
Feeling that connection,
Noticing the sides of your neck,
Your jaw,
Inside of the ears,
The breath moving in through your nose,
Noticing your eyes,
The stillness,
And noticing your head,
Maybe the head touching the floor,
Any surface you might be resting on or just noticing it and the space around it,
Noticing your breath and the stability,
The continuity of your breath and inhabiting your breath,
Inhabiting your body with this breath and this total physical awareness in your body as you inhabit your body with a sense of stability,
Of patience,
Of calm,
That slow,
Steady,
Solid quality of earth,
The patience of earth.
At home in my body,
I find comfort and ease.
At home in my body,
I find comfort and ease.
At home in my body,
I find comfort and ease.
At home in my body,
I find comfort and ease.
At home in my body,
I find comfort and ease.
At home in my body,
I find comfort and ease.
At home in my body,
I find comfort and ease.
And if your hands are still in that mudra,
You can go ahead and release that mudra and wiggle the fingers and circle the wrists and try to stay present and aware in your body for just a few more moments.
This meditation and this mudra should have also helped to reduce stress,
Anxiety,
Worry as it brought us home to a place in us that maybe we don't always feel at home in with acceptance,
What we can do,
What we're capable of,
And to find a place inside of us that we can be okay with,
Just like we would welcome a good friend,
We find a place inside of us that we can call home because it's a place that we will reside in for the remainder of our days,
And this practice today is also designed to instill a sense of self-awareness of our body when maybe we've taken something into our body or we're experiencing strong sensations that we can acknowledge how our body is feeling,
How that food might have made us feel,
How a touch might have made us feel,
How anything going around us might have made us feel.
It's really important to feel at home in our body so that we know how to take care of it.
So if your eyes were closed,
You can go ahead and open them.
Be well.
Take good care.
