We're going to do alternate nostril breathing.
So if you'd like to blow your nose before we start now's a good time.
Otherwise we'll make ourselves comfortable.
Putting our bottom towards the back of the chair.
Planting our feet if we can.
Finding a comfortable spot for our body where it can rest a while.
Arms and legs at ease.
When we're ready to inhale next,
Strengthen,
Lengthen our spine a little bit.
Stretching up a little bit.
And as we exhale we can soften and relax a little bit.
So we've got a bit of both.
We're a bit relaxed and a bit alert.
And we'll bring our attention inwards.
Excuse me.
And taking one or two deeper breaths as we start to settle.
Can we notice how it feels to do this?
So we'll start off with some physical relaxation.
So imagining a wave of relaxation flowing over our body from the top of our head.
So it's going to flow over our forehead and our temples.
Leave them soft and relaxed.
Muscles around our eyes.
Our scalp becoming soft and relaxed.
Our jaw and neck becoming softer.
And that wave flowing down over our shoulders.
Our upper arms and our chest.
Down to our lower arms,
Our belly and our lower back.
Everything becoming a little bit softer as that wave travels over it.
Hips,
Pelvic floor,
Thighs becoming a little softer.
Wave travelling down over the knees.
Shins,
Calves,
Ankles and feet.
Everything a little softer.
Forgot achy bits,
Sore bits.
Allowing them to be as they are.
And sending love,
More love instead of criticism.
May even want to touch part of you that's aching and send it love through your hand.
For healing,
Imagine it healing.
Having a little look around the body then.
Is there any bit of us that's still tense?
Imagine that,
Resting,
Melting.
You know we're feeling more physically relaxed.
We'll find some mental relaxation.
And remembering and taking ourselves in our imagination to somewhere we love to be.
Maybe somewhere real or imaginary.
Somewhere we'd like to go.
Or somewhere we completely made up.
What's important is how we feel when we imagine it.
And being there as best you can.
And seeing the things that are there.
Sights.
Sounds.
Smells.
Maybe there are physical sensations.
Enjoying it.
So now we're feeling more physically and mentally relaxed.
We're going to take our attention to our breath and our body.
We're trying to change the breath,
We're just noticing.
And if your mind wanders,
It's completely fine.
Let's agree it's ok if your mind wanders.
Or to come back without any sense of failure.
It's just fine,
It just does that.
In fact we could even know that we've strengthened our ability to focus by returning.
So in preparation for our alternate nostril breathing,
We're going to take a couple of rounds of the full yogic breath.
So very easily,
Without any strain or forcing,
We'll have a practice.
So when we're ready to inhale,
Drawing the breath a little deeper into the lung.
We might move the belly slightly so the breath goes in a little deeper,
But gently.
We fill the sides of the lungs and then we allow a little more breath into the upper chest.
And as we're ready to exhale it all flows out comfortably.
And we'll notice how that feels.
Let's try one more.
When you're ready to inhale,
Drawing a little more breath gently into the lower lungs,
Sides of the lungs and the top of the lungs.
And restfully,
Relaxingly,
The breath flows out.
And noticing how that feels in your body.
If you've noticed your heartbeat has increased and you're feeling tense,
You might be trying too hard.
So this is something we don't work at,
We just allow.
One more practice then.
Just allowing easily,
Gently the breath into the lower lungs,
The sides and the top of the lungs and it flows away.
And if you're doing this gently,
We could take a few breaths without us becoming uncomfortable.
So we're going to try a round of 12 full yogic breaths.
And if it helps we can use our fingers to count with.
So either hand,
We've got four fingers and each of those four fingers has three joints.
So that's 12.
And we put our thumb on each of those joints of each finger in turn.
And that can help us count.
So starting at one end of our finger,
We're going to work all the way down to all the joints of all the fingers for 12 breaths.
See that's going to take each of us a little different time.
But we'll allow for that as best we can.
So remembering to be relaxed and easy with the breath when you're ready to inhale.
Breath goes into the lower lungs,
Sides,
Top of the lungs and flows away comfortably.
And when we're ready to start the next breath,
We'll move our finger to the next count.
You might find your breath becomes slower.
And let that happen if it's the case.
So all the bypasses you're trying to make are,
Again,
The normal differences in Hopefully you're coming to the end about now.
So taking a moment to feel how that feels.
Noticing if we've judged our performance,
Just letting that go.
It really doesn't matter.
In the present moment with the breath.
Feeling the breath flowing in and out.
It's not just breath,
It's universe.
It's energy,
It's prana.
Let's take a few conscious breaths.
Allowing the universal energy to flow in and out of our body.
And if we've been depleted,
It's filling our body and our energy field with lovely high breath.
Again the breath is still comfortable.
So we're feeling more energized and yet relaxed.
Now we will try our alternate nostril breathing.
But we'll do it from the point of view of energy.
So as we draw breath in through the left nostril,
Let's visualize that as the divine feminine.
It's receiving.
It's that relaxed state of being where we're just awareness and allowing the universe to bring to us what we need.
And as we draw breath in through the right nostril,
That's the masculine and it's assertive and it's active and it's giving.
And we can draw in whichever one of those feels more appropriate for us in this moment.
So when you're ready,
We're going to place first and second fingers of either hand between our eyebrows.
If you've got glasses on you may or may not choose to take them off.
We'll take a breath in through both nostrils and close one nostril and we'll take five breaths in through that nostril.
Whichever one,
No,
Let's do the left first and then we'll do it together.
And then we'll visualize that feminine allowing receptive,
Embracing us,
Wanting nothing,
Needing nothing,
Just being.
And we've breathed in next,
Swapping to the right nostril,
So closing the left and that breath is now more active,
It's the masculine.
It's assertive,
It's changing the world,
It's giving to others.
Let's allow the next one to be the last one,
Letting our hand relax back in our lap,
Breathing through both nostrils.
Noticing how that feels.
And then we'll take a breath in through both nostrils.
Again if our heart rate has increased,
If we're feeling tense let's shake it out now.
I may have been trying too hard.
Feeling the breath in the body in the present moment.
So we're going to try that again and this time if we feel we do have an imbalance,
Maybe we lack the allowing,
The passive or maybe we could do with more assertive,
More action.
Depends how we feel.
We can draw both the energies in but we let one go,
Just let it flow out.
So it's up to us what balance we create for ourselves and it's up to us as in we are empowered to change the way we feel and the way we act.
We can do that with our intention and with tools like this.
So maybe we'd like to use our other hand so we're balanced in that as well,
Putting the first two fingers between our eye breath centre.
Drawing the breath in and when we're ready to exhale,
Closing the left nostril first this time.
And five breaths through the right nostril.
The solar masculine,
Assertive,
Powerful not power over.
If we want to keep it,
It can fill our body,
Otherwise it can flow away.
Taking in the next breath and swapping over to the left,
The lunar allowing.
Passive in the sense of surrender and allowing.
Receiving,
Being without the need to do.
And if we want more of that for ourselves,
Letting it fill ourselves.
Letting this breath be the last one,
Letting the hand down.
Noticing,
Feeling how we feel.
Imagine using that.
In a cue if you were impatient,
Drawing a few breaths into your left nostril and being able to allow the universe to be as it were without complaint.
Or if we need to get up and go,
We need extra power for an appointment and take a few breaths for our right nostril.
Allow it to energize us.
Off we go.
We have that power with your intention.
So putting that in our toolbox with the other tools.
And taking one or two deeper breaths.
As we start slowly to return to our regular everyday state of consciousness.
Gradually starting to move the body.
Fingers and toes,
Wrists and ankles.
Arms and legs.
Having a little stretch if that's for you.
And when you're ready you can return your attention to the outside world.
Thank you for practicing with me.
