Self Judgments Revealed Using Alternate Nostril Breathing

We use alternate nostril breathing (Nadi Shodhana) to reveal our inner judgments. If we judge ourselves against our expectations of performing ‘correctly’, we may fall short and have a negative experience. If we are able to allow our experience to be as it is, allow breath and body to stay relaxed, then we will probably have a more positive experience. You can use this insight every day. Unsuitable if you have cold or fever or blocked nose.

Transcript

Let's make ourselves comfortable then. So we've planted our feet, Put our legs comfortably. As we take our next in-breath we're going to make it a little bit deeper and we're going to straighten our spine a little bit, Get a tiny bit taller. Exhaling we're going to settle into our seat a little bit, Relax our shoulders, Relax our forehead. Our arms are comfortable somewhere, Maybe resting in our lap. We'll take a few deeper breaths. As we feel like what it feels like to become still and quiet. Taking our attention inwards, How does that feel? So we'll check in with ourselves. How do I feel in this moment physically, Mentally and emotionally? And whatever we find are we able to allow that to be okay? To allow our experience to be as it is. How does that feel? So let's imagine ourselves outside in the sunlight. We can feel the warmth of the sun on our skin. That's just the right temperature. And we're sitting on the grass. And we're going to imagine the sunlight shining on our body, Shining through our body. And we're going to add some water. We're going to ask for water to be poured over our head. And when the water pours over our head, All the soot that's collected inside us, All the dirt, The unhappiness, Discomfort, It's going to start to wash away. So as the water sparkles in the sunlight, Pours over us and through us, The dirt starts to be washed away and we start to sparkle. As if we're made of glass. Our head is now completely clear of dirt, Unhappiness and it's sparkling. And the water's continuing to wash down our inside or outside. We're feeling more sparkling clearness. These particles of darkness are washed into the earth. And if we ask her nicely, She will remove them for us and transform them back into light. The sunlight and the water cleansing our chest, Our abdomen and our arms to become clean and sparkling again. Our legs and our feet being washed clean now. All the soot and particles of darkness have been washed away. We're sitting in the sunlight, Refreshed, Renewed, Sparkling, Gleaming. Rest there for a moment. Feeling how it feels. So let's begin our alternate nostril breathing. And for our first round, We won't block our nostrils, We will visualise the process. So it's up to you if you use the hand position or if you just use your imagination. But for five breaths we will visualise breathing in and out only through our right nostril. So in your own time, Please begin. We need a comfortable breath. My tendency is to take huge breaths. Let's allow the breath to be natural. When we've breathed in and out five times, We can breathe in and out through our left nostril five times. So your practice is to allow the breath to be relaxed, The body to be relaxed. And however you're doing is fine. And to finish the round, We'll breathe in and out through both nostrils five times. Practice not creating tension as we breathe. So continuously relaxing and allowing the breath to be just as it wants to be. Coming to the end fairly soon. Resting with your natural breath for a moment. Feeling how that felt. Both in the body and in the mind. Does the mind have things to say about how we did, How we performed? Are we judging ourselves? What happens if we do? Can we get a sense of how it feels if we find ourselves judging our performance? So let's move into the second round of practice. We'll place our first and second fingers on a space between our eyebrows. Before we try exhaling or using one nostril, We're going to take a deep breath and allow the breath to come out of our right nostril. So we always do an out breath first, Make sure the airway is clear before we take an in breath. So when we've done an out breath and an in breath, That's the count of one. And we will do that five times on the first nostril, Five times on the second nostril and then through both nostrils when we've released our hand position and I'll guide you. But in your own time, Inhaling through both nostrils, Covering your right nostril, Exhaling through your left, Inhaling through your left. Exhale, Inhale all through your left nostril. If it's really uncomfortable you can go back to visualising. Trying to keep the breath normal natural. Noticing whatever comes up for you. When you're getting to five we're going to take an inhale and swap nostrils so we can release the left, Open the right, Exhale first. Then five breaths out and in of the right nostril. When you get to the end of five you can release your hand, Take five breaths through both nostrils. When you get to the end of your fifth breath, Rest, Rest your breath, Your body. And again we feel into the body and the mind. How does that feel? The judgments of ourself. Can we allow what happened to be what happened? Yes. So we'll take a final round of breathing. We may choose to use the other hand, Bringing the first and second fingers between the eyebrows centre. Before we use one nostril we're going to take a nice deep breath in through both, Cover the left nostril, Exhale through the right and as we inhale that's one breath. Continue for four more. When we're thinking about changing over to the next nostril in the fifth breath we inhale then we change, Nostrils exhaling through the new nostril before we try inhaling. Five breaths here, Relaxed breath, Comfortable breath. And then when you get to five you can release your hand, Take five breaths through both and rest. Rather than evaluating our performance against how we think it ought to have gone, Can we evaluate our performance against how we feel now? So that if we feel comfortable, Relaxed, Peaceful, Cleansed, If we feel something positive can we say that was a positive exercise rather than judging ourselves negatively against an expectation or accuracy of performing the practice? We are using our joy, Our feelings as our measure. Physically, Mentally, Emotionally. And as we prepare to leave our inner world we can take a few deeper breaths. And allow those deeper breaths to energize the body. Bringing movement to the body. Moving our hands and our feet, Our wrists and our ankles, Our arms and our legs. Gradually preparing ourselves for our waking consciousness, Having a little stretch if that's for us. Thank you for practicing with me.