Will be about 20 minutes long and it will concern helping us work with duality by having simultaneous awareness of the root and crown.
It's also one of my favorite meditations to slow down a busy mind.
So we'll do some preparatory practices to begin and then I'll walk us through the instructions and we'll sit quietly for about seven to eight minutes.
So we'll begin with an internal OM to create a more sattvic mind and then we'll do some breathing practice.
We'll spend first a few minutes with our OM.
So in your comfortable seat,
Spine long,
Shoulders relaxed,
Begin in your mind silently repeating the sound OM.
You can have any pace or length of the OM you'd like and try to find a rhythm that works for you.
It could even be a little bit faster like OM,
OM,
OM.
So find something that feels good,
A nice rhythm,
A nice pace for you.
Notice maybe this even changes from day to day each time you come back to this meditation.
We'll spend a few more moments,
A couple minutes,
Repeating the sound OM to ourselves.
The mind starts to be aware of that mantra,
Let that OM,
Sometimes it repeats on its own.
Maybe just even rest in the resonance of that.
Next we'll take complete three-part breaths.
We're gonna pause after the exhalation.
We'll do this for a few moments.
So we're gonna inhale,
Feel the belly expand,
And then a nice long exhalation.
We'll do this together.
So on your next inhale breath,
Inhale into the abdomen,
Ribs,
Chest.
Notice as three spaces expand and exhale chest,
Ribs,
Abdomen contract.
Nice long slow breaths like that with the exhalation a little bit longer than the inhalation.
So again inhale abdomen,
Rib cage,
Chest expand and exhale chest,
Rib cage,
Abdomen contract.
Nice long slow breaths like that.
And once you find a rhythm,
Pause a little bit after the exhale.
So at the end of the exhale create a little pause,
Maybe just one or two seconds.
So inhalations,
Abdomen,
Rib cage,
Chest expand.
Exhalation,
Chest,
Rib cage,
Abdomen contract.
Gentle pause at the end of the exhale.
And we'll sit with that breath for another minute or two.
The mind starts to let that breath simply go for now.
Notice yourself relaxed,
Sitting on the floor,
Chair,
Couch,
Wherever you may be.
And next we'll watch our breath come down the front of the spine and find that awareness just below our pelvic floor.
So inhaling through the nose,
Watch the breath come down the front of the spine and imagine you're breathing into an area just below your pelvic floor.
Maybe even visualize a circular orb-like shape just below the pelvic floor in that space.
And then exhale out of the nose.
So it doesn't have to be a really lengthened breath.
Just simply inhale all the way down.
Mind sits in that orb for just a second.
And then exhale all the way up the spine,
Back out the nose.
And whatever pace is comfortable for the breath is fine.
We're gonna sit with that practice,
Find that practice for just a couple of minutes.
Inhale to the root to that orb and exhale.
And if your mind starts to want to inhale down to the root,
Exhale out of the nose.
Just a few more moments.
And now we'll simply inhale the front of the spine and as we exhale follow the breath all the way up the front of the spine through the upper palate,
Through the third eye area and out the crown of the head.
And imagine that breath going right above your head.
And pause after the exhale there and simply inhale down the front of the spine.
So for each exhalation,
Watch the breath move up the front of the spine,
Out the crown of the head and find your mind's eye,
An area just above your head,
That your mind will easily sit with.
Again you can maybe even visualize that circular orb-like shape.
So one more time,
Inhaling all the way down and then exhaling up the spine,
Out the top of the head and simply pausing with that awareness for a moment.
Right above the crown of the head.
And we'll sit with this practice for a moment or two.
Beautiful.
And now we'll allow the mind to connect to the root and the crown.
So as you breathe in,
Just as you did before,
All the way down the spine to the root.
As you exhale,
Follow the breath out the top of the head as you've been doing to the crown.
So that's our practice.
Breathing down to the root and exhaling real gently,
Following the breath up the spine and out the crown.
And you can sit going back and forth like that until you'd like to try to do both at the same time.
So let's just try that together for a moment.
Let the breath go and simply allow the awareness to sit at the root and the crown simultaneously.
And if you can stay with that awareness,
Simply stay as long as that is possible for you.
And if you find that challenging,
Simply go to breathing down to the root and exhaling all the way to the crown of the head.
You can do that for some time and then try it again,
Root and crown simultaneously.
And that is our practice today.
We're gonna sit like this for a few minutes.
Then I'll cue you when it's time to come out.
Simultaneously,
Root and crown are breathing back and forth between those two spaces.
Please return to your spine breath.
Inhaling down to the pelvic floor,
Exhaling up to the top of your head,
The crown of your head.
And let's take a few breaths like this.
Inhaling down,
Exhaling up,
Inhaling down,
Exhaling up.
And a couple more breaths on your own timing,
Allowing the spine breath to bring you back into your body.
Let's bring our palms together in front of our hearts,
Bowing to the oneness that connects us all and our heart.
Namaste.
