This practice is a traditional breath-led relaxation often called the 75-Breath Practice Shitali Karana.
It's used as a pathway into Yoga Nidra,
A bridge that settles the nervous system and gathers awareness before Nidra begins.
As the breath flows,
Prana naturally shifts.
On the exhale,
Prana settles downward,
Releasing and grounding.
On the inhale,
We replenish and clarify.
This smooth circuit helps balance the ida and pingalanadis and organizes the pranic field so attention collects naturally.
Keep the breath gentle and unforced,
Attending to the movement of prana more than the volume of air or forced breathing.
Let the attention rest in that current.
We begin.
As the body feels heavy in savasana,
Imagine you're lying in a quiet meadow.
The grass is tall and the light is warm.
Sense a soft wind moving through the meadow and allow the breath to be effortless.
Feel back into the earth.
Feel the heart open and at ease.
Breathe in and out gently and smoothly at least five times here.
As the breath allows you to settle deeper,
Bring your awareness to the crown of your head.
With the next exhalation,
Breathe as if your breath is a gentle wave traveling down to your toes.
As you breathe out,
The breath empties you.
With the inhalation,
Travel from the toes back to the crown of the head,
Allowing the breath to fill and nourish you.
Let your awareness and your breath travel back down to the toes as you exhale and then travel back to the crown with each inhale.
Slow and smooth,
Unbroken like a stream.
Continue breathing to the toes for a total of 10 breaths and then back to the crown with each breath.
Let the breath empty you out gently and let the breath gather and rise at the crown.
Now exhale down to the ankle joint.
Inhale back to the crown of the head.
Again here for 10 rounds.
Allow the breath to empty you and allow the breath to return upward clear and continuous.
Fine and subtle back down to the ankle joint.
Now bring your awareness,
Your breath into the crown of the head and exhale,
Travel down to the knees.
Breathe back and forth between these two points for a total of 10 breaths.
Notice the whole pathway.
Now exhale down to the floor of the pelvis,
The root center,
And inhale back into the crown.
This time breathe back and forth for a total of five breaths.
The breath empties as it flows out,
Fills you as it flows in.
Smooth and relaxed,
Continue to watch that current.
Now moving your exhale down into the navel center and inhale back into the crown of the head.
Here we move for a total of five breaths,
Keeping the breath effortless,
Keeping the awareness subtle and refined.
Now moving the breath,
The awareness into the heart center.
Brown for five rounds,
Keeping the pathway the same,
Keeping the awareness unbroken.
Now moving your exhale into the throat center.
Here we breathe five times,
Releasing tension from the voice,
Releasing tension from the mind,
Connecting these two layers as you inhale and as you exhale again.
Now traveling from the crown down into the eyebrow center.
The entire dome of your head is emptied as you breathe out and then filled as you breathe in.
Breathe five times here,
Steady and smooth.
Release any need to force or push.
Now we travel for 20 breaths from the crown of the head to the point at the base of the nostrils.
Inhale back to the eyebrow center.
Now travel back and forth between these points.
The base of the nose,
Noticing this small loop,
This prana here.
You refine your breath and flow without effort.
Again,
Keeping the pathway each time.
Place your awareness in the movement of the breath and let the currents balance as you breathe.
Now begin to notice the body in deep rest here without drifting into sleep.
Just witness.
Nowhere to go,
Nothing to be done.
Become the witness.
This will complete the 75 breaths.
Now inhale back to the crown of the head and exhale down the eyebrow center for two breaths.
Then exhale down to the throat center and back to the crown for one breath.
Allow your energy to refresh here.
Exhale into the heart center.
Breathe into the navel center.
Exhale at the base of the spine,
The root.
Exhale,
Breathe down into the knees.
Breathe into the ankles.
Then finally exhale all the way into the toes.
Allow all the sensations you feel,
The prana,
To fill the space.
Your body space,
Your mind space,
Your heart space.
We seal these moments together with one deep inhale.
