Welcome to this Breathing Retreat where we will practice the Centering and Cleansing Durga Breath.
Hello,
I'm Paul McCann and thank you for joining me today.
One of the oldest styles of meditation is to focus on the breath.
So to help us practice this we will first ground ourselves into our body.
So start by getting yourself completely comfortable.
You can be either in a seated position or lying down,
And preferably you've not eaten for a few hours.
You can pause this recording while you settle into your space.
So now,
Feel the ground beneath your feet,
Your legs,
Your pelvis.
If you're lying down,
Feel the earth beneath your back and your head,
Allowing the ground to fully support you.
And just noticing how you feel through your lower body,
Through your feet and legs.
Just noticing without judgment,
Allowing it all to be present.
Noticing your pelvis and lower back,
Becoming aware of your kidney area,
Relaxing and letting go as you move through into your mid-back,
Into your upper belly,
Your ribs and chest.
Noticing your upper back,
Allowing your shoulders to relax and let go,
Allowing your arms to relax.
Noticing your neck and your throat,
Letting go through into your jaw,
Allowing your tongue and the roof of your mouth to relax.
Great.
So now you've relaxed and opened all the way from your pelvic floor to the roof of your mouth.
And now just take a moment to check in with how you're feeling,
Noticing without judgment.
And now moving your attention to your breath,
Without changing anything about it,
Just notice where you're breathing,
Feeling the sensations of the breath.
Now moving your attention down to your pelvis and lower back and lower abdomen,
Below your navel area.
And just noticing what's here and letting go of any tension that you might feel.
Then moving your focus to your lower ribs and your diaphragm,
Deep into your kidneys and your upper abdomen area.
Notice how you're feeling here and letting go of tension.
Then moving your focus to your upper chest and ribs,
All the way up to your clavicles.
Notice how you're feeling through this area,
Through your lungs and your heart.
Now let's take our focus back down to the pelvic floor,
Lower back and lower abdomen.
And take a nice,
Easy,
Longer breath deep into this area,
Without forcing it.
See your breath filling your pelvic bowl,
Lower back,
And then relaxing on the out-breath.
And start to repeat this breathing pattern deep into this area,
In your own time,
At your own pace.
There's no need to rush or to force,
Just stay comfortable with your breath.
Great.
Now we bring our breath and attention to the area of our upper abdomen,
In our kidneys and our lower ribs and diaphragm.
So feel the breath expanding this area now,
Without force.
You might notice the ribs flaring to the sides.
So just taking a few moments now to breathe into this area.
Nice slow,
Relaxed breath in,
And then an easy letting go on the out-breath.
Okay,
Let's finally bring our attention and breath to the upper chest,
Right up under the clavicles.
So feel your breath filling your lungs and your upper chest,
Noticing your ribs moving.
So take a few slow breaths into this area,
In your own time.
The chest expands in all directions,
To the front,
The sides,
And the back.
Great.
Now let's connect these three areas into one slow breath in,
Starting deep into your pelvic bowl,
Gently filling it with your breath,
Then up through your kidneys and lower ribs,
And finishing right up at the top of your chest,
Under your clavicles.
Then releasing the breath in reverse,
Starting at the top of your chest,
Moving down through the diaphragm,
Kidneys,
And finishing by emptying the pelvis.
So repeating this process now,
In your own time,
Following the guidance of your body and its own capacity.
A gentle,
Slow,
Deep breath into the pelvis without force,
Followed by the diaphragm,
The lower ribs,
Finishing in the upper chest,
And then letting go on the out-breath in reverse.
Continuing with this full dirge of breath,
Gently and slowly without force.
Seeing and feeling the breath enter all parts of your torso,
From your sinuses,
All the way through to the pelvic floor,
Drawing in that prana,
Or life force energy.
So complete two full rounds of this purifying dirge of breath,
And now letting go of any control over your breath,
Allowing your body to guide your breath now.
Your body knows exactly what it needs,
So just allow your body to breathe itself.
As you breathe,
See the prana like a light entering and filling your entire body now.
See it and feel it cleansing and revitalizing every cell in every part of your body.
I'll give you a few moments now to bathe in this restorative energy that you've created.
So now gently coming back to the room,
Sensing your body.
You might like to start to gently move,
And when you're ready,
Open your eyes.
Noticing your surroundings.
When your eyes are open,
Just take a few moments before you rise and get on with your day.
Thank you for joining me,
And Namaste.
