Equal Ratio Breathing Meditation

Hi,

This is Chris Muska.

I'm here with a meditation for you.

This is a breathwork meditation or pranayama meditation in Sanskrit from the yoga tradition.

All you need is your comfortable meditation cushion or seat and you can be in a relaxing environment.

This meditation too can also be done lying down if you're ever doing this and feeling a little tired or fatigued from the day.

We'll be looking at the breath in its four parts.

This breathing practice is called Sam fritti or equal movement breathing.

We'll look at the breath like a square.

If we start at the bottom right corner,

We'll inhale up the top to the top of the right edge and then we'll hold our breath for an equal count across the very top edge going down from the left corner on the exhale down the left edge meeting at the bottom left corner and we'll hold empty on that exhale for an equal count as we move across the bottom edge of the square back to the bottom right corner of the square.

So hopefully that description can create a little visual for the meditation.

I find that helps me especially when I was learning this technique years ago.

This is a practice that I have used consistently for years as just a foundational meditation tool to bring me into a practice.

We'll do the practice for nine rounds together then we'll meditate in silence and we'll do the breathing practice again near the end for another six rounds of practice.

When meditating with this practice with this breathing technique after you learn it and would like to do it on your own,

I would suggest starting with nine rounds and then as you're meditating anytime you feel that your mind wanders you can go back to this technique.

Even in practice today in the time that I leave a little bit silent or quiet between the the two periods of technique you're welcome to go and do one or two rounds as you feel if your mind is being quite busy during that period of silence together.

I'll describe that technique one more time before we fully start.

So we'll start with an inhale at the bottom right corner of a square and we'll inhale for a count of four.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four to the top right corner.

Hold our breath for a count of four across the top edge.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four to the top left corner of the square.

Then on the exhale we'll move down the bottom that will move down the left edge of the square.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four to the bottom left corner.

Now we'll hold the exhale across the bottom edge.

One,

Two,

Three,

Four.

Returning back to that corner.

I won't describe the square in when we start meditating but that's just to offer you a little bit of a visual.

You could even write that down to memorize or understand understand or hold this technique more in your mind.

So let's begin if you're not already in your comfortable seat.

Here's your time to form your seat.

Anchoring your pelvis down,

Legs cross or kneeling.

Palms resting on the mid thighs pushing down just slightly to help lift up under the armpits to the ceiling.

The ears reach tall as your chin is slightly tucked.

Take a few just settling breaths allowing it to get a little deeper.

You need some exhale for tension relief.

Have an exhale or two out through your mouth.

While we do this meditation as the eyes are closed notice more of the open space in your mind as you are applying the breath technique.

Giving our mind this real chance to disperse out from its tension so the thoughts that clutter our mind and actually equalize or harmonize where then they're not so crowded or cluttered or so much grabbing in attention enabling us to observe our mind from a more calm place.

Take a short exhale as we begin and now inhale one two three four hold one two three four exhale one two three four hold empty one two three four inhale one two three four hold one two three four exhale one two three four hold empty one two three four inhale one two three four hold one two three four exhale one two three four hold empty one two three four inhale one two three four hold one two three four exhale one two three four hold empty one two three four inhale one two three four hold one two three four exhale one two three four hold empty one two three four inhale one two three four hold one two three four exhale one two three four hold empty one two three four three more rounds inhale one two three four hold one two three four exhale one two three hold empty one two three four inhale one two three four hold one two three four exhale one two three four hold empty one two three four last round inhale one two three four hold one two three four exhale one two three four hold empty one two three four inhale exhale sit tall check in with your posture lift in the heart can you notice more of that open field of your mind in Sanskrit we call this the chit Akash chit meaning mind thought and Akash meaning space so thought space mind space conscious space giving us an opportunity to be in presence more of a clearer open mind there's still movement there's always going to be movement and stay with just a gentle inhale and exhale see if you can find a center point in that vastness and gaze into it behind the island Ooh,

That's meaty.

And just like the breath that rises and falls,

Fills up and releases,

So too does our mind space.

The point of meditation is not to sit into a complete emptiness of our mind,

But to observe the mind rather than be in movement or riding all the waves that fill the mind space or the thought space.

And so when we're in meditation and our mind gets busy,

It's then the point of meditation to notice the busier mind,

The fluctuating mind,

And to bring harmony back to it through our breath,

Through our ability to sit as a conscious observer of our mind space.

And that's come to our attention.

Our remaining six rounds of that Sambritti equal ratio breathing practice we've been doing to guide us into the ending portion of our practice.

Let's again check in with that posture.

Ground down to sit tall.

Let's take an exhale and let's begin.

Inhale 1,

2,

3,

4.

Hold 1,

2,

3,

4.

Exhale 1,

2,

3,

4.

Hold empty 1,

2,

3,

4.

Inhale 1,

2,

3,

4.

Hold 1,

2,

3,

4.

Exhale 1,

2,

3,

4.

Hold empty 1,

2,

3,

4.

Inhale 1,

2,

3,

4.

Hold 1,

2,

3,

4.

Exhale 1,

2,

3,

4.

Hold empty 1,

2,

3,

4.

Inhale 1,

2,

3,

4.

Hold 1,

2,

3,

4.

Exhale 1,

2,

3,

4.

Hold empty 1,

2,

3,

4.

Last round.

Inhale 1,

2,

3,

4.

Hold 1,

2,

3,

4.

Exhale 1,

2,

3,

4.

Hold empty 1,

2,

3,

4.

Inhale,

Exhale sitting tall.

Observing the open space.

And it's here where we can sit with ourself and we can see what illuminates our ability to observe our mind space which is the light of our heart,

The sacred flame of our heart,

The energy center,

The pulse of the heart.

And so when we're in a clear mind,

We can hold that light of the heart higher in ourself and stronger which enables us to act,

Think,

Feel,

And operate more optimally,

More in tune with our higher self.

Enjoy these last few moments of this meditation.

And bring your breath deep in,

Bringing you up more to your external watcher and watches and interprets all the things around you,

Your top level self,

Your surface self.

Bringing our palms together and with a smile on our face,

Let's rub our palms together to create some nice friction between those palms.

And when those hands are nice and warm,

Place them over the eyes,

Taking a moment.

On your exhale,

You can let the hands slide down the face,

The mouth,

The throat,

Past the heart,

Back palm to palm together.

And bowing down to yourself with gratitude,

With honor,

And bowing down to that sacred flame of your heart that illuminates your ability to see yourself within and then to see the world externally.

And much gratitude and respect always to Mother Earth,

Our foundation of life.

Thank you for meditating with me.