Relieving grief and sadness based on traditional Chinese medicine,
Working on our lungs.
And we begin our practice by chanting three times OM.
I will demonstrate first and after that you follow suit.
You breathe in through the nose.
OM Breathing in through the nose and chant OM three times.
If you need more time please pause this recording.
If you have finished check your posture.
Notice how you are sitting.
Straighten your back,
Chin slightly tucked towards the chest.
Crown of the head pointing upwards.
Notice how you are feeling.
Notice the state of your mind.
And then focus on your normal breath.
Working on the lungs we will be doing a lot of breathing exercises.
Relieving grief and sadness.
Creating space for courage and righteousness.
And we start with a beautiful side stretch.
Taking the right hand towards the ceiling,
Stretching that right arm.
First upwards and then across over the head to the left.
Try to feel the stretch on the right side of the body,
Especially the upper right side where the lungs are located.
And make sure you are breathing comfortably.
If breathing is difficult just pull out a little bit.
And then coming to center releasing the arm.
Other side.
Left hand towards the ceiling,
Stretching upwards and then over to the right side.
Make sure you are breathing.
And release.
Notice how you are feeling,
Particularly in the upper chest,
The lung area.
As we divide our lungs in three different compartments.
Lower lungs under the heart.
Middle lungs across the heart and the breasts.
Upper lungs,
The top part.
And in your own tempo you are going to breathe in to the lower part first.
You may hold or keep a flow,
Breathing in to that middle part.
Hold or keep going,
Breathing in to the upper part.
And then release through the mouth.
In your own tempo do this breathing three times.
And make sure you are breathing comfortably throughout all these practices.
Thank you.
If you have not finished kindly pause this recording and continue the free breath.
If you have finished we are now going to reverse.
So we are going to breathe in normally and then breathe out first from that lower part of the lungs.
We may pause or continue breathing the air out through the middle lungs.
Pause or flow towards the upper lungs.
Again three times.
If you have finished just return to normal breathing.
Notice what your breath is feeling like as we wait for others to complete their cycles.
Pause And as I mentioned lungs are associated with grief and sadness as well as holding grudges.
So take a moment to do some free flow thinking to reflect on any feelings of grief,
Deep sadness or any grudges you may be holding.
Pause If you get distracted if the mind is throwing in other thoughts you may either follow this lead if you feel there is something else to reflect on.
Or return your attention to a feeling of grief,
A sadness or a grudge that you feel you need to spend some time with.
Pause We complete this meditation by making the releasing sound.
Relieving our lungs.
Relieving grief,
Sadness or grudges.
Creating space for feelings of courage and righteousness.
And the sound is like the hissing of a snake.
Depending on where you are and how you feel you may want to make the sound just once.
A couple of times or just continuous I will give you around one and a half to two minutes.
If you finished making the sounds just focus on your normal breathing.
As I demonstrate the sound first.
Normal inhale through the nose.
And making the sound on your exhales.
For as many times as you like.
Go ahead.
Pause Last couple more.
And then you let go of the sound.
Notice how you are feeling.
Particularly in the upper chest.
If you feel you would like to work more on your lungs there are many lifestyle adaptations you can make to help them,
Support them,
Strengthen them.
And obviously this includes any meditation and breathing exercises.
But also something like early morning walks,
Breathing in the fresh morning air.
Thank you for joining.
Namaste.
