Welcome to this morning meditation for stress and anxiety.
Today's practice begins with Kapalabhati,
The breath of fire,
Which is stimulating,
Cleansing,
It has a heating effect,
It expands the lung capacity and clears toxins.
It's an excellent way of starting the morning.
We perform Kapalabhati,
Breath of fire,
By drawing in our abdomen as we forcefully breathe out through the nose.
We allow the inhalation to take care of itself,
But if at any time you feel lightheaded or uncomfortable,
Just return to normal diaphragmatic breathing.
So take a posture,
A seated posture,
Where you can sit with a tall spine and let's take an inhale together to prepare,
And exhale.
Let's inhale again,
And exhale.
So in this first round we'll do 25 breaths.
Let's breathe in for breath of fire,
And we begin.
Draw in the abdomen on each exhalation,
So we're using the abdominal muscles like bellows to expel the toxins from the lungs.
Excellent.
Take a deep breath in,
And as you breathe out allow it to escape naturally,
And then hold for 10 seconds.
Three,
Two,
One.
Take a relaxed breath in without snatching at the air,
And breathe out and relax.
Breathe naturally,
Diaphragmatically,
And on our next round of breath of fire we'll do 50 breaths.
Let's take a breath in together,
And breathe out,
And in our next breath we do Kabbalah Bhati.
Breathing in,
And gently allowing the air to escape from the nose,
And we hold for 15 seconds.
Three,
Two,
One.
Try to inhale smoothly without snatching at the air,
And return to normal breathing.
Maybe you're starting to feel the warmth,
The feeling of heating within the body,
Maybe a little bit more spacious within the body.
Let's do one more round.
Let's breathe in together,
And breathe out.
This time 75 breaths.
Prepare for Kabbalah Bhati.
Breathing in,
And breathing in together,
And breathing out.
Allow the air to naturally flow out,
And we hold for up to 20 seconds.
Holding the breath,
And breathing in,
Trying not to snatch at the air.
Controlled breathing,
Diaphragmatic breathing,
And now for the next two minutes we're just going to sit in a relaxed meditative state,
Feeling into the surroundings around us,
Not becoming attached,
And remaining with our inner world,
Our inner sensations,
Just being.
Allowing any thoughts that come into the mind to simply come and go.
Allowing any areas of tension in the body to relax,
To simply melt.
Allow any tension in the face to melt,
Any tension in the hands to melt.
If your mind begins to wander,
That is okay,
It is all part of the practice.
We use our pranayama to bring us back into a meditative state,
And that's what we'll do now by using Samavritti,
Box breathing,
Which is used to help relieve stress and anxiety.
We will use a count of five seconds inhale,
Five seconds hold,
Five seconds exhale,
Five seconds hold.
So let's take a breath in together,
And exhale.
Now breathe in,
Hold,
Breathe out,
And hold.
Breathe in,
Breathe out,
Breathe in,
And hold,
Breathe out,
And hold.
Breathe in,
And hold,
Breathe out,
And hold.
Breathe in,
And hold,
Breathe out,
And hold.
Last cycle,
Breathe in,
And hold,
Breathe out,
And hold.
Wonderful.
And now for the next two minutes,
Just relax into your meditative state.
Tall spine,
Relaxed body.
Breathing relaxed,
No effort,
Just being in your space.
Awareness turned inwards without effort.
And if your mind starts to wander,
Again that's okay.
Just come back to an anchor point of your inner being,
Your breath,
Perhaps feeling the breath come in through the nostrils,
And following the breath.
Where does it go?
Now we'll prepare for our final pranayama practice,
Pramari,
Bee breathing,
Which is used to reduce stress.
It's being shown to lower blood pressure,
And to help relieve hypertension.
We do bee breathing by breathing in through the nose,
And making a bee sound at the back of our throat.
The key to this practice is that we will breathe in through the nose for four,
Perhaps five seconds,
And we will make the bee sound for 10 seconds.
If that is too long for you,
You work at the timings that keep you in a comfortable and meditative space.
We will do six rounds.
I will do the first two rounds with you,
So you hear the sound,
And then I'll allow you to do the last four alone.
Let's take a breath in to prepare,
And breathing out,
Breathing in,
Breathing in,
And channel your inner bee,
Breathing in,
And making your bee sound at the back of your throat.
Breathing in,
Last cycle,
And making your bee sound.
Excellent.
Now for the final two minutes of your practice.
Again,
Achieve that state of being,
Not wanting,
Not striving,
Not worrying.
Everything is as it should be,
And you are more than capable of fulfilling the tasks ahead of you,
Allowing your consciousness to sink deeper into itself,
Allowing the eyes to sink deeper into the head,
Allowing the spine to support you as all your soft tissue,
All your worries,
All your doubts,
Just drip and melt into the earth.
Maybe they vaporize like smoke,
Disappearing out into the ether.
Just let it go,
Nothing to hold onto,
Nothing to cling on to,
Nothing worthy,
More than strong enough,
More than capable.
I thank you for joining me in today's practice,
And feel free to come back and join me again.
Have a wonderful,
Invigorating,
And energized day.
