Begin to arrange your body into a comfortable position,
Whether that's upright or laying down,
Just a place that would actually feel good.
Once you're there,
You can close your eyes,
Start to turn your gaze inwards,
And find your breath.
Start to connect with your breath,
Feel your breath travel into your body,
And follow the breath on its pathway out of your body.
Notice those short little natural pauses at the top of your inhale and at the bottom of your exhale.
Notice how it feels to consciously breathe.
Today we will work with an ujjayi breath,
Which is a breath word commonly used in the practice of yoga,
But we can utilize its calming effects in meditation as well.
To do ujjayi breath,
It involves a slight constriction in the back of your throat.
To tap into that sensation,
Take a really deep breath in through your nose,
And as you breathe out,
Exhale out your mouth like you're trying to fog up a mirror.
Try that again,
A really deep inhale in,
Big exhale out of the mouth.
Now we'll do the same thing,
But with the mouth closed.
Take a deep breath in.
As you exhale,
Create that same sensation,
That slight constriction in the back of your throat as you breathe out,
Creating a very subtle,
Whispery sound on the exhale.
Continue to breathe in this audible way.
Being able to listen to the sound of our own breath starts to switch on our parasympathetic nervous system,
Our relaxation response.
Keep the muscles of your face relaxed.
Keep your shoulders dropping down away from your ears.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Feeling your inhale,
Listening for your exhale.
Breathing into this calm space for as long as you'd like to.
Namaste.
