Welcome!
My name is Antonia and today's pranayama is a set of introductory breathing exercises that are safe for anyone to practice.
Kriya means action,
So these are eight actions to help calm the mind and purify the body.
They are especially helpful to prepare the mind for meditation.
Two types of breathing methods are used in these exercises,
Chest breath and abdominal breath.
In a chest breath,
The chest fully expands on the inhale while the abdomen pulls in slightly.
In an abdominal breath,
The abdomen pushes forward on the inhale as though breathing directly into it without fully expanding the chest.
So find a comfortable seat in a chair or any meditation posture.
Keep your head,
Neck and back tall but relaxed so that energy can ascend to your higher chakras.
Close your eyes or keep a soft gaze,
Whichever is most comfortable to you.
And let's take a couple of deep breaths.
Breathe in deeply through your nose and exhale out through your mouth.
Let's do two more of these.
Take a deep inhale through your nose and breathe it all out.
Inhale all the way in and gently release.
Return to your natural rhythm and start focusing on your breath.
Follow it all the way in and all the way out.
Let's begin.
Kriya one.
This is a chest breath.
Inhale slowly and gently through the nose,
Fully expanding the chest while pulling the abdomen in slightly.
Exhale slowly and gently through the nose,
Relaxing the chest and abdomen as you breathe out.
Pull the abdomen in slightly to complete the exhale.
This is a chest breath.
In through the nose,
Out through the nose.
Do this five times after which you can return to your natural breath.
Begin when you're ready.
Kriya two.
This is also a chest breath.
Inhale slowly and gently through the nose,
Fully expanding the chest.
The abdomen will pull in slightly.
Exhale slowly and gently through a partially open mouth.
This is a chest breath.
In through the nose,
Out through the mouth.
Do this five times.
Begin when you're ready.
Kriya two.
This is a chest breath.
In through the nose,
Out through the mouth.
Once you've completed your five rounds,
Return to your natural breath.
Kriya three.
This is an abdominal breath.
Inhale slowly and gently through the mouth,
Lips slightly parted.
As you inhale,
Gradually push the abdomen outward as though you're filling it with air.
The chest,
However,
Does not fully expand.
Exhale slowly and gently through the nose,
Pulling the abdomen in slightly.
This is an abdominal breath.
In through the mouth,
Out through the nose.
Do this five times.
Begin when you're ready.
Kriya four.
Once you've completed your five rounds,
Return to your natural breath.
Kriya four.
This is a chest breath with alternate nostril breathing.
Using your right hand,
Close off the right nostril with the thumb and inhale slowly and deeply through the left nostril into the chest,
Slightly pulling in the abdomen.
At the top of the breath,
Lift the thumb and close off the left nostril with the ring finger.
Exhale slowly through the right nostril.
This is a chest breath with circular breathing in through the left nostril,
Out to the right.
Repeat five times.
Begin when you're ready.
Kriya four.
This is a chest breath with alternate nostril breathing.
Once you've completed your five rounds,
Return to your natural breath.
Kriya five.
A chest breath with alternate nostril breathing in the opposite direction.
This time,
Close off the left nostril with your right ring finger and inhale slowly and deeply through the right nostril.
This time,
Close off the left nostril with your right ring finger and inhale slowly and deeply through the right nostril.
At the top of the breath,
Switch nostrils and exhale slowly through the left nostril.
This is a chest breath,
Circular breathing in through the right nostril,
Out through the left.
Repeat five times.
Begin when you're ready.
Kriya four.
Once you've completed your five rounds,
Return to your natural breath.
Kriya six.
This is an abdominal breath beginning with an exhale.
Start with some air in your lungs and exhale slowly and gently through the nose,
Completely emptying the lungs.
The abdomen pulls in.
Let the inhale come as a reflex,
A normal moderate inhale through the nose as you release the abdomen.
This is an abdominal breath.
Exhale through the nose and reflexively inhale through the nose.
Do this five times.
Begin when you're ready.
Kriya six.
Once you've completed your five rounds,
Return to your natural breaths.
Breathe in through the mouth,
Out through the mouth.
Repeat five times and begin when you're ready.
Breathe in through the mouth,
Out through the mouth.
Breathe in through the mouth,
Out through the mouth.
Once you've completed your five rounds,
Return to your natural breath.
Kriya Eight.
This is a chest breath.
Inhale fully into the chest through the nose,
Taking five equal sips of air.
On the fifth sip,
The chest should be fully expanded and the abdomen pulled in slightly.
Exhale slowly and gently through the mouth.
This is a chest breath.
In through the nose and five equal sips.
Exhale through the mouth.
Do this five times.
Begin when you're ready.
Breathe in through the mouth,
Out through the mouth.
Once you've completed your five rounds,
Return to your natural breath and take a few moments to observe the effects of this practice on your mind and body.
The strike of the bowl will signal the completion of our pranayama together.
Whenever it feels comfortable to you,
You can slowly open your eyes.
Thank you for joining me for today's pranayama svasayam or the eight kriyas.
From here,
Feel free to move into meditation or just simply spend a few minutes in shavasana.
Whatever you decide,
I hope this breathwork has helped calm your mind and that this calm will carry into the rest of your day.
