Welcome to Om Kali Yoga.
My name is Chyna and this is your invitation to journey into the flow.
Namaste.
I honor the highest in you.
Here at Om Kali Yoga,
We're focused on beginner's Vinyasa flow.
Happy Yoga Day.
This year's International Day of Yoga is focused on a theme of yoga for well-being.
This is super important as we continue to get through the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a lot of us are struggling with a sense of groundedness,
Ease,
And presence,
I want to offer you today a brief pranayama practice,
A breathing practice called Kapalabhati.
This translates from Sanskrit into the skull shining breath.
On a subtle energetic level,
This practice benefits the Brow Chakra,
The third eye,
Or what we call the Agna.
This pranayama will allow us to enjoy a sense of clarity and a sense of releasing any obstacles.
So a sense of clarity,
Releasing any outworn,
Outdated judgments,
Releasing anything that produces tension in our mind on a mental level.
So from a comfortable seated position with a long straight spine and relaxed soft shoulders,
Close the eyes and take a few clearing breaths.
Find a steady relaxed flow with the breath where you're not trying too hard to control the breathing.
This practice is all about passively inhaling the breath and then forcefully,
Actively exhaling the breath for a few continued cycles.
Without any sense of strain,
But forcefulness,
Almost like a sneeze or a cough.
So again,
That's a deep inhale pushing the belly out and a forceful exhalation feeling the abdomen contract rapidly.
So let's get into it.
Inhale,
Filling the belly with air softly.
For the next few rounds of Kapalabhati Skull Shining Breath,
I'll continue to clap to guide you through the cycles of exhalation.
And when I stop clapping,
You can relax and then take another deep inhalation,
Filling the belly with breath again.
Inhale.
Inhale.
Inhale.
Inhale.
Now I invite you to relax,
Release any tension and come back to a regulated,
Easy sense of breath,
Releasing any control over the breath.
Just find a flow.
Find a connection to the breath.
Watch the breath.
Feel it rise and fall.
Feel it flowing through the body like a breeze through a window,
Clearing out anything old,
Anything stagnant,
Anything unnecessary.
And from your comfortable seated position,
I invite you,
With the eyes closed,
To extend forward,
Bringing the torso between the knees into Child's Pose,
Balasana.
Turning the palms upward in a gesture of offering and receptivity with the forehead to the earth,
Brow Chakra,
Third Eye Chakra,
Agna Chakra,
Touching the earth,
Establishing a point of connection between the groundedness and stability of the earth beneath us and our own judgment,
Our command center,
Our own sense of perception.
And in this moment as we breathe here in Child's Pose,
We offer up anything from our judgment,
Anything from our mental energy,
Anything from our third eye center that we feel ready to release at this time.
And also,
In this gesture,
We open ourselves and allow ourselves to receive anything that we may need from this point of connection to the earth,
From this point of connection to our practice in this moment,
Anything that we feel we may need to be open to allow ourselves to breathe in,
To take in,
To create a deeper sense of ease,
Release,
Freedom at this point in time.
Relax here for a few more breaths.
And from Child's Pose,
Come back to a seated position,
Pray your hands to heart center.
Namaste.
