Hello and welcome to this spine-centered breath meditation practice.
It's a great practice to come back to if you feel you need some grounding in life,
If you feel like you need a sense of clearing.
So if you haven't already,
Go ahead and find a comfortable position.
You can be seated or laying down.
If you choose to sit on the floor,
Consider sitting up on something,
Just to give your spine and your hips a bit more space.
And let yourself get comfortable.
Let your eyes grow heavy and either find a vague spot on the floor,
Or if it's comfortable,
Let your eyes close all the way down.
Let the weight of your body sink into whatever it is that supports you.
If you've practiced with me before,
You know I focus a lot on the breath.
But have you observed outside of this practice,
If you spend much time noticing your breath?
Or does it seem mundane every day?
We can't live without our breath.
We need the flow of oxygen in,
Carbon dioxide out,
To maintain function and stasis in our bodies.
That alone doesn't mean we have to notice or be with our breath.
After all,
It will keep going on its own.
It doesn't need us to be with it to sustain us.
Clearing the mind and grounding ourselves in the present are great reasons to be with the breath.
But there's another that goes deeper.
There's another reason to be with our breath.
A reason that connects us to our soul,
To the deepest parts of our being,
To who we are at our core.
It's called prana.
If we turn to yoga asana to find a reflection of the way we move through life,
We turn to pranayama to find a connection to the energy that moves us through life.
So let your awareness,
Let your attention rest now on the normal,
Natural rhythm and flow of your breath.
Notice how it feels.
What does it feel like to be breathing in this moment?
Can you be with your breath all the way from the beginning of an inhale to the end of the exhale?
Without effort or force,
Simply notice what your breath is doing all on its own.
As you continue to notice your breath,
Notice as it begins to deepen,
Slow,
Steady.
The ancient Vedic text,
The Upanishads,
Tells the story of the five senses,
The faculties of our nature.
There was sight,
Hearing,
Speech,
The mind,
And the breath,
Or prana.
One day the senses were arguing amongst themselves,
Each insisting it was the most important of the five.
To resolve the dispute,
They decided each would leave the body,
In turn,
To see whose absence was missed most.
Speech left first.
Yet despite his absence,
The body continued to flourish,
Though it was mute.
Next,
The eye left.
The body flourished,
Though it was blind.
Then the ear left.
Still the body flourished,
Though it was deaf.
Next,
The mind left.
Yet still the body lived on,
Though it was now unconscious.
Finally,
As the breath,
Or prana,
Was beginning to leave,
The body began to die,
The other senses rapidly losing their life force.
So they all rushed to prana,
Admitted it was indeed the most important of the five,
And begged it to stay.
Even when we lose ourselves,
Our breath is still there,
Waiting for us to come back,
To come home to ourselves,
Waiting for us to notice the reminder,
Notice the signs that it's trying to send us.
Many ancient traditions,
Including yoga and Ayurveda,
Have a life force philosophy.
Soul,
Spirit,
Aura,
Prana.
Whatever you call it,
It comes down to the same thing.
Life force.
This energy,
The energy behind every living being,
The energy behind the universe,
The energy of creation,
Can be summed up as breath.
It's a vast oversimplification,
But it gives us something to hold on to,
Something to focus on,
Since prana is unseen,
Unknown,
Intangible.
And though prana isn't exactly breath,
We can tune into our own prana,
Our own soul,
The innermost core of our being,
When we focus on and watch our breath.
So if you've lost it,
Come back to your breath.
Come back to noticing and observing your natural flow of inhale to exhale,
Exhale to inhale.
As you notice and observe your breath,
Begin to pay special attention to your inhale.
Notice how your inhale fills your lungs,
Your body.
Notice where you feel your inhale move in your body.
Notice the temperature of your inhale,
The depth and breadth,
The length of your inhale.
Focus on your inhale for all that it is.
This is the first of the five pranas,
Pranavayu.
Pranavayu literally translates as forward-moving air.
Pranavayu governs the things we take in,
Our senses,
Mental experiences,
Eating and drinking.
It's propulsive in nature,
Setting things in motion and guiding them.
It provides the basic energy that drives us in life.
So as you continue to follow your breath,
Imagine each inhale filling the length of your spine,
All the way from your head down to your belly button.
Follow that with each inhale.
Notice as each inhale fills from your head down the length of your spine to your belly button.
If you're still following that visualization of breath,
Let it go.
Come back to noticing and observing your breath for what it is as a whole.
Then shift your focus to your exhale.
Notice how your exhale empties your lungs,
Your body.
Notice where in your body you feel your exhale leave.
Notice the temperature of your exhale,
The void,
The length.
Focus on your exhale for all that it is.
This is the second of the five pranas,
Appanavayu.
Appanavayu literally translates as the air that moves away.
Appanavayu governs the things we discard,
Including carbon dioxide with our out-breath.
It's also responsible for the elimination,
The release of all the negative sensory,
Emotional,
And mental experiences we carry.
So as you continue to follow your breath,
Imagine now each exhale running out along the length of your spine,
Emptying from your belly button all the way out through the top of your head.
With your next round of breath,
Visualize the whole cycle of in-breath to out-breath as it runs along your spine,
Each inhale filling from the top of your head to your belly button,
Each exhale emptying out from your belly button all the way through the top of your head.
If you're still following the visualization,
Let it go.
Rest now with your breath.
Rest in the fullness and wholeness of your breath,
Your prana,
Yourself.
Simply let yourself be with it all.
Let yourself rest with your breath in all that it is as you rest with you in all that you are,
Just as you are.
Stay here as long as you'd like,
As long as you are able.
As you feel ready to move on into the rest of your day,
Notice as your breath begins to deepen.
Follow a deep breath in,
Sigh it out,
And bring your palms to meet at the space in front of your heart.
Breathing in,
I calm my body and mind.
Breathing out,
I smile,
Dwelling in the present moment.
I know this is the only moment.
May you lean into the signs and signals of your breath to find connection with the core of who you are as you continue ever forward on your path.
Thank you so much for sharing in this practice.
