Small Moment, Many Times

Dear friends,

It is essential that we rest. In the presence of fear, anger and uncertainty, creating moments of conscious rest is a way to assert personal power over what you can control: yourself. I recorded this short, breath-centered, guided meditation as a form of respite from your scrolling. Set aside 10 minutes to lie down and be led through a series of 3 patterns of breath. If you’re having trouble sleeping, do it before bed in a dark room. Your body will thank you.

Transcript:

This is a short, breath-centered guided, meditation

Created with the hope of

Providing some respite from a chaotic world

By

Quieting and centering the mind

Calming the body

Soothing the nervous system

Lie down on your back

Close your eyes

Get comfortable

And take a deep breath in

Smooth and easy

Bring awareness to the space around you

With your ears, find the noises

With your closed eyes, see the light, see the dark, the engagement between the two

Loosen your jaw

Loosen your face

Loosen the whole scalp

With your skin, feel the temperature of the air and the pressure of fabric

Sense your body

The front

The back

The right

The left

Place your right hand on your belly

Below the ribcage and above the navel

Place your left hand on your chest

On the breastbone, in line with the heart

Without changing anything,

Notice your breath

The speed

The depth

The quality

Notice which hand is moving more,

The right hand belly?

Or the left hand chest?

Perhaps is relatively even between the two?

Or perhaps you can’t even really tell, and that’s okay too

Begin to shift the energy of the breath

More toward the belly

Feel your right hand being moved more by the breath

Than the left

The rise and fall of the abdomen

The incoming breath

Flooding the bottom of the lungs

Sucking in air like a vaccuum

Imagine the dome-shaped muscle at the base of the ribcage

The diaphragm

Attaching itself to the inside of the base of the ribcage

From front to back

Left to right

Feel these deep belly breaths

Being guided by the

The diaphragm

Expanding down with the inhale

Displacing your abdominal contents

And effectively lifting your right hand with the inhale

And lowering it with the exhale

The whole ribcage expanding

The muscles between the ribs expanding

Become familiar with the sensations of an expansive belly breath

The inhale, stimulating and nourishing

The exhale, releasing what you don’t need

There is inevitably a space between the in and the out

As direction and energy shift

Prolonging the time spent in this space is what’s called a “retention”

Retention is a chance to savour the air that you’re breathing

It distributes the energy taken in on the inhale

And allows us to exhibit restraint and control

Over our physical body

We will continue with these belly breaths

Adding in a small retention

Both at the top of the inhale

And the bottom of the exhale

The holding the breath should be easy

With out tension or strain

Our first pattern of breath will be rectangular

6 counts to inhale

A 3 count retention

6 counts to exhale

A 3 count retention

Then begin again

I’ll keep count for you

Before we start take a big breath in at your own speed

Then let it all out completely

And begin

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

1, 2, 3

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

1, 2, 3

6x

Return to a normal pattern of breath

Notice what came up

Notice what you’re feeling and how you’re feeling it

Then let it go

There is so much in this world that we cannot control

Our breath is sacred

Because it is something we, for the most part,

Can control

As said by “B.K.S. Iyengar”

“The brain is the instigator through which the respiration and the three mental functions of thought, will and consciousness are regulated”

The breath is a direct line of access to the nervous system

By way of stimulation of nerves, and interpretation of brain

It’s a link to our cardiovascular system

Delivering oxygen

Expeling carbon dioxide and other unnecesary bullshit that can be harmful to the body

With fascial attachments to the stomach, large intestine, the liver, pancreas and kidneys and the

Diaphragmatic breaths provide a link between breath and the digestive, urinary systems

The lymph system as well

A collection duct for lymph fluid, called the cisterna chyli, lies just below the diaphragm

Making the breath an effective pump of lymph fluid

Our solar plexus chakra lies at the center of the body,

Affected by the movement associated with the belly breath

Stimulating your personal power, confidence and will

Let’s start our second breathing pattern

Viloma breath

Which breaks the inhale up into 3 equal parts

A brief retention between each part

Followed by one long, continuous exhale

With no retention before beginning the next interrupted inhale

That pattern will follow:

In

In

In

Ouuuuuuuutttttt

Before we start take a big breath in at your own pace

And release it completely

And begin

In

In

In

Ouuuuuuttttt

6x

Return to a normal pattern of breath

Notice what came up

Notice what you’re feeling and how you’re feeling it

Then let it go

We breathe our whole lives

We can get better at it, or worse, over time

Our own personal capacities

Can expand and improve

We can be brought to life

Over and over and over again

By returning to the breath

Our final pattern of breath will be single nostril breathing

Remove your right hand from you belly

And place the pointer and middle finger in the space between the eyebrows

Giving your thumb access to your right nostril

And your ring finger access to your left nostril

For single nostril breathing

You’ll take a full cycle of breath through one nostril

Switch to the other nostril at the top of the inhale

Then take a full cycle of breath through the other nostril

We’ll begin on the right side

But before we start

Take a deep breath in at your own speed through both nostrils

Plug your left nostril with your ring finger

And exhale through the right nostril

Inhale through the right nostril

At the top of the inhale, switch from right to left

Exhale through the left nostril

Inhale through the left nostril

At the top of the inhale, switch from left to right

And begin again with the right nostril

Continue with this pattern of breath

In and out through a single nostril

Switching at the top of the inhale

For the next minute or so

I’ll stop talking

And let you breathe

…

Remove your hand from your face

And place it back on your belly

Return to a normal pattern of breath

Notice what came up

Notice what you’re feeling and how you’re feeling it

Then let it go

Stay in this space

Quiet and still

As long as you need

Thanks for joining me

With love,

Sincerely