Meditation & Pranayama
Strengthening the Muscle of
Being Present with Self
Stability in the Breath & the Mind
https://youtu.be/w14a7xVfIuI?si=EHLaybAysTPtC83X&t=70 - 1:10-2:58
“I meditate every day. I do it in the mornings. I do it for about 10-15 minutes. It sets me up for the rest of the day. It’s like having an anchor. If I don’t do it, it feels like I’m constantly chasing the day, as opposed to being controlled and dictate the day. Not that you’re calling the shots on what comes forward, but the fact that I am set and ready for whatever may come my way. I have a calmness about whatever comes my way, and a poise. The reality is we’re paying attention to so many things that are going on around us, we don’t take the time to see what’s going on inside of ourselves, and that comes from starting the morning off with meditation. For me, it’s really just listening to my inner Self. That’s basically it. You sit in silence and you just allow the thoughts to come forward, and you get a chance to observe the Self, and things that may be lying beneath the surface that if you don’t have the time to sit quietly on your own, you’ll never pay attention to…. We’re constantly observing what’s around us but we don’t take the time to really observe what’s going on inside of ourselves, and that’s what meditation is for me.
“Seeing the poise that we played with, the fact that we can be in a hostile environment with fans yelling and screaming and pressure situations, and it having no effect on us. Because we were never too high or too low, we were just in the moment and felt very secure in who we are.”
What’s going on in there?
Pranayama
Prana - yama: breath control/restrain
Prana - ayama:
the breath unrestrained/extended/stretched
Pranayama practice is one way to reduce the “rubbish/obstructions” and concentrate more and more Prana in the body.
Pranayama helps us to Concentrate and to Clear/Purify the body & mind.
Yoga practices, in general, are more about letting go than adding more. At the core, you are already whole, worthy, clear, balanced. The practices simply realign us with that by removing whatever is not that.
Prana
The unobstructed flow of prana through the nadis is what is our True Nature and what our practice can support us with.
Breathing has the dual nature of being both
Voluntary AND Involuntary
Conscious AND Unconscious
This points to why the breath illuminates the eternal inquiry about what we can control/change (inhale) and what we cannot (exhale) AND the wide spectrum in between
Your breath can be your greatest friend & teacher in returning to Center, returning to Source, remembering who You are.
Page 30-31
Anatomically, Breath can be defined as the 3-D shape change of the abdominal and thoracic cavities
Breathing is not only oxygen moving, but also how our bodies allow the movement.
“You create the space and the universe fills it.”
Pranayama Exercises
-Free Breath Awareness-
Notice, Witness, Be Aware of, Pay Attention to the Prana in You
What bones and muscles move as a result of your breathing?
What else do you notice?
-Conscious Controlled Breath-
Two Parts of the Breath
Sama Vritti Pranayama - Four Parts of the Breath
Sama means “equal”, and vritti means “mental fluctuations”, so Sama Vritti Pranayama translates as “equal mental fluctuation breathing”
When Practicing & Teaching Pranayama….
read page 32
Elements of a Pranayama Practice & Cultivating witness attention
Length of inhale
Length of exhale
Use and length of pause after inhale / Antara Kumbhaka
Use and length of pause after exhale / Bahya Kumbhaka
Volume taken in / Ratio
Inhale : Retention : Exhale : Retention (example 4:2:4:2)
Repetitions, or number of cycles repeated
“Recovery breaths” : number of natural breath cycles used between active breathing cycle(s) to manage intensity