Being with Breath

Hi, I'm so glad you're here. In this practice, we will work with a breathing technique, a pranayama practice that is designed to help us find our center, no matter the external conditions, so I'm glad you're here. We will begin by settling into a shape that feels easy, a shape that you can be in for a bit. For some people that's sitting cross-legged or some variation on cross-legged, some people that's sitting on the heels, people that's lying on the floor on the back or in a shape of constructive rest, it's worth it to take the time to find and to feel your way into a shape of ease. Once you've found it, start to really drop in, let maybe the eyes close, settle into the contact that your body is making with the earth, wherever that is.

And as you do that, you might start to really notice the earth is already holding you, you don't have to do anything, settle into that. And while you're at it, while you're in this space of settling, can you soften any gripping in the bottom of the bowl of the pelvis? Soften any gripping in the hands. Open any gripping in the jaw. And while you're there, cultivate softness, ease, and a sense of wateriness, liquid in the mouth, in the tongue, the roof of the mouth, the gums and the jaw.

And sometimes as we do that, there's almost like a corresponding softening that happens in the nose, just a little release. And we'll continue this softening of the skull by moving to the forehead and relaxing any tension. And sometimes it's useful to give or receive the instruction of not worrying about what facial expression you're making. No one's looking, everyone's eyes are closed, even mine. Relax into your scalp and into the space behind the ears and finally soften the ears themselves.

And so we have this shape where the pelvis is soft, the hands are soft, the skull is super soft, and yet there at the center is this elegance of our own spine, the elegant length of your own body. And we'll start to bring our awareness to the nostrils. And to start, we'll just sort of discover the nose. Notice sensation. Notice the sensation of breath passing through the nostrils.

Moving into the body, moving out of the body. And the work is in the just noticing. There's nothing to force. There's nothing to change. We're just attending to the present moment.

We'll begin to organize or refine our efforts just a little bit. By turning your attention particularly to the comings and goings of breath through the left nostril. And just noticing what does it feel like as breath passes through that place. Is there a part of the nostril that seems to pull your attention more strongly than others? There's nothing to change, we're just noticing.

And in time, we'll start to soften the effort of being so interested in that left nostril. We'll sort of shift or turn our attention to what's already happening at the right nostril. Breath moves in and breath moves out. And what do you feel? Don't worry if there's not a word for what you feel.

Sort of our work as Yogan is realizing the limits of language and sort of moving in that space where language fails. So just notice and don't worry about naming things in a way that other people could understand. And so in time, we'll relax this effort of being so interested in the right nostril. And we'll sort of coordinate our efforts a little bit. We'll organize a little bit more.

And we'll continue this work of noticing, but we'll do it on a breath-by-breath basis. We'll follow the pattern of Nadi Shodna, the alternate nostril breath, but we'll do it without our hands. And we'll do this by on the inhalation noticing the left nostril and on the exhalation noticing the right nostril and on the inhalation noticing the right nostril and on the exhalation noticing the left nostril, inhaling at the left nostril and exhaling at the right nostril, inhaling at the right nostril and exhaling at the left nostril, inhaling at the left nostril, exhaling at the right nostril, inhaling at the right nostril and exhaling through both nostrils. Just let this sort of natural rhythm and shape of the breath return, maybe attending to the sensation of breath passing through both of your nostrils and being present to whatever you've created through this practice, noticing sensation, noticing where your awareness is drawn to, strongest, and just sort of soaking it up. All right.