Central Channel Meditation

(waves rustling) Hello and welcome. This is a meditation on the central channel. Sometimes when I come to my practice, I think of myself as a body with extension cords and plugs into all of the different aspects of my life and the issues in the world, and the dishes in the kitchen sink, and all the different things. Then when I get to come to my practice, I get to just take all of those plugs and just unplug them one by one so I'm sitting here with just cords, but unplugged from the outside world. In this meditation, we're going to go even further, right into the center of the body as a way of just calming into ourselves.

So find a comfortable seat. I'm sitting in virasana, but you can sit cross-legged, you can sit on a chair, you can even lie down as long as you aren't at the risk of going into a deep slumber. And then you can either let your eyes close or if it's more comfortable, your eyes can be very softly open on the floor in front of you. And just allow yourself to have that feeling of unplugging from all the many aspects of your life. The ancient yogis described the body in very poetic ways.

One of the ways they talked about energy was through nadis, which are energetic channels or currents or rivers of energy moving through the body. They counted 72,000 of these channels. The main one, the central one, the great channel, the Sushumna channel, is what we're going to pay attention to in this meditation. It's described in different ways. Sometimes it's described right in the spinal cord.

I'm going to describe the central channel as being right in the very, very center of your body. The Sushumna channel goes from the pelvic floor to the crown of the head, and along the way it pierces through the energetic centers called chakras. So we'll start at the base, and in this meditation we're not going to look to alter or change, but we're going to do a simple observation of what we feel. Things may change with observation, but mainly just letting your awareness hold whatever it is that happens to you or that you feel. So your attention can drop down now to the pelvic floor, the space right in-between your pubic bone and your tailbone, on the sides between the two sitting bones.

The root chakra, the Muladhara chakra. Notice if there's a tightness, a looseness. You may have a lot of sensation there or it may be none. There may be comfort or discomfort. I said that we weren't going to try to change or alter and in the yoga philosophy whatever we find is what's meant to be there.

So attempt not to attach meaning or judgment to what you observe. Then slide your attention up into the low belly about two inches beneath your navel, but remember right in the center of the body. Let your mind drop into that place of the low belly. You could think of it either small like a pea, or you could think of it a little expanded like the size of a ping-pong ball, or even a little bit larger. It's up to you, just see how you perceive that area, deep in the center of the belly.

Notice if there's a gripped feeling. Notice if there's any discomfort or comfort. Does it feel hollow or full? And again, have courage not to actively change your experience. Right now we are just observing.

Slide your attention up to the solar plexus so the base of the breast bone but back in the center of your body, between the base of the breast bone and your spine. If you think of this space as a circle, notice if one side feels larger than the other side, if it feels more like an oval. Maybe it feels full or empty. Smooth or jagged. Just let your attention reside in the solar plexus.

Then slide your attention up to the heart. The heart center, it's a metaphorical heart, the heart chakra. It's right in the center, whereas your actual heart, of course, is a little bit over to the left. Right in the center of the chest. Observe the heart area.

Maybe in observing the heart chakra, a color comes up or maybe it's clear. You may feel constricted or wide and spacious. Does your heart center feel heavy or light? Somewhere in-between. Let the intelligence of your brain rest down in the center of your chest.

Slide your awareness up to the center of your throat, the Vishuddha chakra. Notice if that space feels evenly balanced on each side, or larger or smaller on one side. Does the throat feel tight or loose? Empty or full? Come up to the third eye chakra, so oftentimes people think of their third eye on their skin, but actually remember we're right in the center of the body, so pretty much in the center of the skull.

Instead of me putting words or questions, notice what arises for you here in the Ajna chakra, the center of the skull. And then coming all the way to the top of the Sushumna nadi, the crown of the head. Does the crown of your head feel light or dark? Open or closed? Tight or loose?

Of course, all of those are on a spectrum. Then begin to deepen your breathing, and as you inhale, imagine the breath dropping right down from the crown of the head to the pelvic floor. The inhalation slides down the central channel. As you exhale, slides from pelvic floor to the crown of the head. Just observe a few breaths, the inhalation dropping down the channel, sliding down, and the exhalation rising up.

Bring your hands together in front of your heart, if you'd like. And we'll close with three sounds of Om. Let's continue to feel the inhalation dropping in and down to the pelvic floor, and then the sound of Om coming up through the central channel, the sound nourishing, touching, soothing each energy center along the central channel. Exhale the breath out. Inhale down into the pelvic floor.

Om (almost musical extended pure tone). Om (almost musical extended pure tone). Om (almost musical extended pure tone). Bow your head towards your heart. Release your hands to your thighs.

Let your head float up and gently open your eyes. As your move through your day, if you have a moment that feels a little tight or constricted, you can just do that breath, simple breath down through the central channel, exhale up and out. No one even has to know you're doing it. Just use that as your little secret tool today to keep yourself centered even as you go back out into your life and re-plug into the many aspects of your life. Thank you very much.

Namaste.