Day 5: Tuning Our Senses

Welcome to day five. Today we'll be tuning our awareness inward, tuning our senses inward. The yogis call this pratyahara. So together we've been honing our yogi skills to allow for a more conscious shavasana where we perhaps feel a bit more aware, awake, alert, supported and held as we move towards relaxation. So today's practice is designed to help us trust what we feel, but perhaps cannot see with our usual eyes. One of our teachers, Ravi Ravindra on this site, shares a quote by Meister Eckhart, a Christian mystic, eyes of the flesh, see the things of the flesh, eyes of the spirit, the things of the spirit. So let's make our way onto our backs and begin to tune our senses a bit. So move right into windshield wipers. Find your way onto your back, bend your knees, feet a little wider than your hips, stretch your arms overhead. Begin to lengthen as you inhale and exhale, let your knees fall over to the right. Do this a few times as you inhale, draw your knees up and exhale over to the left. Knees drop on the inhale, exhale to your right. Knees up, exhale, knees to the left. Inhale, knees up. This time as you bring to your knees to the right, take a moment, pause here, find some length through that left side body, reaching through the fingers, that length down through the left side. And now draw your attention, your awareness into your left lung. Relaxing the effort, inhale, knees up, exhale, knees to the left. Find length through your right arm, down through the right leg. Draw your awareness into your right lung. As you visualize your right lung, begin to get a sense that you can breathe here. Again, we'll inhale, knees up, exhale, knees to the right. This time adding the nostrils. So as you draw your awareness back into your left lung, you begin to feel the movement of the breath through your rib cage. Tune from your left lung up towards your left nostril. Relaxing the effort of your attention. Last time inhale, knees up, exhale, knees to your left. As you draw your awareness back into your right lung, perhaps feel the movement of the breath in the side body and the ribs. Tune towards your right nostril. Relaxing the effort, inhale, draw the knees up, draw the knees into your chest and allow yourself to rock side to side. From here we're going to move into a lounging Buddha. So you'll roll onto your left side. I'm going to roll away from you so you can see and just take a moment to pause on your left side. You can keep your arm lengthening or you can prop your head up with support. As you lie here, begin to tune towards your bottom lung, your left lung. You might notice again the relationship with the left lung and the left nostril. From here we'll reach the right arm, top arm up towards the sky and begin to find that internal rotation through your shoulder. From here bend your elbow and bring the back of the hand to either your sacrum or perhaps between your shoulder blades. It just really depends on your shoulder. Find a place where it's comfortable. We're going to begin to roll onto our back so you'll bend that top right knee and then pin your right arm. You'll wiggle onto your back, reorganize your pelvis and take a moment to pause here. Begin to feel and allow your right shoulder, the muscles to soften. You might bring your left hand, your top hand on your heart and finding that length through the back of the neck, the ease in the eyes and breathing into where you feel the sensation through your right arm, shoulder, feet. A few more moments here. Paying attention to the subtler layers of sensation. Nice.

You're ready. Release your left arm overhead. Roll onto your left side. Free your right arm up to the sky. It might feel nice to shake it out. We'll just roll onto our back for a moment. As you roll onto your back and keep the knees bent or stretch your legs out, let the palms turn up. Begin to pour your awareness through the right arm, through the shoulder, down through the hand. Perhaps feeling the breath wash through that right arm. A clearing breath. Inhale and exhale. Rolling onto the right side. You can see each other. You might stay here. You might prop your head up with your hand and lounging Buddha. Just take a few moments to tune towards your bottom lung, that right lung. Perhaps the relationship from the right lung up towards the right nostril. Reach the top arm up towards the sky, binding that internal rotation. And then bring the back of your hand to either your sacrum or between your shoulder blades. Drawing your elbow in and the side is going to feel different depending on your shoulder. And then as you pin your arm, you can bend the top knee, roll onto your back, press through your feet. Reorganize here. And then allow for an exhalation. Feeling the length through the back of your neck. Softening through your eyes, your mouth. Let your awareness go into your left shoulder, your arm, your hand. You're resting your right hand on your heart. Feeling the beating of your heart between both hands. The warmth. Just last few moments here, breathing into where you feel the sensation. You're ready to release. Release the top arm overhead. Roll onto your right side. You can shake your top arm out. Just allow yourself to roll onto your back and take a moment. Knees bent or legs extending, palms open. Pour your awareness through your left shoulder, your arm, your hand. Perhaps feel your whole left arm breathing itself. Find a clearing breath. Inhale. Nice full exhale. Nice work. Draw your knees into your chest. Allow yourself to rock from side to side. We're going to begin to move into our shavasana. So you might bring a bolster under your knees for support. And on our way there, interlace your fingers at the base of your skull. And then draw your elbows towards each other. And we're going to allow for an occipital release, a traction through the back of the neck, widening through the base of the skull. Bring the whole back of the neck lengthening and then releasing the head, releasing the arms, releasing your legs, shavasana. You need to lie here as I transition up. So as you begin to ease into your shavasana, pour your awareness down your arms into the center of your hands. You feel that sense, that tuning from the heart into the center of the palms, in the back of the heart, hands. And hold your awareness here, noticing the sensations through both hands, the weight, the temperature, the feeling. Notice if your mind, your thoughts want to drift off and if you can draw your attention back into the center of your hands. From here, begin to draw your attention into your right hand and see if you can hold your attention in the center of your right hand. And the weight, the sensation, the temperature. Allow yourself to consciously rest here for a few more moments. And begin to shift your attention towards the center of your left hand. Again, hold your attention here, noticing the weight, the sensation, the temperature. Notice if your mind wants to shift back to the right, hold it for a few more moments in the center of your left hand. Tracking any sensation through the arm down into the center of the hand. Relaxing the effort in the left hand, we'll shift back to the right hand. Imagine the whole world is in your right hand. Hold your attention here sincerely. And tracking the sensations.

Seeing if and when the mind drifts off and bring it back. And then pulling your attention back into your left hand and become more interested in your left hand. In the center of the palm, the sensations, the weight. Taking your attention here for a few more moments. And shift your attention into both hands. Back into both hands. Equal attention. And perhaps tuning the relationship from your heart, back of your heart, down your arms into the center of the hands. You allow the hands to feel a bit more receptive, spacious, maybe fluffy, curious. Nice. And then just gradually relax the effort of your attention in the hands. And then just slowly relax the effort of your attention in the hands.

Relax the effort of your attention in the hands. Relaxing the effort through the arms and the hands. Allowing your awareness to be wide, allowing your awareness to be wide, allowing your awareness to be wide, allowing your awareness to be wide, allowing your awareness to be wide. And feeling the support beneath your body. Gradually draw your attention towards your breath. Noticing the ripple movement of the breath through the body. And when you feel ready, awakening the fingers, the toes. Make it feel nice to stretch your arms, finding a full body stretch, lengthening. Just allow yourself to roll onto your side and take a moment there, pausing. Keeping the weight of your head heavy as you're ready, just slowly begin to press your way up using the support of your hands. Might come into a comfortable seated position. And drawing your awareness towards your heart, bring your hands together. Thank you for your practice today, for your courage and willingness to go inside to be with yourself and to track the more subtle sensations. Look forward to being together tomorrow and day six. Namaste.