Basic Kundalini Breath Series

Sat Naam, welcome back, this is the basic breath series. Don't go anywhere, I know it sounds really simple, but you are going to be so happy after we do this set together. It takes about 22 minutes and I tell you when you work with the breath, your whole nervous system calms itself, especially with these breaths because we go through about 6 different breath patterns and what you'll notice is how your relationship to the breath really allows you to unravel stuck emotions, tension in the body and just really balance you back into the neutral mind. This set will also give you a quick energy fix, it will enhance your creativity and it will calm the nervous system, giving you a sense of balance. When you learn to control your breath and you do that through these different breathing patterns, you really learn to control your mind.

You learn to direct your thoughts and isn't that what so many of us long we could do. So take this time, let's go on a little journey together. Do the best you can, even if you feel like your mind isn't stopping and you can't quite relax into it, just give it a go and do it again and again and you'll see that this as a 40 day practice would be an amazing introduction to Kundalini Yoga. Just working with the breath will release stuck emotional habitual patterns that get encoded in your cells. I have personally found that working with the breath has been one of the greatest gifts for me in Kundalini Yoga and on my journey.

So before we begin the Kundalini Yoga practice, we always tune in with Aung Namo Guru Dev Namo. Grab the palms of the hands, let's bring them at the heart center. Close the eyes, set your intention. Let's inhale to begin Aung Namo Guru Dev Namo Aung Namo Guru Dev Namo Aung Namo Guru Dev Namo Inhale deep, hold the breath and exhale. Let us begin our practice.

So let us begin by relaxing the left hand in Guillaume Mudra on the left knee and you're going to press the right thumb into the right nostril and we're going to inhale deeply and slowly through the left nostril and then exhale out of the left nostril. The eyes are closed and focusing at the breath point and let's begin. We'll go for three minutes. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, eight, nine, eight, nine, eight, nine, eight, nine. Try to slow down your breath as much as you can.

Keep your eyes focused at the brow point and keep breathing. Just letting the thoughts just pass through the mind like clouds. You don't need to attach to any of them. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, eight, nine, eight, nine, eight, nine, nine, eight, nine, eight, nine, eight, nine, eight. Stay with it just one more minute.

And inhale deeply, hold the breath and relax the hand onto the right knee, focus deeply at the brow point and exhale, lovely. So the left nostril is the yin channel and when you breathe through the left nostril you can feel this immense sense of peace and well-being and relaxation. Now let's go to the right nostril, bringing the left hand up, left thumb pressing the left nostril, right hand and ghee on mudra on the right knee and let's begin, eyes focused at the brow point. Exhale long and deep through the right nostril and exhale long and deep as well. Exhale long and deep through the right nostril and exhale long and deep through the left nostril.

Stay focused, stay with the breath, fill up your lungs, your diaphragm, your low abdomen, your chest, long deep breath, as slow as you can. And when you exhale, make sure that you exhale all the air out, pushing the breath out so that you have nothing left and you can go into the deepest inhale. Exhale long and deep through the right nostril and exhale long and deep through the left nostril. Exhale long and deep through the right nostril and exhale long and deep through the left nostril and inhale deep and exhale, drop the hand down. So notice the quality of the right nostril breath, it is about the sun energy, it is about fire, it is about alertness and clarity and bringing energy and heat into the body.

So that should make you feel quite alert and awake and quite lovely. So now let's go and experience an alternate nostril breath. So we're bringing the right hand up and we're going to close with the right thumb, the right nostril and we're going to inhale deeply through the left, slow and deep. And then block with the index finger the left nostril, exhale slow and deep out of the right nostril. So that's the pattern we're going to do for the next three minutes and the eyes are going to be focused at the brow point.

Do the best you can, let's begin. Inhale left, block the left nostril, exhale right. Inhale left, exhale right. Inhale left, exhale right and keep going, enjoying the breath, moving in and out of the nostrils. Inhale left, exhale right.

Inhale left, exhale right. Inhale left, exhale right. Stay with it just a little while longer. And inhale deeply, hold the breath, relax the hand down. Release Muluban for a moment, hold it and exhale, lovely.

So stay with it, remember Kundalini Yoga is an experiential yoga and you really want to sit and do this and feel the full benefits that are possible. So let's now move to the right nostril. So we're going to bring the left hand up, left thumb, blocking the left nostril. We're going to inhale long and deep through the right. Block it with the index finger, the right nostril, exhale long and deep left nostril.

As a focus at the bra point, let's continue. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, eight, nine, eight, nine, ten, ten, ten, ten, ten, ten, ten, ten, ten. yourself to drop deep into the breath, keeping the eyes focused at the breath point if you can, and just soften into the breath, allowing it to unravel whatever stuck. Feeling into the quality of the right nostril. And inhale deeply, dropping the left hand, focus deeply at the breath point, pause a slight mola band, and exhale.

So now let's go to breath of fire. If you didn't get to watch the foundational practices of Kundalini Yoga, I'll do a quick tutorial for you for breath of fire. So imagine a dog panting on a hot day with its tongue hanging out. Very lovely, right? You're moving the belly, inhale the bellies out, exhale the bellies in.

So now we're going to do that with the mouth closed through the nose. Quick little breaths. Don't worry too much about getting perfectly right, just get a sense of it. It comes from the navel. Let's begin.

We're going to do that breath for three minutes and we'll focus at the breath point, let us begin and get energized. All right. All right. Stay focused. Stay focused.

Stay focused. Stay focused. Inhale deeply and hold the breath, lock it in with Mulabanda and focus and feel the energy circulate throughout the whole body. Feel it, feel it, contain it and exhale. Stay with the eyes closed for a moment.

Just watch how that shifted your emotions, how that may have shifted your space. It really is such a lovely energizing breath that can move us through blocks. Breath of Fire is really good for that. So now we go into the meditative part of the Kriya, the last exercise to do. And here we're going to meditate silently for a moment and then we're going to inhale deeply and chant along Sat Naam, a short Naam.

So this is, if you just look at it this way, Sat is for seven counts and Naam is for one count. So it would look like this, inhale, Sat Naam. So if you just think of it like that in your head, seven counts for Sat and Naam for one count. So let's meditate, hands in Gyomudra, focus on the flow of the breath, look at the brow points and we'll begin shortly, for three minutes. Inhale, Sat Naam, Sat Naam, Sat Naam.

Sat Naam, Sat Naam, Sat Naam, Sat Naam. Sat Naam, Sat Naam. Sat Naam, Sat Naam, Sat Naam. Sat Naam, Sat Naam. Sat Naam, Sat Naam.

Sat Naam, Sat Naam. Sat Naam, Sat Naam. Sat Naam, Sat Naam. Exhale deeply, hold the breath, exhale, relax, just receive and feel how the breath has moved in you and cleared some possible stuck emotions, anything in your mind. Just receive for a moment.

See if you can receive the breath as a gift. So you're not even trying to breathe, you're simply receiving the breath. Good. This is a very powerful practice to calm the nervous system, to enhance your creativity, to really go in there and release those emotional tension that we sometimes feel. It's just a solid practice and a way to connect with yourself, to slow down 22 minutes, you know, that's just what it takes.

So enjoy it, do it many times, share it and maybe you'll do this as a 40 day meditation and really commit yourself to establishing a new relationship with your breath, like receiving the breath as a gift and not even trying to breathe, but simply opening yourself and being in a receiving mode. So I hope you enjoy it and I look forward to sharing more with you, Sat Naam.