Hi Noon

So, we find ourselves in the middle of the day, when the sun is at its peak. Now, with just the tiniest little bit of theory to help understand what we're doing, we'll be moving into a practice known as Nadi Shodana. Nadi refers to what the yogis like to sense as the rivers through which the life force, the prana moves, Shodana usually gets translated as something like purification. The difficulty with translations like purification is that it implies that we're not already pure and so really these practices are simply designed to notice the magnificence that already is. Now, of the 350,000 assumed nadis, there are three that usually get named, the Ida, the Pingala and the Shoshumna. The Shoshumna which usually translates as the gracious channel, our central channel. The Ida which is sent to run up predominantly on the left side and the Pingala which is said to run up predominantly on the right side. All three nadis are said to take root from the root chakra, Muladhara region. Sometimes you'll see drawings and maps that indicate that they crisscross through the chakras. Sometimes you'll see maps and drawings that indicate they spiral and it's also been presented that actually they pop off each of the chakras. Most diagrams agree that the Ida and the Pingala descend into the left and right nostril respectively and the Shoshumna continues up towards the crown of the head.

So as we move into our practice, we're going to offer ourselves to three sets of nine, how should I say that, three sets of nine rounds. Yeah, we'll go with that. And with each one, if at any point the practice is disturbing the state that you have found, you drop the practice. So make sure you're finding a comfortable seat. So I happen to be sitting on the ground up on a pranayama cushion. My friend Bex taught me about sitting up on pranayama cushion, but you might be sitting in a chair, okay, but make sure you're comfortable. Snuggle in, big deliberate inhale. Exhale everything. Let a complete exhale occur. Do that again. Inhale and exhale. Soften the jaw. Okay, mouth is easy. Now root through the sit bones just enough so you feel this natural brightening of your heart soft in the back of her and find the alignment of the skull so that the neck tension is not necessary. Easy in that upper palate. Soft in the jaw and kind in the lips. And on our first round, we're just going to do it with our attention. We're not going to use the assistance of our hand. So step one here, just start to become aware of the movement of the breath in the nostrils, like just let your mouth be soft. You're not breathing with the nostrils, right? So it's not like you're letting the breath be. Maybe you feel more of a belly breath or more of an ujjayi, but you're just feeling how the breath moves in and out of the nostrils. And then so gently, so tenderly, starting on your left nostril, just start to sense your left nostril, like move your mind to your left nostril. Yes. Not only as you're ready, the play is with your mind on your left nostril, can you feel your next inhale in your left nostril? Move your awareness over to your right nostril and feel your exhale out through the right nostril. Yes. Now feel your inhale come back up through your right nostril, just using your mind. And feel your exhale come out through your left nostril. Nice. That's one round. Now feel your inhale come up into your left nostril. Move your awareness over and feel the exhale move out through your right nostril. Feel the inhale move in through your right nostril. Let your awareness feel your breath move out through the left nostril. That's two rounds. Continuing. Inhale up through the left. Move your awareness. Exhale through the right. Inhale in through the right. Move your awareness. Exhale out through the left. Four. Inhale left. Exhale right. Inhale right. Inhale left. Five. Inhale left. Exhale right. Inhale right. Exhale left. That's six. Inhale left. Exhale right. Inhale right. Exhale left. Seven. Inhale left. Exhale right. Inhale left. Inhale right. Exhale left. Last one like this. Inhale left. Exhale right. Inhale right. Exhale left. Through both nostrils inhale and exhale. And now just let yourself pause after this first round. Soft in the belly, bright in the heart, open at that soft palate. And you might already have a sense of, again, this more central channel, this sashunna. And so if you're starting to feel really sweet, there's no need to disturb it.

As we come into this second round of nine though, if you'd like to play with, it's a slightly more aggressive practice, okay, to use the hand. And what I like to do is I like to bring my index finger and ring finger down. Right. And then I like to use my thumb and my ring finger. Now some people are sort of attentive about tucking this little pinky in and making it all. Mine just kind of flares out. So that's how I work. And so just like find this hand position. And then the play here is that we're going to, instead of just using the mind, we're going to use the thumb and the ring finger to close off the nostril that we're not breathing through. So again, this is a little bit more intense and a little bit more aggressive. And personally, I usually just prefer the more subtle mental version. But you know, we have to play out in other fields. So just to show what it'll look like. So it'll be very similar. But what I'll do is I'll close off my right nostril gently as I inhale through the left. Then as I'm ready to exhale through the right, I'll close off the left. Then I'll keep the right nostril open as I inhale, closing it off to exhale. I hope that makes sense. I'm going to sound like this as we do this practice. And the play here is just finding our own rhythm. Okay, snuggle in. Big, deliberate inhale. Exhale everything ground. Feel your heart bright. Feel the soft palate open. Bring your awareness to the movement of the breath and the nostrils. Find your hand position to get my index finger, middle finger tucked in and I'm going to use my thumb and my ring finger.

As you're ready, place your fingers on your nose. And then as you're ready, gently, gently close off the right nostril. You'll inhale through the left. You'll close off the left and exhale through the right. You'll inhale through the right. Close off the right as you open the left and exhale through the left. Continuing. Inhale left. Close off the left as you open the right. Exhale right. Inhale right. Close off the right as you open the left. Exhale left. Inhale left. Close left. Open right. Exhale. Inhale. Close right. Open left. Exhale. Inhale. Close left. Open right. Exhale. Inhale. Close right. Open left. Exhale. Inhale. Close left. Open right. Exhale. Inhale. Close right. Open left. Exhale. That's six. Inhale. Close left. Open right. Exhale. Inhale. Close right. Open left. Exhale. I said that was six before, but that's six. Inhale. Close left. Open right. Exhale. Inhale. Close right. Open left. Exhale. Two more in this round. Inhale. Close left. Open right. Exhale. Inhale. Close right. Open left. Exhale. Last one. Inhale. Close left. Open right. Exhale. Inhale.

Close right. Open left. Exhale. Release your hand. Inhale. Exhale everything. Soften the jaw. Soften that upper palate. And so the pingala on the right is said to be associated with the sun and compassion and the eda on the left associated with the moon and wisdom. And so use your wisdom. If that's enough of this, then you sit. As we come to our last round, I'm going to suggest that you choose like either do this last round mentally or with your hand. I'll try to be just a little bit more spare in my instructions. Like if my breath pace is not yours, you just tune me out. And I'm going to just do it mentally with you. And so if you like the hand, you can do that. One more hand position that I'm going to show just in case you want a slight variation is instead of bringing the two fingers in, you can bring the index finger and middle finger up onto the flower of the asana, the third eye. And this is said to be the junction where the eda and the pingala and the shumna meet. So if you come to this last round, if you'd like to do it like that, that's another option. Okay, so one more time, maybe together. Big delivery now. Exhale everything. Let it in and soften. Bright and soft in the heart, open in the palate. Awareness of the movement of the breath and the nostrils, tender. Even if you're using your hand, be so tender. As you are ready with or without your hand, let your breath inhale through the left nostril and exhale through the right. Inhale through the right and exhale through the left. Inhale through the left. Exhale through the right. Inhale through the right and exhale through the left. Inhale left. Exhale right. Inhale right. Exhale left. Inhale left. Exhale right. Inhale right. Exhale left. Inhale left. Exhale right. Inhale right. Exhale left. Inhale left. Exhale right. Inhale right. Exhale left. Three more. Inhale left. Exhale right. Inhale right. Exhale left. Inhale left. Exhale right. Inhale right. And exhale left. Last one. Inhale left. Exhale right. Inhale right. And exhale left. Inhale through both nostrils. Exhale through both nostrils. Soften the jaw. Relax down through the floor of the pelvis. Receptive in the heart. Soften the palate. And maybe just for the fun of it because this practice is designed to help bring our awareness more to the central channel. Maybe just for the fun of it. Maybe just tune the slightest bit of attention up towards the top of the head, towards the flower of the crown chakra, sahasara. And just allow for the slightest opening. Be here for as long as you have the luxury to be so. So lucky to be in this together. Not a moment to waste. Namaste.