Inhales, exhales -- is there more to our breathing than just these two sides of the breath? Yes! I like to notice the four "parts" of your breathing: inhale, transition, exhale, transition.
I introduce the "four parts" of breathing in two ways.
The first way is to notice what's already happening:
The second way is to try engaging with these four parts where you choose. Here are a few options:
I guide you through this practice step by step, and you can choose to skip or stay with any area you like. You can do this Moved to Heal practice while reclining, seated, standing, or moving.
After listening to the episode, perhaps take a moment to check in: did you notice something that you want to remember or follow up on? If yes, maybe jot it down in a notebook or record a voice memo to help you remember.
Listen to "4 part breathing" on Spreaker.
Be moving, be true, be you
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Breathing happens with and without our conscious input. For example, most of the time we can consciously take a "deep" or "full" breath when we desire. This is just one way of engaging with our breathing. This practice is about tapping into that conscious engagement.
The idea behind the 360 breath is to help guide your breathing to expand into areas its not used to going. I think of this as a follow up to bringing awareness to where your breathing *is* comfortable. If you're not sure about what is and isn't comfortable for you, I suggest you use this practice as a sort of "check in" --or start with the "observing your breathing" episode.
I guide you through this practice step by step, and you can choose to skip or stay with any area you like. You can do this Moved to Heal practice while reclining, seated, standing, or moving.
After listening to the episode, perhaps take a moment to check in: did you notice something that you want to remember or follow up on? If yes, maybe jot it down in a notebook or record a voice memo to help you remember.
Listen to "360 degree breathing" on Spreaker.
Be moving, be true, be you
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Where breathing sometimes overwhelms my practice of Hum Sa kriya, I find the opposite to be true with Sat Yam kriya: breathing always leads me in to the kriya technique in an effortless way. But that's just me! Your experience may be different, similar, or not really even in the same ballpark!
Before teaching Sat Yam kriya, I share my experience with breathing and Sat Yam kriya (in the How To episode) -- and what I mean by "being led by breathing."
You might try this practice to bring attention to how your breathing does or doesn't play a role in your meditation practice (and if you tuned in last week, perhaps compare with your experience in Hum Sa kriya).
I also love Sat Yam kriya for feeling connected to something bigger than me -- even just the literal space around me, wherever I am.
SPREAKER EMBED
Be moving, be true,
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When you're moving, there's lots to pay attention to -- what's going through your head, the moves you're doing, the sensations you feel -- which makes noticing your breathing just one of a long list of things you can that we can be aware of while moving. This week, I invite you to try choosing the breath.
I invite you to observe your breathing while moving. You can move through "cat/cow" or in any way you choose.
You can do this Moved to Heal practice while seated or on hands and knees (for cat/cow) or from any starting place you choose.
"Cat/cow" is a movement of the spine or trunk. Cat rounds the spine, cow arches/backbends the spine.
After listening to the episode, perhaps take a moment to check in: did you notice something that you want to remember or follow up on? If yes, maybe jot it down in a notebook or record a voice memo to help you remember.
Listen to "observing breathing while moving" on Spreaker.
Be moving, be true, be you
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If you've been with me for a while, you've probably heard me go on and on about the magic of our breathing. I'm fascinated by how it works anatomically, and how it transforms our moment to moment experience in feeling. When it comes to meditation, breathing is a tremendous aid and, sometimes, a bit overpowering...
We're returning to the practice of Hum Sa kriya this week, and in the How To, I talk about what happens when your breathing becomes the primary focus -- instead of the kriya (the "focusing mind action"). Fair warning, for some of you, hearing about this possibility may create it where it was not an issue before! So feel free to skip if you're not particularly curious.
If you are curious, you might check in after your practice: how did breathing participate? What held your focus most easily: the kriya or breathing? Neither is right or wrong (despite my framing breathing as getting in the way), just different practices. Which do you prefer?
Listen to "Ep 496 - Breathing Choice + Hum Sa Kriya Meditation" on Spreaker.
Be moving, be true,
photo credit daniil silantev on unsplash
Observing breathing is simple in concept and can be a whole variety of things in practice, including simple, difficult, complicated, emotional, and more.
In this episode, I invite you to observe your breathing in any way you choose, and offer 3 different options you can try. For each, I describe the option and then give you about a minute of quiet in which to practice. You can do or not do any of the practices, and in whatever manner or degree you choose.
You can do this Moved to Heal practice while reclining, seated, standing, or moving.
After listening to the episode, perhaps take a moment to check in: did you notice something that you want to remember or follow up on? If yes, maybe jot it down in a notebook or record a voice memo to help you remember.
Listen to "observing breathing" on Spreaker.
Be moving, be true, be you
photo credit aleksander solberg on unsplash
Making the sounds of A-U-M kriya can be deeply soothing to your nervous system --all the more so when you think about the role your breathing plays.
AUM kriya meditation! In this version, I invite you to imagine your "breath" in different locations in your torso -- lower, middle, and upper thirds. This is so we can imagine the sounds "Ahh" "Ooo" and "Mmm" as originating both from the breath and from these areas of the torso. It's maybe not as weird as it sounds in writing 😉
If making sound is not something you think about, but just do, this practice may help you bring some intention into your chanting. And I find the meditation practice very grounding - good for when you feel less than steady in your body or mind.
Listen to "Ep 483 - Breathing Sound and AUM Meditation".
Be moving, be true,
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