Amazing 15 minute morning practice
Recently I created this new 15 minute morning practice and I ABSOLUTELY love it! and hope you will too. If you already meditate in the morning or have a spiritual practice that is wonderful and it’s invaluable as the years pass, as the effects of a daily practice are cumulative. Yo-Yo practicing will only ever bring temporary benefits at best, so stick with it and watch your life change for the better and watch your old ways and tendencies dissolve.
After I wake and make my tea I take a seat either on my zafu (meditation cushion) or chaise lounge (sitting upright). I blow my nose and set the timer on my iPhone for 5 minutes and I practice Anuloma Viloma alternate nostril breath (I will explain how to do it below, you can also google how it looks if you are uncertain). After the 5 minutes are up. I re~set my timer for 10 minutes and I sit quietly, noticing how relaxed my body feels and clear my mind is from this breathing practice. Next, I notice how I feel, often it’s content, relaxed or happy and in my mind I been to name the good emotion that I feel and then I build on it (meaning I choose even better feeling emotions or thoughts). So it may look like this, after sitting for a couple of minutes and noticing how I feel, I will name in my mind honestly how I feel: happy, content, open, excited, relaxed, peaceful, open, content, secure, happy, loving, keen, grateful, appreciative etc (if the same word comes up, I say it again, nothing wrong with that!). If I happen to be feeling a little disconnected this morning or have some things on my mind that are distracting, my practice may go something like this, saying phrases that are true for me: concerned but trusting it’s getting better, things work out for me, they always do, it will get better, I’m looking forward to feeling better, I can feel how I feel shifting already, this day is getting better, I know I’m on the right path etc. So what I am doing is ‘choosing’ a better thought or feeling on purpose not the total opposite but within my grasp of what feels possible for me. Make sense, ? Please let me know if you have any questions. If words that match how I feel do not show up the whole 10 minutes, that’s okay, I just sit there and smile (which softens your energy) and most often gather my awareness in my heart centre and as I do, I always feel the expansion of love and happiness there, it’s an amazing feeling.
For Anuloma Vilmoa practice. I inhale ~hold ~exhale all 3 on the count of 5, if you are just beginning, then I would recommend inhale 4 hold 3 exhale 4, count each breath taking your time and see what ratio works best for you. Also during this practice be mindful of keeping your facial muscles and lower jaw soft and relaxed, shoulders and arms relaxed. I have been teaching this ancient breathing practice in my yoga class for over 15 years and my students love it.
Here is how you do it:
Close your eyes and relax. Sitting with a tall spine.
Close your right nostril with your right thumb
Breath in from your left nostril. Hold the breath, block with the right ring finger for 3-5 seconds
Open right nostril and exhale, releasing the thumb while keeping the right ring finger on the left nostril and breathe out
Breath in from right nostril, right ring finger still on left nostril, hold for 3-5 breaths as you place the thumb on the right nostril and exhale out the left lifting the right ring finger, keeping the right nostril closed with the thumb. Continue from side to side, always ending with an exhale out the left side.
Anulom Vilom pranayam is said to have benefited people with Heart ailments, high blodd pressure, heart blockages, depression, migraine pain, asthma, sinus, allergy.
This practice is a wonderful way to ‘set up’ your day, I find that once I am spending several minutes boosting my emotional and mental energy with good feeling thoughts, my builds into a fabulous one and coping with whatever may arise is taken with so much more ease.
