I have been trying to incorporate more meditation into my weekly classes, just a simple minute or two at the beginning and end where I invite the students to simply sit. I encourage them to experience and to delight in the moment. Sometimes I offer a mantra or focus on the breath. But other times I ask them to essentially do nothing. Easier said then done, I know!
My training with Lorin Roche, author of The Radiant Sutras and Meditation Made Easy (on my read soon list!) taught me me to to be less judgmental and less strict when it comes to mediation. Rather, to trust and believe that my mind knows what to do. It knows where to wander and when to return again. I have always said “There is no such thing as being good and bad at mediation” but until recently I never truly felt it. I always resonated with the “bad at meditation” because I felt like I never gave myself enough time on the cushion. I would only meditate a few minutes here and there, not long lengths of time everyday. Now I recognize that mediation is so much more than just sitting for hours and hours on end. It can be the delight and full immersion in your morning cup of coffee, the ritual of waking up slowly or simply walking outside. Meditation can be fun! It was a new concept for me and contradictory to most things I have heard about meditation. However, it was extremely liberating.
For another yoga teacher training I am in (because I have decided that 2018 is my Year of Being A Student) our homework this week was to design a meditation, visualization or affirmation. I love how things sometimes just work out so beautifully! I wanted to share it with you today. The meditation is breath centered and based off of #1 in The Radiance Sutras. I hope is brings you some peace and joy in the present moment! Enjoy 🙂
Please come to a comfortable seated position. I recommend sitting up on a bolster or a blanket. If you back is tired, feel free to sit back against the wall or in a chair. Place your left palm on top of your right with your hands facing up and thumbs touching in dhyana mudra. The left palm symbolizes femininity and specifically our innate female wisdom. The overall mudra brings a sense of grounding, balance and tranquility to your body and mind. It is a meditation mudra. Let the mudra gently sit in your lap. Please gently close your eyes. Lengthen your spine, soften your shoulders and relax your jaw.
Bring your awareness to your breath. Feel the breath at the tip of your nose, softly flowing in and out of your nostrils. Notice as it moves through the back of your throat and deep into your lungs. Feel your ribcage and belly gently expand with each inhale and relax with each exhale. Notice the sensation of rising, lengthening as you breathe in and notice a sense of grounding, rooting as your breathe out. Imagine your breath flooding your body. Emanating from your lungs into your whole torso, limbs and head. Inhale send nourishment your muscles and your bones. Exhaling notice the flow of breath out, and the gentle pause before it turns to flow in. Not holding, not restricting, just notice the emptiness and delight in how that emptiness holds peace, quiet and the potential for all things. The source of all life. Inhaling notice the flow of breath in, and the gentle pause before it turns to flow out again. Not holding, not restricting just notice the fullness and delight in the joy of the exchange, the renewal of life. Be present with this ancient wisdom of your body. The knowledge of how to breathe and when to breathe to keep your body safe and balanced. Allow your breath to become smooth and soft, allowing the wisdom of your body, the wisdom of your breath to nourish, calm and restore your body and mind. With each in breath saying silently to yourself ‘I am here” and with out breath saying “I am peace.” Repeat this for several minutes on your own.
Love & Light,
Kristin
(and Luna, who alternates between napping or licking Kristin’s face while meditating)
kristincorinneyoga 