February 5, 2009

Last night for our Thursday Meditation, I had 6 people come to sit.

Since we were all sitting, we started by stretching our feet and doing ankle rotations, which felt great.

Then we stood in Tadasana, stretched out the ankles and feet further, by balancing and raising up on one heel, stretching the calf & toes.  Alternated feet, rolling up and down, walking in place.

Back to Tadasana.  Namaste.

Inhaled into a few Upward Salutes, then brought the arms down, palms facing out.

Inhaled arms up to a T, bent arms like a goal post (go Steelers!) with palms facing in, and worked the elbows back to get a stretch between the shoulder blades.

Exhaled out to a hug, dropped chin to chest, closed eyes, noticed the breath.

Repeated with elbows/hug.

We then softened knees and with a little bend in them, rolled down to a very loose Uttanasana.

Place palms on floor, came to squat and went into Garland pose.

Rolled back up to the squat, widened legs, Namaste.

Came into Hero's pose, then place hands beside feet, fingers pointing back, raised heart space for a gentle backbend.  Noticed the breath.

Came back into Puppy Stretch, Namaste.

Then sat in meditation for about 25 minutes.

Afterward, I directed everyone to cover their ears with palms, close eyes and listen to the breath.

Then I talked about Pranayama, how it literally animates every aspect of our lives, how our busy, sophisticated, complicated lives hinge upon a simple, involuntary process.  We discussed how some master meditators and Yogis actually consider the breath to be voluntary!

We then talked about taking a pause at the top of each inhalation, the bottom of each exhalation, and noticing what that does to our habitual monkey mind.  I cautioned that if anyone felt light-headed or dizzy or uncomfortable when experimenting with the breath, just to resume normal breathing.  

I talked about feeling fearful during Ocean Breathing (covering ears, closing eyes), and how the practice of meditation had really quelled my own fears that way.

It was actually an interesting discussion, with a few people sharing their breathing experiences.

Afterward, J stayed behind and I told him about Eyes Around The Clock pose (Just make sure you are sitting down!), since he spends a lot of time in front of the computer, and this is a good exercise for tired eyes.

Namaste!