March Meditation - Day #7

Meditating Yogis,

Exhaling completely……completely……….nothing to hold on to.  Letting everything go. 

Learn how to exhale, the inhale will take care of itself.       ~Carla Melucci Ardito

 

We too should make ourselves empty, that the great soul of the universe may fill us with its breath.

~Laurence Binyon

Every day……..at least 10 minutes.

Surrendering to the breath,

SARAH

March Meditation - Day #6

 

Yogis,

We have spent the last 5 days getting to know our breath.   So simple,  yet the study and practice of breath, pranayama, is a path in and of itself, and has the power to be life changing.

For the next several days  we will explore the technique of entering the void….the gap….the space between the breaths. 

 

·         Begin by settling into your seat – both physically and emotionally.  Bringing yourself right here, noticing the space around you.

·         Find your alignment by rooting down with your tailbone and sit bones to lengthen and stack the spine.  Chin is level, shoulders dropped and crown of the head reaching. 

·         Take a slow scan of the body starting with the crown and moving all the way down to the feet checking for areas of holding – common culprits being the jaw, shoulders, hands, belly and feet.   If you find any place of tension, bring your mind there and ask it to relax. 

·         Tune into your breath.  Watching the rise of the inhale and fall of the exhale.   Relax into the rhythm of the breath.  Allow your exhales to be complete.

·         Now begin to notice the slight pause at the end of the exhale.  First simply noticing it.

·         Then over time begin to lengthen it.   No struggle.   Just following your exhales with your awareness all the way into this void….this space….. being there as long as is comfortable.  Floating there.  And as soon as the body has the need for breath, allow yourself to be filled. 

 

The void is a place which contains nothing…yet contains the potential for everything.  In this gap between the breaths is a profound stillness. 

 

It is a place you want to get to know well!

 

So grateful to have you all on this journey with me,

SARAH

March Meditation - Day #5

From the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali:

I, 2

Yoga

is experienced

in that mind

which has

ceased

to identify itself

with its

vacillating waves of perception.

 

 

Once we have arrived in stillness in our meditation, we begin to “see” our thoughts.  Taking a small step back to watch them.   Becoming the observer.  We are not our thoughts.  Thoughts are just waves and we can learn to ride them, direct them….. or let them go completely. 

I, 12

The vacillating waves of perceptions

are stilled through consistent earnest practice

and

dispassionate non-attachment.

I, 13

That practice

is indeed firmly grounded

when it is pursued incessantly,

with reverence,

for a long time.

 

Every day…..at least 10 minutes.

Tomorrow I will introduce a new technique to work with.

Breathing in, breathing out,

SARAH

March Meditation - Day #4

Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet. It’s a way of entering into the quiet that’s already there – buried under the 50,000 thoughts the average person thinks every day.

– Deepak Chopra

We will each find that we favor one or the other – the inhale or the exhale.  And even just this simple act of noticing is meditation. 

The inhale is a form of receiving.  Through the exhale we give.   Softening so that we can be open to both…………. 

Every day…..at least 10 minutes.

Breathing in, and breathing out,

SARAH

Can I get off here, please?

Dear Yogis,

This week I launched my March Meditation “pool” and attendance has been steadily increasing.  Now a virtual community of 32 people all testing the waters of change individually, yet supported by a group all beginning to swim in the same direction……….upstream.

The current of our world today is one of constant doing.  Moving from the bed, to the shower, the car, office, meeting, an event, a quick dinner and off to bed to do it all over again.  Our society rewards action.  Accomplishment.  And material wealth.  Not a lot of kudos for having meditated today. 

So the easy path is to just follow along, swept up by technology and the internet, taking any free moment to send texts and post to Facebook.   As long as we are in motion, there is not time to consider if we are content.  No time to go inside and find out if we are fulfilled. 

My hair salon has put 3 large screen tvs on the wall, all with different shows that you can view as you put your head back for a shampoo.  Are we that unable to be with ourselves that we must be entertained during a shampoo?  How about the tvs at the gas pump?   I get startled every single time I hear that unexpected loud “hello!”  On my recent plane ride, the tvs on the back of every seat play a continuous stream of commercials if you don’t pay the $8 to get the movie.  And amazingly almost no one turned theirs off for the full 4 hour flight. 

In response to my invitation to join, one person commented that “we are all screaming for meditation”.    But do we even have the time to do it.  And this week I heard several conversations around the need to “get away from here”.     In other words – Can I get off here, please?.   We all feel it and intellectually know that this way of living and its exponential speeding up each year, is not sustainable.  And for some of us who can and choose to, moving away from a city does offer some relief.

But the real change must come from within (as all change does).  One at a time we must stop, get grounded and find the peace within, and then be willing to turn and swim against the current.  It isn’t the “world” that is causing our stress and sleepless nights.  The world is not some third party.  The world is us.  And what we all asked for and wanted, we know have.  There is no one to blame.  But we have the ability to want differently for our futures.  And meditation is a great place to start. 

As more and more of us begin to swim against the current, our strength and intention will shift the waters.   Remember, our outer lives are only a reflection of our inner world.

If anyone else wants to join into our March Meditation, or you know someone who does, send me a note!

Diving in head first with no fear,

SARAH

sarah@serenitycircleyoga.com

March Meditation - Day #3

Meditative Yogis,

These next few days we will continue with our watching of the breath. 

The rise of the inhale ……………….. lengthening, lifting, life affirming, filling

       The fall of the exhale………. relaxing, releasing, allowing, letting go

Every breath unique.  Every breath an opportunity for something amazing.

Every day……at least 10 minutes.

AAaaaaaahhhhhhhh………………

SARAH

March Meditation - Day #2

Meditating Yogis,

By now most of you have had one, or maybe two meditations.  Just checking in !

I have heard from a few of you, and could feel the rest of you in my morning meditation today.  Our meditation virtual community is now 31 strong.  Think of all of that calming energy.  Feel it around you as you do your daily “sit”, knowing that you are supported.   It is as if we are weaving a web of peace.  And not only will it help you, but those around us will sense it too.

Every day…….  At least 10 minutes…….

Some days will seem easy, and some will challenge you.  Simply watch that.  Let each one be as it is supposed to be.

Intimate with my breath,

SARAH