Breathe as a Tree

Beginning with a new practice, Solidifying the Breath, we learn how to concentrate the breath deep in the body with a hand gesture and smooth breath. This practice allows the breath to solidify as energy deep within the body, creating open space for more breath while clearing the mind. After our regular practice, we venture into the divine world, recognizing all creation is based upon divine patterns. We rest our consciousness upon the tree, relaxing into the stillness and stability that is the tree. We find ourselves breathing with the tree, into all our pores. We also breathe into the bottoms of our feet, creating heat and grounding with the breath into the feet. We finish by sharing our divine light with our family, community and relationships.

Exercise of Solidifying the Breath from The Miracle of the Breath by Andy Caponigro. https://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Breath-Mastering-Healing-Experiencing/dp/1577314786/ref=sr_1_1?crid=N8RW3H054BKG&keywords=the+miracle+of+the+breath&qid=1699476800&sprefix=the+miracle+of+the+breath,aps,121&sr=8-1

'Strands of Light' music by Sanaya Roman (orindaben.com)
Podcast production by iRonick Media (ironickmedia.com)

Disclaimer:
Breath exercises are not intended to diagnose or treat illness. Anyone undertaking to practice breath awareness and exercises should be mindful of their health and consult their health care practitioner if they have any questions about their fitness for this practice. 

Transcript

Miriam: 0:04

Welcome to Miriam's meditations. And then they make certain emotions happen. And you think my I just feel this way. But really, you are thinking these old repetitive thought processes and then the feeling follows because they are entangled with each other. So one of the beautiful things about pranayama practice is it brings those emotional patterns to consciousness allows us to see and feel and experience all of those feelings while at the same time recognizing any mental entanglements. And using the breath we begin to break those bonds of habitual thinking that creates habitual feeling, and then circles backs upon itself in a vicious cycle that keeps us trapped in certain levels of experience. Because we tend to believe when we have not a reflective practice, like pranayama, that that's just the way things are. But really, it's simply the way that you are in these realities in these energies, which we call reality. When we take time, and we breathe, and we do these practices, we come to know ourselves better and better. And we make space for these repetitive patterns of feeling and thinking to come to the surface. Even noticing those times when we can experience them on a visceral or physical level energies that become trapped in in your tissues. All this from these breathing exercises that we are practicing so faithfully and all of this leads us to our divine self, which is what we have been learning about and practicing in these recent weeks. So before we begin with the pranayama exercises, I like to do a new exercise with you that is called solidifying the breath. So before we begin that exercise, I'd like you to simply notice your breathing as it is in this moment without changing anything, just relax your shoulders away from your ears and your throat. Let it be open and soft. And simply breathe in and out through your nostrils with your mouth closed for a few cycles of breath now I am making a sound with my breath so you can hear it but your breath can be very, very quiet or you can make a sound. You can breathe in strongly and open your mouth and sigh That's always a lovely way to begin a breath practice just releasing and letting go of all that can be released in this moment. Now, with both hands, I'd like you to fold your thumb across the palm of your hand like you're doing a number four with your fingers so your fingers are up when your thumb is across your palm. Now close all of your fingers around your thumb so your thumb is completely enclosed and pressing against the palms of your hands. Now rest your hands with your fists still closed on your lap. Relax your arms. Now just breathe in and breathe out. On your next inhalation while you are breathing in, begin to squeeze your thumbs gently at first and then more and more strongly continuing to breathe in and breathe in. Breathe in squeezing, squeezing, squeezing. And then as you exhale, simply softly release, keeping your fingers around your thumbs. Again, breathe in and begin to squeeze your thumbs and notice how your breath begins to solidify somewhere in the center of your being as though it has become quite dense and concentrated exhale. Again, breathing in and squeezing your thumbs and exhale, you can open your mouth to exhale if you like but breathe in through your nose. Let's do just one more of those solidifying the breath. Breathing and squeeze your thumbs pressing with your hands, you making a nice, tight fist all the way to the top of the breathing space. And exhale and relax. Release your thumbs, wiggle your fingers. Just let your hands be soft. Now just breathe in again. And notice how your breath without the fist activity is sort of diffused and seems almost week. After that practice of solidifying the breath. Just breathe your normal breath. Isn't that interesting? The hands and the arms connect with nerve endings. All around your chest, your ribcage. So as you were making these squeezing motions with your hands and you can use to firm rubber balls if you prefer to not squeeze your thumbs, you shouldn't have pain in your hands. But some of us can't do this with our thumbs. If you can't fold your thumbs across your palm, just make fists and squeeze your fist as you breathe out. Let's practice one more time. Fold your thumbs across your palms, close your fingers all around. Rest your hands in your lap exhale. Now as you breathe in, squeeze your thumbs firmly, strongly noticing how the breath is concentrating somewhere in the region of your heart. And exhale, you might notice that you are breathing more deeply as well. More breath is coming in. Again, breathing in squeezing, pressing and exhale. Feeling calmer as well. A kind of release and relaxation on the exhalation. Nice deep exhalation one more time breathing in squeezing your thumbs exhale, release completely. That's a simple exercise you can do anytime. practically anywhere, concentrating the breath, solidifying the breath deep within you. It has a clarifying effect upon mental body as well. Notice your thoughts are becoming quiet. There was a kind of almost like a plane in the brain space. Like it smooths out somehow, your mental body all right, bring you the first two fingers of the right hand to touch the third eye. Inhale at your third eye and exhale at your third eye. Now begin to spiral drawing spirals on the forehead with your fingertips to 36 Begin 1-234-567-8910 1112 1314 1516 1718 1920 21 2223 For 2526 2720 820-930-3130 230-334-3536 Pause, inhale at your third eye exhale your third eye right hand remain stationary. Place your left hand upon your heart. Heart mind uniting breath. Breathe into your third eye exhale into your heart breathe in your third eye, drawing the breath deep into the head, clearing and cleansing and then exhaling all of that mental energy into the heart surrendering to the heart. Once more breathing into the third eye exhaling into the heart, heart and mind began to blend in a spiritual union. Now breathe in at your heart. Allow the breath to rise as if on wings of a dove floating into the mind. And exhaling that blended energy back down into the sweetness of the heart. Inhale at the heart, feel that sweet loving energy of the heart as it lifts into the mind. Informing illuminating the mind and exhaling that down into the heart. Heart and Mind are wedded in a spiritual union. Once more breathing in of the heart smoothly, sweetly and softly rising. Blending and exhaling surrender to that beautiful powerful wisdom of the heart. Right hand remain stationary left hand drops to your lap. alternate nostril breathing. Breathe in through both sides of your nose and exhale through both sides of your nose. Now close off with your thumb your right nostril and breathe in the left side only. Close off with your fingers lift up your thumb breathe out breathe and say close off lift your fingers breathe out breathe insane clothes off, lift up your thumb breathe out breathe in say clothes off out other insane out other insane that your hand dropped to your lap and breathe out both sides of the nose and just pause for a moment. Feeling where you are in your consciousness in your breathing body even at this moment in our divine self practice, see if you can recognize you as your Divine Self breathing. An expanded sense of who you truly are opening to this omnipotent omnipresent all knowing brilliant expanded you let's do two retained breaths. exhale all the air in your lungs. Now breathe in full and complete rising to the top and pause. Expand around the breath opening. Feeling the nourishment of the breath. Now open your mouth wide and let it go breathe in stretch and open around the retained breath noticing the nourishment of the breath and exhale one minor Yogi exercise, inhale, arms are into a prayer pose above your head. From the center of my being out and out and out. I recognize the divine blueprint of my being and exhale as your arms drop down to your lap notice now you're breathing in any ways that your breath has changed or shifted. Notice your connection to your Divine Self. By simply asking to become more and more aware of your Divine Self. One of the things that you can ask your Divine Self is to remove blockages, old habits of thought or emotion that might keep you separate from your awareness of your Divine Self where you can never truly be separated from your Divine Self. However, in your personality moments, you can feel as though you are separated. There can be so much noise from your culture or your very chattery mind or even just the busyness of your day, many things must be done every day. As we open our awareness, we can recognize that not only do we have a divine consciousness, a divine connection to this open, pure spiritual energy, but so does all of creation around us. All of the animal consciousness, the insect consciousness, the plant consciousness, the water consciousness, the very stones upon the earth and the soil, have a kind of divine consciousness they too are formed of divine patterns. For there is nothing in our created world, that is outside of the Divine Plan or the divine pattern. When you begin to recognize the truth of this there is a kind of relief really, at the false information that there is an out there and an in here that is somehow separate, and that there are parts of the world that are not alive with consciousness of their own. And well consciousness of stones and soil may be very different than consciousness of water or trees. It is consciousness nonetheless. And if it is consciousness, it has divine order in a divine pattern. And this gives you a place a sense of your place in this divine pattern. recognize the perfection of it all. The ways that we breathe in the oxygen and out the carbon dioxide is the opposite of for green plants that breathe in the carbon dioxide and out the oxygen and just let yourself rest for a moment with an understanding or knowing of how perfect that is not only how completely our needs are met, but how completely the needs of the plant kingdom are met. For the to have a consciousness, a divine pattern that they are part of a purpose and a reason to be consciousness as trees you could be a very peaceful life to be a tree being in one place, allowing the squirrels to come to you and the birds and the wind in your leaves and the cycles of nature, the falling of leaves the beautiful ballet of all of the leaves fluttering through the sky, and the very uppermost branches catching the first morning rays and the last rays of the sunset in all the little insects that make their home upon you and your roots deep, deep down there's a kind of stability and stillness about the tree the tree does not doubt its place in the divine pattern or simply knows. And is there is an isness or beingness about the tree so perhaps as you're going about your daily life, you can notice a tree in your vicinity could be a small young tree just starting out or a grand old tree having seen many cycles and revolutions about the sun maybe 100 or more maybe 1000 or more does it not feel your heart to know their 1000 year old trees upon the planet that have a kind of divine consciousness of their own purpose and path this kind of expansion of your awareness is very valuable. Opening to different kinds of consciousnesses looking out through the eyes as it were of the tree breathing as the tree resting in the winter sheltering the small creatures connecting underground with the other trees through the root structure and the mats of fungi that live in the soil trees appreciate to being recognized. Just like we do. Imagine that we can learn about being our divine selves and breathing as our divine selves by recognizing the tree imagining that you can breathe as a different kind of creature expands your understanding of what breath is for it is beyond the exchange of gases. It is the drawing in of a holy life, the sacred prana the vitality This is why walking is so good for us. As we work we breathe, we swing our arms, moving our cerebrospinal fluid about through our bony structures and our brain. And we breathe in resume this body imagine you could breathe into every pore of your skin that is something akin to how the tree shell breathe through all the stomata on its leaves, tiny pores that open and close regulating moisture and exchange of gases. Imagine you could create food from sunlight you certainly can receive this vital nourishment from the sun Let's shift our moment for a moment our attention to the sun and breathe with all of our pores just as the traders in the sunlight warming us from our toes to the top of our heads. And as we exhale allow that brilliant solar radiance to circulate throughout all of your body. This is as how the tree does drawing the solar radiance in and then circulating it throughout. We do this as well. And when we put our attention upon it, we enhance and augment that process breathing in the bottoms of your feet draw the breath in through the soles of the feet all the way up the legs through the spine to the crown of the head and exhaling it back out and down. Just a simple relaxation release flowing energy out through the body to the bottoms of the feet once again breathing into the bottoms of the feet so much awareness there in the soles of the feet connecting us to the earth there are fibers coming out of the bottoms of the feet that connect you to the planet. And when you breathe in this fashion through the soles of the feet you enhance your ability to ground yourself and bringing natural circulation of vital essence to the feet, the ankles, the legs and into the seat of your body you find in these cooler months of Ottoman winter that your feet are cooled. Do this practice of breathing into the bottoms of your feet bring your attention back now into your breathing body expanded all around you your body of light. We have been practicing many different ways of breathing as the Divine Self recognizing the validity of divine self in all of creation Are all of the beings who have consciousness all around us, including the rocks and stones and clouds and water. Things that are generally said to be inanimate by your sciences. However, they have all intrinsic order and with order comes consciousness if you'd like you may fold your thumbs back across the palms of your hands and close your fingers around them and we'll do a few more of the solidifying breath. Exhale all the air in your lungs. And now as you breathe in, squeeze your thumbs. Breathing in solidifying the breath recognizing where in your body you feel it the most. And then as you exhale, relax and release your hands breathing in again, solidifying the breath squeezing and exhaling releasing once more breathing in squeezing, solidifying the breath and then exhale, relax and release. Wiggle your fingers, massage your hands if you feel any kind of tension after that exercise allow the light of the Divine Self to flow through you and out into your world, into your family, into your community. Blessing someone in your world who really needs some light in this time, perhaps someone with whom you are having some difficulty. See if you can share some light upon that difficulty with that person softening and compassion love peace and joy be the vessel through which the Holy Light does flow. Bring my hands together at my heart in recognition of the divine light within you and the Divine Light within me and in that place, we are one Namaste. Mahalo for listening, follow rate and review Miriam's meditations on Apple podcast, Spotify, Google podcast, or wherever you're getting your podcasts. We share a new meditation each week. The breath work presented here is cumulative. So if you're new to breathwork please start at the beginning in season one, and you'll learn the fundamentals. You can find more information about my work and my blog at Miriam's. meditations.com That's mir. I am s meditations.com I welcome your comments. Write to me at contact at Marion's meditations.com Aloha and have a beautiful day