Day 3 for the 21-Day Dhyana Sadhana, 21-Day Meditation Practice daily online retreat as we approach Divali 2024.
In this session I speak about the importance of the nervous system on our spiritual path, and the need for strengthening and nourishing the nervous system to enable us to go deeper into meditation. In meditation we focussed on the 3 main nerve plexuses - gut, heart, and brain.
Intro for today - speaking about the nervous system and how it features for our spiritual practice, including understanding what will strengthen or weaken the nerves.
Meditation Transcript
Let's close our eyes, please. And I invite you to begin focusing inwards.
Come into the awareness of present moment. What does that mean? It means committing to this experience, committing to this process. So you're leaving the past, acknowledging it is there, but not letting it control how this moment will unfold. And you don't need to project into the future, thinking about the future with expectation, what's coming next. No need. Just stay with me in this moment, in tune with your body, becoming more self aware. Notice that feeling of I am I existed. Notice that feeling of presence. And remember that the entire meditation process is held, carried in the deepest part of your being. Each breath comes from your divine self, is sacred and is held in the source of your being, source of your power. That source is your true self. Body, heart, mind, energy. These are your instruments. They are not your true self. Now let's become masterful and skillful in how we engage with our instruments. Clear your mind. As you breathe out, let go of the thinking. Come into a peaceful mind, a mind that is curious, attentive, and observant. Use your breathing to help you. When you breathe out, make space. And when you breathe in, breathe into peacefulness. Breathe into self awareness. Now bring your attention into your abdomen, into the gut, and use deep abdominal breathing. When you exhale, give a little tension to the abdominal muscles. Draw the navel towards your spine. And when you inhale, expand the abdomen, push the diaphragm down in your body, and really stretch the abdomen. And do this for every breath to anchor in abdominal breathing, belly breathing, you are creating that consciousness of the energy center there and of the nerve plexus there and open up to feel. What happens when you do this? I can feel already my body becomes warm, and I become more sensitive to the organs in the gut. Ensure that when you expand the abdomen on the inhale, that you feel a bit of pressure on the back muscles, on the sides of the body and on the front. The expansion is in every direction. And when you breathe out, give a good contraction of the muscles. Deep inhale, deep exhale. And if you can, when you exhale and you squeeze the muscles, you can also squeeze the perineum, that muscle at the base of the body, to hold in the energy. In yoga, it's called mulabandha. Squeezing that perineum to lock in the energies of that lower area. Now, when you inhale, expand the abdomen. If you can squeeze the perineum and hold the breath, lock in the energies, you can hold it. Don't be afraid. And then exhale. Take a deep breath and out again. Inhale, expand the abdomen, gently. Tense that perineum muscle to hold the energy and hold the breath. Give a little pressure with your diaphragm. Feel the abdomen stretching. Stay with me, stay with me. And then exhale. Relax. Some people, when you do this, you will feel a little dizziness coming into the space. It's okay, it's just showing that there is a slight weakness there that is needs to be strengthened. And this is how we strengthen. It's important to do this in a relaxed way. Make sure you're not building up tension in the other parts of your body. As you breathe out, relax, release completely. Now, breathing in, expand the abdomen. Squeeze the perineum to lock in the energies and hold your breath. If you can feed more energy into the abdomen, more breath into the abdomen, you do that and hold it there, and then breathe out and take a few very natural breaths in a space of observation. Allow the energy to circulate as it needs to. Just notice, how does that gut area feel? How does my entire body feel? I can feel a different level of alertness is now there in my space. This is how you can strengthen the gut, but you must do it in a relaxed way. And of course, you're awakening the fire element, the Agni energy, there in the gut. That's why you feel the warmth. Now bring your attention into your chest. And as you inhale, it's as though you're lifting the energy from the lower area towards the chest. And as you breathe, explore the capacity in the chest. And when you inhale, open up the ribcage, open up the chest, the shoulders. If you need to free your arms, lifting the arms to stretch and breathe, you can bring your attention and your awareness into that heart area and hold clearly in your mind. The goal is to strengthen the heart. The goal is to nourish the nervous system there, nerve plexus there. When you breathe into the chest, hold the breath for a few seconds and then gently release. It should be relaxed. Breathing in, hold the breath gently there and release. At third time, please. Breathing in, hold the breath gently there and release. Now, to fully nourish the heart plexus, that heart area, you need to use some of the power from the sacral, from the root. So on the inhale, you want to draw up from the very base of the body, from the sacral towards your heart, and hold the dead. And when you exhale, release the air, but not the energy feeling at the chest. And again inhale, drawing up the energy. Try to feel that lifting, inwardly lifting from the root, from the sacral towards your heart. Hold it there. And then release the air, but not the energy. One more time, breathing in, lifting up the energy and out, releasing the air, but keeping the energy feeling there. If you start to get some lightheadedness, then breathe once more into the abdomen, into the gut, just to make sure the excess energy is not disturbing the system, we want the excess energy to be moved into the body, into the field of the body, the matrix of the body. Now, gently bring your attention to that point between the eyebrows. Softly focus there. And with a slow breath, as though you're drinking the air through that point, draw the energy into the head space. As you do this in the background, keep the awareness of the gut and the heart. Feel that they are strongly present in the space to stabilize the mind experience. Can you feel how the breath becomes more focused in that upper head space? And the breathing naturally becomes a little bit softer and there's a gentle constriction in the throat, and each breath is flowing like a wave into the brain. Just observe how it feels. Remember, it should be relaxed. Don't use power when you're influencing the mind and the brain. It's like an inner massage using the breath. And I can feel that as I stay with this. The breath is going deeper and deeper into the head space, and it's moving more towards the back of the head, that area of the brain called the medulla. Draw the energy in. That's good. Now let's take a breath in. And when you breathe out, push the energy down towards your body, down from the head, down the chest, down the gut, down to the base, even into your feet, if you can. Your next breath pushing the energy down, and observe whole body awareness. Now begin breathing with the entire body as you lived in the past two days. When you inhale, stretch the body. When you exhale, relax. When you inhale, stretch open all the joints, open up the spine. When you exhale, relax, feel the gentle collapsing of the body. When you inhale, stretch, feel that connective tissue beneath the skin, stretching and opening. When you exhale, relax. And one more time, please inhale and stretch the entire body, moving the excess energy into the body where it's held in reserve. And then exhale and relax. I invite you to tune into the senses slowly and mentally prepare to engage with your day and the activities of your day. And before coming back, let us mentally affirm. I keep my body relaxed and at ease, and I hold my nervous system in recharge, not allowing it to become depleted. I nourish my nervous system today. Thank you very much. Now take a deep breath. Pull yourself all the way back to the body, all the way back to the space through the senses. And when you feel ready, with a few gentle blinks, you can open the eyes. Reflection
1. What did I observe in meditation?
2. What was striking in the meditation experience? 3. What was challenging for me today? Feel free to ask your questions and post your reflection in the comments if you wish for some feedback.
4 Comments
Elsbeth
10/13/2024 12:28:55 am
Thank you very much for this grounding and focused start of the day, Ved! My body is warmed up completely and I'm looking forward to holding this focus and energy throughout this day. Elsbeth.
Reply
Ved
10/13/2024 08:41:04 am
Namaskar Elsbeth. Hope you were able to start tuning into the flow of energy with the breath.
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Ester
10/13/2024 01:21:49 am
Dear Ved, I think something went wrong with the recording yesterday. There’s only the first part. I like to listen also in the morning in the Netherlands, then the energy and my focus are more alert and open.
Reply
Ved
10/13/2024 08:40:25 am
Namaskar Ester! I double checked the google drive for the full recording for day 3 and it is complete. Make sure to watch the recordings there.
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