Jellyfish Exploration

In this episode, we'll explore how the breath is facilitated by these inner jellyfish, these diaphragms. If you haven't listened to the lecture before, you might want to pause and get a little refresher about where these diaphragms reside in your body before doing this exploration. When you're ready, though, I think it's best done onto your backs, so come gently down onto your backs in something that looks like shavasana or constructive rest any way that you're comfortable for the next few minutes. You can place something underneath your knees or something flat under your head and just take these next few moments to adjust your body. Fix your clothes and fix your hair, anything that might distract you. Make those movements now. Just begin to feel the parts of you that are in connection to the padding floor below you and allow those points to begin to feel their weight to grow heavier, to sink down, to yield to gravity. Maybe the backs of your feet or heels, the backs of your legs, the seat, the backs of the shoulders and arms, the back of your head. Allow your skin to soften so it feels in some way that it's draping easily over the muscles, the muscles draping easily over the bones. You begin to make room for this exploration, the more internal landscape. Very gently begin to deepen the breath. It doesn't have to be your largest breath, just long enough, slow enough that it keeps your attention and keeps you here and present. Start to settle the level of your attention down into the very basin of your pelvis, into that pelvic floor, pelvic diaphragm. You can think of it bordered by the pubic bone, the tailbone and your two sitting bones. Feel with your next inhale that diaphragm slowly drawing down towards your feet, expanding, softening outward. On your exhale, it domes back in and up towards your crown. The inhale, it softens and expands down towards your feet. On your exhale, it domes back in and up towards your crown. See if you can allow your awareness to rest on that movement as you keep your breath slightly longer than your natural breath. If you're having a hard time feeling it, don't worry. Just keep the mind tracing the breath. You're really just bringing the awareness to what's already happening, not having to create it. Allow the awareness to start lifting a little higher into your body, into this region of the thoracic diaphragm. You can think of it bordered by the end of your breastbone, edges of your floating ribs and the last thoracic vertebra right before your low back gently arcs away from the floor. As you take your deeper breath in, notice that diaphragm begins to descend down towards the feet and as you exhale, it domes back in and up towards the crown. Inhale, it draws down towards the feet. You exhale, it domes back in and up towards the crown. Keep the mind tracing that gentle movement of your breath. Again, if you're having a hard time feeling it, relax your effort. Keep the mind on the breath and it'll come. Share with your friends.

Allowing the awareness to drift a little higher up into the body, moving past through the heart, the soft throat, the soft palate, all the way to this brain diaphragm. You can think of it bordered by the kestram point of the third eye, the soft skin between the eyebrows, your two temples, and the point in the back of the skull that you feel gently nestled into the mat below. As you take that deeper breath in, the center point of that diaphragm draws down towards your feet, and as you exhale, it domes back in and up towards the crown. Inhale, it draws down towards the feet, the exhale, it domes back in and up towards the crown. Allow the mind to trace its movements, relaxing your effort. Now let the mind begin to dance with all three of these diaphragms. As you take your next inhale, feeling all three of them draw down towards the feet, exhale, they dome all three back in and up towards the crown. Might even feel as if they're a school of jellyfish swimming together. Inhale, they all draw down towards the feet. Exhale, they dome in and up towards the crown. Feeling on the inhales if the doors of the body are thrown open to receive this inspiration down into your form. As the exhale happens, they all dome back in and up as if that which you're taking in gets to now radiate through you. Allow the breath to relax so you no longer have to stretch it or shape it in any way. You might still feel this movement, this pulse, this wave of expansion and softening. As you feel ready, you can begin to gently wake the body, wiggling your fingers and your toes.

Allow your head to gently turn side to side. Taking your time, begin to roll over to one side in a fetal position. It's knowing you can hold on to any experience that felt true or real. Keeping your eyes closed, just lazily peel yourself up into a comfortable seated position. You can take your right hand into a soft fist and place it in your lower belly, cover it with your left hand. Keeping the spine upright, just tip forward a little, just enough that you feel a little pressure in your lower belly. Pelvic floor has to re-engage, otherwise you tip over called yogi mudra or yogi seal. Just to help re-rude and re-ground you back. As you feel ready, you can tip back into an upright seat and bring your palms together in front of your heart. Allow the eyes to flutter open, taking the gaze, maybe hazily at one point on the floor and gently coming back into the space. Namaste.