Tantric Hatha Yoga + Open Heart Meditation | Expand and Energize | Prana Vayu (Melissa Wick)

Transcript

hey everyone melissa wick here welcome to my channel if you're new here or welcome back it's a pleasure to be here with you this practice is a practice around cultivating prana value so it's going to be about expanding and energizing so pranavayu exists around and works around the ribs and the chest area so all around and this is an energy that is expansive so we're gonna increase our capacity to retain prana and prana is our life force energy we have energy flowing through us we are energy it's just a matter of learning how to work with it and manage it and so for a lot of us we have our attention and our awareness outside of us whether it is social media or the news and when we are outside of ourselves we are operating from a place of lack and not from a place of power and so when we're working with the values and today we're working with prana value we're going to work with withdrawing the senses from the senses and work on coming back in so we're working with energy it's more of a subtle practice so we really need to pay attention to our breath if we want to tap into the subtleties of the practice the movements are simple the foundation is stability and then we're going to work with a ratio of two to one with the breath meaning inhale for the count let's say of six or eight then you would exhale for half the amount so for three or four so double the inhale half the the duration of the exhale and so for some of us we might inhale and once we get to the count of three or four we feel like there's no more breath to inhale there's no more space to inhale my suggestion to you is to slow down the inhalation think of it as sipping air through a straw so you want to slow it down and bring the breath up through the ribs into the chest you're finding that expansion stopping at the throat we don't want to stimulate the mind and then the exhale quicker exhale back down into the pelvic floor i will guide you through the whole practice we're going to work through the asanas with the breath with pranayama we're going to take a nice delicious shavasana resting in the heart and then we'll finish the practice in a guided meditation to really cultivate prana so get into something comfortable maybe have a block for meditation to set up on something and let's get this practice started let's begin on our backs so go ahead and lay yourself down we can start with the knees bent have your feet a little wider knees fall into touch hands could be on your belly or by your side closing your eyes and let's just settle in here to our breath shifting your awareness internally breathing in and out through both nostrils setting the intention here to make the breath as smooth and as even as possible deep slow quiet breaths we're going to start to set up our breath pattern here separating your knees your feet are hip width distance apart setting up for bridge pose palms down arms by your side as you breathe in you're going to press your feet down gently engage your glutes lift your hips up and bring both arms up two pathways all the way up and back back so the arms touch the ground behind you as you exhale you're going to lower your hips down lower your arms down establishing the rhythm of breath so as you inhale the breath travels up from the pelvic floor and into the chest stopping at the throat and as you exhale the breath and awareness travel back down the spine and into the pelvic floor twice more nice and smooth breathing in lift up breath travels up exhale breath travels down the spine into the pelvic floor again inhale rise lift exhale lower down now we're going to come into a static bridge lift your hips up your palms could stay down onto the mat or you can interlace the hands behind you walk the shoulders under pressing your arms into the ground making sure weight is even on both sides of the legs and then start to smoothen out your breath so when you inhale you inhale slowly from the pelvic floor up into the chest stopping at throat and then a quicker exhale down the spine into the pelvic floor how steady can you be here slow down the inhale so inhale for the count of five or six and exhale for half the amount so exhale for three continue like this so two to one ratio inhale for the count of six or maybe even eight exhale half the amount keep going with your breath capacity maybe even here you add a short sweet gentle pause at the top of the inhale just containing the breath in the chest area and then you exhale awareness travels back down one more wherever you are nice and steady and stable lift the hips a little higher when you your exhale arrives just release your arms slowly lower down release your glutes give yourself a moment to pause adjust and feel and then we'll bring the knees in towards the chest give yourself a rock up come on to all fours here spread your fingers nice and wide tuck the toes underneath as you inhale release the belly come into your cow pose gentle lift of the neck the throat as you exhale you're going to pull the belly in and lift your knees go up and back to downward facing dog we're not going to stay here as you inhale we're going to ripple forward to high plank so hips come forward heels hips shoulders head in one line nice and smooth exhale back downward facing dog twice more inhale come forward the inhale travels along the spine stops at the throat chin is in exhale downward facing dog one more time inhale awareness travels up the spine into the chest pausing at the throat and exhale back downward facing dog lifting your heels bring your knees down and sit back onto your heels take your arms out in front of you have your thumbs facing up towards the sky we're going to rise up on an inhale your thumbs go back in space so the broad in the upper back you're going to rise and stand on your knees arms reach up as you exhale the thumbs still stay back in space your hips go down lower back down how steady can you be smooth breaths here as you rise thumbs back in space this is a grand gesture here awakening to the higher self as you exhale bowing down to the ego twice more slow down the inhale rise up thumbs back so you're going to feel a bit of strength in your back you don't need to make it a backbend just stay upright chin is in exhale bowing down biceps by the ears last one inhale thumbs back rise flat back all the way up exhale lower down pause here for a cycle of breath come forward onto all fours belly pulls in steady spine stable pelvis as you inhale just take your right knee out to the side and then back in knee stays bent inhale out to the side and back in inhale out to the side back in three more times inhale out to the side exhale back in and lower one more time lift and lower the next time that you're out you're going to extend that right leg and take it out foot down on the ground heel behind the toes and then you're going to walk the hands forward here and then we'll come into a cat cow position so heel behind the toes as you breathe in we're gonna drop the belly lift the chest as you exhale push the floor away inhale release the belly so cat cow motion here exhale push the floor away one more time inhale release the belly exhale push the floor away come back here to towards a neutral spine keep your hips stacked over your knees walk your hands forward for a puppy stretch keep pulling the navel in towards the back of the spine push down on the palms and just breathe into your upper chest slight pulling of the chin beautiful walk your hands back in towards you come to stand on your knee preparing for a gate pose lock tape pose so your tailbone is lengthening down your low belly zips in take your arms out to the sides palms reach up and then we'll inhale your right hand to your right thigh left arm up and over palm faces in and then exhale back up to stand nice and steady here slow down your inhalations inhale reach up and over exhale back up to stand quicker exhale slow down the inhale for the count of five or six two three four five six exhale for three rise two three again on your own slow down the inhale maybe inhale for the count of six or eight low belly pulls up and in quicker exhale come back to stand one more time as you inhale the breath is traveling up into the ribs into the chest slight pulling of the chin so you stop the energy from stimulating the mind back up to stand this time we're gonna hold so arch up and over towards the extended leg and then stay here find that two to one breath ratio so inhale for six or eight and exhale for half the amount if it's not too stimulating feel free to add a gentle pause at the top of the inhale the chin is in and this is also a way to cultivate steadiness so focus your eyes on one point how still can you be very intentional beautiful rise back up come to kneel pause for a moment here and just feel the left side of your body awakened feel the prana moving the left side of the chest take your hands down tuck the toes under come into downward facing dog sit bones reach up and back on your next inhale your right leg is going to sweep up take a breath in hip stay closed as you exhale step your right foot to the outside of the right hand preparing for scandalous to keep your hips lifted a little higher you're going to walk your hands back towards the back of the mat bend your left knee and right leg extends left knee in line with the left toes and then other side walk your hands to the right bend your right knee left leg extends right knee in line with the right toes so keep some integrity in the leg so you're not just totally dumping the weight into the hamstrings bend your left knee walk your hands to the back of the mat and then walk your hands back to the right frame your right foot preparing for warrior one so step your left foot out to the left a little bit so left toes are right on an angle you're on two tracks keep your right knee bent warrior one reaching the arms up okay stagger the feet more so the hips are facing forward and then reach the arms up low belly zips in keep pulling that right hip back firm that back leg so as you exhale you're going to lower the arms down and a slight pull up and in of the root of the pelvic floor so your legs stay steady as you inhale the awareness and the attention the breath rises up the spine into the ribs in the chest like pulling of the chin and low belly still stays zipped in as you exhale the breath travels down back into the pelvic floor of the root okay one more time inhale breath awareness rises up into the chest feel that expansion that enlivening quality and exhale lower down inhale reach the arms up pause and warrior one slow down the inhale so feel the breath travel into the ribs in the chest quicker exhale arms stay up low belly zips in one more breath like this beautiful lower the arms down take your hands down and step back downward facing dog take five breaths here and downward facing dog so nice and steady and stable so we have gravity on our side here so as you breathe in the breath and the awareness travels up the spine feel the ribs and the chest expand nice and steady and then as you exhale the breath travels back down into the pelvic bowl equal length inhales and exhales here beautiful bring your knees down preparing for the other side so here pull the belly in steady spine you're gonna inhale take your left knee out to the left exhale back in so moving like this and lower lift and lower lift and lower lift and lower next time that you're lifted extend the leg out to the left let that heel disappear behind the toes walk your hands out preparing for cat cow here hips stay over the knees so take a breath in drop the belly open the chest lift the gaze as you exhale push the floor away pull the belly up and in inhale release the belly exhale pull the belly up and in [Music] one more time inhale open up exhale push the floor away and then we'll walk the hands forward for that puppy stretch in this variation pushing the palms down pull the belly up and in breathe into your chest good walk your hands back in with care come to stand on the knee take your arms out to the sides palms up the low belly stays zipped in so we have nice stability in the lower back as you breathe in we're going to reach that right arm up and over so keep the chest open reach to the fingers that's your inhale as you exhale you come back to stand so three more times work with a breath two to one ratio slow down the inhale for six or eight into the chest exhale quicker exhale back up to stand slow down the inhale so as if you're sipping the air in through a straw up into the ribs the chest shoulders out of the ears quicker exhale rise back up last time inhale starting tuning starting to tune into the subtleties of the breath of prana come back to stand and now we're gonna hold so slow down the inhale right arm up and over pause here so inhale for six or eight exhale half the amount and if you'd like to add the breath retention with ease it's not forced at the top of the inhale you can do that keep pulling the low belly up and in so you're containing the breath from the pelvic floor to throat so slight pulling of the chin beautiful release slowly rise up come down to kneel give yourself a moment to pause and feel feel the right side of your body perhaps you feel prana moving a little more open perhaps tingling and then we'll take our hands forward and come into downward facing dog tuck the toes under and then we'll sweep the left leg up inhale as you exhale step your left foot to the outside of the left hand keep your hips elevated skandasana to the right so toes out heels in walk your hands to the back of your mat right knee bends knee in line with the toes other side walk your hands to the left bend your left knee lengthen the right leg and then bend your leg your right leg walk your hands to the back of the mat and then bend your left knee this time we'll frame the left foot take your right leg out to the right a little bit maybe even a little closer preparing for warrior one right toes out on an angle back leg strong bend your left knee left hip pulls back as you reach the arms up here we go with our flow here so as you exhale lower the arms down pull the low belly up and in keep pulling the left hip back back leg strong as you breathe in awareness and breath travel from the pelvic floor up into the ribs the chest exhale lower down super intentional keep going two more times as you breathe in the breath travels up and expands feeling this enlivening quality exhale lower down and again inhale nicely lift up smoothly stay here for your exhale keep pulling the root up and in not forceful think of it like a reverse cone a reverse cones on your next exhale lower the arms down step your right foot the side the left feet hip width distance apart let's prepare for dynamic bridge pose so we're going to sit back in utkatasana sit your bum back knees bent arm arms reach up slow inhale as you exhale keep your knees bent chest to thighs fingertips graze the mat chin is in slow inhale knees stay bent rise up to chair pose breath travels up and expands into the chest super calm and stable quicker exhale for three chest to thighs two one slow inhale for six or eight quicker exhale for three or four one more time inhale chair quicker exhale chested thighs this time we're going to rise up to chair and we're going to hold here pause and chair continue with the breath two to one ratio if you want to add the pause your inhale for six or eight you're gonna hold the breath at the top of the inhale chest chin is in for half the amount of your inhale and then exhale half the amount so two to one to one focus your eyes on one place nice and calm and steady noticing anything coming up for you and try not to judge or attach stay in the witness just observe bringing in a little bit of heat to burn through any instabilities if the arms is too much by the ears just take your arms out bend the elbows pulling in the belly when you finish off your last round of breath straighten your legs lower your arms down tadasana mountain pose palms face forward eyes along the horizon awareness is in the heart space in the chest equal length inhales and exhales feeling the infinite compassion in the heart center and tuning into wholeness we're going to step our left leg back preparing for triangle pose so you can turn the left toes in a little bit and your hips don't have to stay parallel to the left side of the mat they could be a bit on an angle otherwise it's going to torque the the sacrum and that's not good in the long run so we're going to take the arms out to the side you can dip your hips back and then extend forward forward forward reach and then take your right hand to the shin or the ankle or a block doesn't matter how far down you go lift your left arm up and over bicep by the ear palm faces down that's your inhale as you exhale you're going to keep your legs where they are spine where it is and just draw the left arm towards the back left corner of the mat maybe you lift the gaze inhale nice and smooth left arm arches up and over keep tucking the right glute under exhale left arm back to the back left corner either micro bend the right knee or fully engage it just don't jam the knee inhale left arm up and over exhale left arm back now we're going to hold triangle pose here left arm up and over stay here either equal length inhales and exhales if you find that it's stimulating or if you can if you feel really steady do the two to one ratio breath so as you breathe in the breath travels in towards the ribs the chest you're super steady and a quicker exhale for three or four so prana is riding on the waves of the breath breath and mind are interconnected beautiful rise up come to stand turn your toes in so you're facing the left edge of the mat arms down by your side equal length inhales and exhales let yourself adjust and then we'll take a forward fold here just to ground take your hands behind the backs of your thighs just underneath your glutes take a breath in open up the chest pull in the belly as you exhale we're gonna take the hips back shoulders stay back slide the hands down the backs of the legs chin in forward fold hands could be around the ankles or on the ground and just breathe into the belly equal length inhales and exhales we're going to take the hands behind us slide the hands back up the legs flat back shoulders back feel the power of your legs as you rise up inhale and exhale stay here for the exhale you're going to come to step to the top of your mat preparing for tree pose so finding your balance weight into the left foot bring your hands into prayer pose and lift your right heel and turn externally rotate from that right hip knee out to the side and you can stay here with your foot toes on the ground or foot to the left calf or assist it above the left inner thigh just not on the knee pushing the right foot into the left leg left leg into the right foot if you want a little bit more your arms are going to reach up and then you can take your right arm back of the right arm to the inside of the right leg and start to arch the left arm up and over towards that bended right knee chest stays open focus your eyes on one point just equal length inhales and exhales and then with care we rise up place your right foot back down give yourself a moment to adjust and then we'll move to the other side so we're going to step the right foot back preparing for triangle pose triconasan on the other side so you can have your toes in a little bit here it's okay if your hips are on an angle dip your hips back in space take your arms out to the sides and then as you start to lean reach reach reach reach reach tuck the left glute under take your left hand to the shin or a block right arm up towards the sky and then palm faces towards the ground arch that right arm up and over so you feel this beautiful length in the side body chest stays open as you exhale right arm towards the back right corner of the mat your gaze can look up if that feels okay for your neck slow inhale right arm up and over exhale right arm back right corner slow it down inhale right arm up and over exhale right arm back right arm up and over you're going to stay here and if you want to add the breath the two to one ratio you slowly inhale for six or eight into the chest feel the ribs expand chest stays open shoulders are softened and a quicker exhale how steady can you be here noticing any involuntary twitches or instabilities or shakiness that's okay just don't identify it you are not those instabilities you are the one in the witness and the observer beautiful we're going to slowly rise feel your core and legs support you as you rise up turn your left toes in pause here ground take your hands behind the backs of the thighs open up your chest take a breath in shoulders back as you exhale lead with the chest hips go back slide the legs down the backs of the legs forward fold here take a couple of breaths equal length inhales and exhales into the belly into the grounding forces in the abdomen in the root we're going to rise back up hands behind the backs of the legs shoulders back flat back feel your legs support you as you rise up shoulders back breathing in and exhale step to the top of your mat we're going to prepare for tree pose rick shasta on the other side so root down with your right foot into the ground hands to come into prayer lift your left heel externally rotate initiate from the glute the left eye out and then take your left foot either to the calf or above the right knee push the left foot into the right leg right leg into the left low belly zips up and in shoulders back either palms stay in center or arms reach up take your left hand the back of the left hand is the left hip or thigh here if you want to add the arch right arm reaches up and over collarbones stay open so we're bowing the right side just do equal length inhales and exhales nice smooth breaths here finding our focus our balance slowly release back to center lower the left leg down tadasana close your eyes this time low belly zips and proud open chest awareness in the heart space noticing what you've cultivated throughout practice feeling the expansion and the liveness in the heart space but yet feeling very steady and rooted this grounded opening on your next inhale reach the arms up lengthen the spine exhale forward fold [Music] just going to step back into downward facing dog lift your heels up take your knees down and we're going to swing the legs forward coming into dandasana so you're going to extend the legs out i like to take my hands and just remove some of the flesh here so the sit bones feel connected if you need to sit up on a folded blanket if you feel like you're really rounded then by all means flex your feet take your arms out by the sides palms down onto the ground so this is an active pose so you're pressing the backs of your legs down into the mat shoulders glide down the back you're stacking the crown of the head over the base of the spine so we're not too forward we're not rounded back there's a lot of action here so so grounding here connect to your breath find that ease on your next inhale the awareness and breath is going to travel from the root all the way up into the chest stops at the throat slight pulling of the chin and then as you exhale you lower or the breath travels down the spine back into the pelvic bowl you do that four more times just equal length inhales and exhales as you inhale the breath and the awareness travels up the spine feeling the ribs and the chest expands stopping at throat and smooth exhale awareness and piranha travels back down into the pelvic floor and just do three more breaths like that on your own super present finishing off your last cycle make sure there's enough space for you behind you just go back down onto your back and we'll come into a simple twist just to let go of any um energy or tension that's built up in the lower back so pull your right knee in and then take yourself over to the left roll onto the left side left hand can hold on to the right thigh right arm opens up for a twist gaze could be center or look over to the right equal length breaths in and out through the nose and just feeling the abdomen rise and fall beautiful release come back to center and just do a simple switch right leg extends out pull the left knee in roll over to the right side left arm opens up these is wherever is the most comfortable for a full twist look over to the left breathing in the abdomen beautiful release coming back to center let's pull the knees in towards the chest wrap your arms around your shins just give yourself a nice sweet gentle hug and then from here we're gonna extend our legs out into shavasana let your ankles fall open adjust as you need arms out to the side palms up releasing any control or effort of your breath let yourself just settle down and let your awareness rest in your heart space where infinite compassion resides infinite potential and wholeness tuning inward knowing that we have everything we need already within us noticing what it feels like to be at home in the center of your multi-dimensional being and know that you always always have access to this you can slowly and gently begin your return by deepening your breath starting to bring some gentle movement back into your body maybe you move your fingers and your toes your wrists your ankles bringing your arms up overhead for a nice big big stretch as you deepen the breath bring your knees in toward you give yourself a good hug acknowledge your efforts and eventually bring yourself upright to a seated position any way that you like to come up preparing for meditation setting up on a prop or a block get yourself comfortable so that there is no distraction in the physical body so you feel supported align the crown of your head over the base of the spine drop your shoulders down find a tall spine with a relaxed awareness close your eyes and establish a smooth rhythm of breath slow internal quiet uninterrupted breaths let's begin to shape the breath equal length inhales and exhales through the nose empty out the breath and slowly and smoothly inhale for the count of four two three four and exhale out two three four continue like this as you inhale the energy and awareness travels up the spine stopping at the throat and as you exhale the awareness and prana travels down from the throat into the root so you're following the ascending breath on the inhale up the spine and the descending breath on the exhale down the spine and into the root slow breaths slow quiet without pause and we're going to intentionally add a pause at the top of the inhale so next time that you inhale you're going to hold the breath at the top in the throat slight pull in of the chin hold in for four counts and then you can exhale down the spine for four counts so you inhale for four you pause gentle pause holding at the top for four and exhale out for four find your rhythm the next time that you pause at the top of the inhale bring your attention to the heart space and sense or feel a brilliant ray of light and then you exhale the energy and prana travels back down just continue like that so when you inhale you draw the energy into the heart and you pause and another ray of light reveals itself to you continue like this eventually your chest is beaming with hundreds of rays of light now let go of all the technique and rest your awareness at the heart center infinite capacity for love and compassion the more you love the more rays of light reveal themselves to you this love starts with self-love not just the parts that we like but all parts of ourselves even the ones we find challenging this act of love towards self expands our capacity to love others and to have compassion for others and as you sit in this ball of energy you sense or feel hundreds of rays of light you are so full of light that it beams out of you recognize that you are that light and that light is you you are completely absorbed in the light of the heart slowly bow the chin down towards the chest and begin to deepen your breath bring your palms to touch in front of your heart's face slight bone of the chin honor your practice in any way you like thank you for your practice from my heart to yours namaste