Echo Pranayama: A breath to clear the mind

Our minds have a proclivity to grasp at our worries. They attach to our recent dramas, our worries and concerns and they won’t let go. My recent mental obsessions have revolved around my son and my studio. If allowed, I find my mind returns to these subjects obsessively. Seemingly believing that more worry will resolve my issues. And my 'wise mind' knows I need to let things go, that worry will not resolve anything. But left to it’s own devises, my unfettered mind worries.

When the focus of your Pranayama practice is the exhalation, then the mind practices letting go. Our minds observe the action of the body letting go over and over again and follows suit. When we focus on our exhalation we release what we do not need to hold. We offer our anxieties to the universal breath. We begin to watch our thoughts just as we watch our breath and we have the ability to let our thoughts go. Our minds calm.

When we exhale we detoxify our bodies, literally releasing toxins into the air. Lucky for us, our toxins and waste products are another organism’s food and nourishment. As we relax into our exhalation, we relax into the dynamics of life. We become part and parcel of the life and energy that is exchanged between each being on this planet, between plant, animal, vegetable and mineral. Focusing on the exhalation is an exercise in trust, trusting the bigger process of life to hold us, to take what we do not need and return to us what we do need. When we surrender to this process we discover that we are taken care of by powers greater than our self.

In light on life, BKS Iyengar suggests Echo Breath as a Pranayama practice for minds that struggle to become quiet. Whenever we are confronted with mental worry or obsession, Echo Pranayama is a excellent practice to restore a calm mind. When you find your mind returning again and again to the same refrain, Echo Breath is a tool to release the refrain and find your own inner quiet again.

The practice is simple:
Take a comfortable seat, either on the floor or in a chair. Sit upright. Do not rest back into the chair seat or slump into the space behind you. Bring your rib cage to float like an inverted bowl directly over your pelvis. Bring your head to float directly above your heart. Soften the back of your neck. Once the neck feels aligned rotate your head forward to bring your chin toward the notch of your sternum.

1. Breath through your nose.
2. Begin with an easy exhale followed by an inhale.
3. Gradually extend the length of each exhalation.
4. As you find your maximum exhalation add a moment of rest after the end of the exhale. Rest for one or two seconds, long enough to notice but not long enough to cause anxiety.
5. After a few cycles of this, add an additional exhale after the rest. And then rest again for another second before you receive a smooth inhalation.
6. Do not grasp the inhale, receive it as a gift.

Focus on your exhalation, following it to the end, resting and then exhaling further. Continue to empty your mind with each exhalation. Offer your thoughts to the bigger mind of the universe and trust that what you need will be returned to you, just as the next inhalation is given to you.

Continue Echo Breath Pranayama for 3 to 5 minutes. Rest in Savasana (relaxation pose) when you are finished.

If you become anxious or short of breath during Pranayama immediately return to your normal breathing pattern. Rest and try again another day.

You can practice this Pranayama any time anxiety or obsession pull at your mind. As you bring your breath under the guidance of your deeper mind, so you will be able to turn your thoughts where you want them to go.

A Meditation Practice

Dear Sitting Still: Last week I answered your questions about why to meditate. Today I will offer you a 'how' to meditate. This is just one possibility of many ways to meditate and bring awareness into your body.

Lie down on the floor and rest. See how deeply you can rest, offering your body to gravity over and over again. Anywhere you notice tension, breathe, wiggle, and stretch into the tension and then release to let the tension go. Imagine yourself becoming a puddle, completely supported by the earth beneath you.

Begin to notice your breath. Feel your ribs stretch with each inhalation and relax with each exhale. Stay with this awareness of your ribcage for a few minutes. Stay curious as you sense and observe the breath.

Slowly turn your attention to your upper chest. Notice how your clavicles and shoulder blades respond to your breath. How does the breath press into the arms? Notice the stretch of the inhalation, the release of exhalation. Let your curiosity and attention stay in the upper chest for a few minutes.

Turn your attention now to your lower belly and pelvis. Breathe deep in your torso. How do your hips respond to the inhalation and exhalation? What happens to the floor of the pelvis? Rest your attention in your hips and pelvis for the next few minutes. Stay curious, keep observing.

Now take your attention out to the palms of your hands. Sense where they are in space. Feel the arch of the palm. Breath all the way out into the arch of your palm. Can you feel the skin expand on the inhale and relax on the exhale? It doesn't matter whether or not the sensation is real or imagined. Connect the breath with the palms for a few minutes.

Take your attention to the souls of your feet. Sense where they are in space. Feel the arch of the foot. Breathe all the way out into the arch of your foot. Can you feel the skin expand on the inhale and relax on the exhale. Remain curious and attentive to the souls of your feet for a few minutes.

Now take your attention to the top of your head. Imagine a flower blooming there. The flower opens a little further on each inhalation and relaxes on each exhalation. Rest with this image of the breath opening the crown of the head for the next few minutes.

Rest in silence now for as long as you like. Stay curious and keep your attention in your body, open and aware.

Slowly return to the present moment, to the room, to the sounds and space around you. Deepen your breathing and stretch out into your limbs. Wiggle your fingers and toes. Gently invite yourself back.