Note from Tracy: Recent news articles and social media threads inspired me to create and teach a yoga series at Whole Life Yoga called Yoga for Turbulent Times.  For those of you not near Seattle, I’ve decided to share the breath practices and meditations from this class as I teach them. I hope you find them useful.  The practice below is from week 4 of the series.

“The heart is like a garden. It can grow compassion or fear, resentment or love. What seeds will you plant there?” Jack Kornfield

What we pay attention to in our lives grows. If we allow resentment to plant in our heart, we will become resentful. If we invite peace, we will become calm. If we invite compassion, we will become kind.  What do you want to cultivate in your life’s garden?  The breath and meditation practices below can make whatever you plant flourish.

Alternate Nostril Exhale Breathing

Note:  This breath practice is a little complex, but it is wonderfully calming, focusing, and balancing to the nervous system. It’s not my first choice for use in a business meeting, but funny-looking or not, it is amazingly effective!

1. Lengthen your inhale and exhale, focusing on a long, smooth, flowing exhale.
2. After several breaths at that lengthened breath, begin the alternate nostril exhale technique described below.
   • Raise your right hand, folding down your index and middle finger, as in the above photo.
   • Inhale freely through both nostrils.
   • Seal your right nostril at the bottom of the nostril flap with your right thumb. Partially valve the left nostril with your ring finger near the cartilage.
   • Exhale through the partially valved left nostril.
   • Inhale through both nostrils
   • Repeat the partially valved exhale, this time exhaling through the right nostril. Seal the left nostril with your ring finger and partially valve the right nostril with your thumb.
   • Inhale again through both nostrils.
3. Repeat this nostril breathing technique for 5 or more minutes. Always finish by exhaling through the partially valved right nostril.
4. Release the nostril technique and take a few lengthened breaths through both nostrils.
5. When you are ready, return your breath to a normal rhythm. Carry the energy of this breath practice to meditation.

Note: If you notice breathlessness, anxiety, or strain at any time, reduce the lengths of the inhale and exhale or release the nostril technique. Do not use this technique if your nostrils are congested.

Planting Seeds Meditation

1. Come to a comfortable seated or lying position.
2. Allow your eyes to close. Notice your breath without intentionally trying to change it.  Bring your attention to the warmth and coolness of the breath at the tip of your nostrils.
3. When you are ready, bring to mind something you’d like to grow in your life. Examples include joy, abundance, calm, and creativity. Anything that feels right to you is fine.
4. Imagine that quality as a seed. You can even write the name of that quality on the seed, as if you were engraving words on a tiny piece of rice.  Plant that seed in your heart and feel the energy of that seed inside you.
5. Imagine that, with each breath,  the seed begins to take root in tiny slivers of light. The light carries that quality to every cell within you. As you continue to breathe, the intention grows, blooms, and bears fruit. Eventually it reseeds itself in the community around you.
6. Continue this meditation for 10 minutes or longer if you’d like.

May the seeds you plant in this life all be worthy of cultivating!

Tracy Weber

My newest Downward Dog Mystery, Pre-Meditated Murder is available now  in e-book and paper back copies everywhere! Check this link for some local ideas. http://tracyweberauthor.com/buy_premeditated.html

Note from Tracy: Recent news articles and social media threads inspired me to create and teach a yoga series at Whole Life Yoga called Yoga for Turbulent Times.  For those of you not near Seattle, I’ve decided to share the breath practices and meditations from this class as I teach them. I hope you find them useful.  The practice below is from week 3 of the series.

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”  Plato

Kindness is a moment by moment choice. A practice of demonstrating compassion toward those who delight us, those who challenge us, and ourselves. As Plato so wonderfully pointed out, we have no way of knowing what battles the people around us face on a daily basis. How much of our neighbor’s burden could we lift with a simple smile or a kind word? Best of all, kindness feels good!  Use the practices below to help you remember to create kindness in your world.

Solar plexus breathing

1. Lengthen your inhale and exhale, making them approximately equal.
2. After several breaths at that lengthened breath, imagine a ray of kindness-carrying light pouring in to your torso at the level of your solar plexus, which is at the base of your sternum. See that light spreading up and down, illuminating your body.
3. With your next inhale, imagine that your breath follows that light. It enters through your solar plexus  and simultaneously moves up your chest to your nostrils and down your abdomen to your pelvic floor.  Be sure to keep your exhale long so that it matches the length of your inhale.
4. Continue this breath pattern for 5 to 10 minutes.
5. When you are ready, return your breath to a normal rhythm. Carry the energy of this breath practice to meditation.

Note: If you notice breathlessness, anxiety, or strain at any time, reduce the lengths of the inhale and exhale or release the solar plexus imagery.

Loving Kindness Meditation

1. Come to a comfortable seated or lying position.
2. Allow your eyes to close, and notice your breath—without intentionally trying to change it.  Bring your attention to the warmth and coolness of the breath at the tip of your nostrils.
3. When you are ready, bring your own self to mind, complete with all of your strengths, weaknesses, successes, and struggles.  Silently and continuously repeat the following intentions for yourself:
   • May I be at peace. May my heart be open.
   • May I be healed, and may I be a source of healing for all beings
4. When you are ready, bring to mind the image of a loved one—someone you care about.  Silently and continuously repeat the following blessings for that person:
   • May you be at peace. May your heart be open.
   • May you be healed, and may you be a source of healing for all beings.
5. When you are ready, bring to mind the image someone with whom you are in conflict, or someone who “pushes your buttons” in some away.  Perhaps someone who’s injured you in the past whom you’ve not forgiven.  Silently and continuously repeat the following blessings for that person:
   • May you be at peace. May your heart be open.
   • May you be healed, and may you be a source of healing for all beings.
6.  When you are ready, bring to mind an image of the entire planet. Visualize or sense the continents, the oceans, and the shape of the earth as it moves around the sun.  Silently and continuously repeat the following blessings for the earth:
   • May the earth be at peace. May the hearts of the earth be open.
   • May the earth be healed, and make the earth be a source of healing for all beings
7. If your attention wanders (and it will!) just notice it, and invite your attention back to the sensation of the breath at the tip of your nose.  Then continue with the loving kindness meditation from wherever you left off.  The “blessings” above can be modified to anything that makes sense to you.
8. Continue this meditation for 10 minutes or longer if you’d like.

May you create and receive kindness every moment of your life’s journey!

Tracy Weber

My newest Downward Dog Mystery, Pre-Meditated Murder is available now  in e-book and paper back copies everywhere! Check this link for some local ideas. http://tracyweberauthor.com/buy_premeditated.html

Note from Tracy: Recent news articles and social media threads inspired me to create and teach a yoga series at Whole Life Yoga called Yoga for Turbulent Times.  For those of you not near Seattle, I’ve decided to share the breath practices and meditations from this class as I teach them. I hope you find them useful.  The practice below is from week 2 of the series.

There is a story of two monks who were traveling on foot to an inn.  They had taken a vow of celibacy and were not supposed to interact with or touch women.  They came to a muddy stream  and encountered a well-dressed young woman crying at the stream’s edge. She was on her way to a wedding, and she couldn’t cross the stream without ruining her dress.

Without hesitation, the elder monk picked up the woman and carried her to the other side. The young woman rushed on her way without saying thank you.

The younger monk stewed for the rest of their journey.  Hours passed, but he couldn’t stop replaying the scene in his mind. How could his elder have broken their vows by touching a woman?  Finally, he couldn’t hold himself back any longer. He turned to his elder and asked, “How could you break our vows by touching that woman? She didn’t even say thank you!”

“What woman?” The elder asked.

“The one back at the stream.”

The elder smiled and replied. “I put that woman down hours ago. Why are you still carrying her?”

There are many variations of the above parable, and it is rooted in many traditions.  Regardless of where it originated, the story is a powerful metaphor for anger and its cousin, resentment. May the breath practice and meditation below help lighten your burden.

Breath practice:

1. Lengthen your inhale and exhale, making them approximately equal.
2. After 6 breaths at that lengthened breath, lengthen the exhale portion of your breath until the exhale is approximately 2 – 3 seconds longer than the inhale.  Imagine yourself letting go of anger and resentment with every breath out. Remain at this breath for several minutes.
3. When you are ready, shorten your exhale until it is equal to your inhale again. Remain at that breath length for 6 or more breaths.
4. Return your breath to a normal rhythm. Carry the energy of this breath practice to meditation.

Note: If you experience breathlessness, anxiety, or strain at any time, reduce the length of the exhale or go back to the lengthened breath in step 1.

Meditation:

Forgiveness is the act of consciously letting go of resentments so that they no longer hold us back. Forgiveness is not trying to get someone else to change. If the mantra “I forgive you.” feels insincere, delete those words and simply use the mantra “I wish you joy and peace.”

1. Sit comfortably with your spine erect and the crown of your head floating up toward the ceiling. Sitting either in a chair or on the floor is fine, as long as you are physically comfortable.
2. Allow your eyes to close, or if this is too challenging, keep your eyes at “half mast” gazing quietly at a place below and in front of you.
3. Notice your breath without intentionally trying to change it. First notice the warmth and coolness of the breath as it enters your nostrils. Notice the movement of your rib cage and belly. How does your spine move with each breath? What other sensations can you feel?
4. After you feel comfortable and relaxed, bring to mind someone who’s harmed you, knowingly or unknowingly.  It’s best to start with someone from whom the harm was minor or not too painful. If seeing their face is too challenging, think of their name instead.  With each exhale, repeat the following mantra: “I forgive you. I wish you joy and peace.”
5. If your attention wanders at any time during the meditation (and it will!) simply notice it, then invite your attention back to the sensation of the breath. When you feel ready, ask yourself the question again.
6. Continue this meditation for 10 – 15 minutes.

May you offer forgiveness to anyone who has harmed you, including yourself!

Tracy Weber

My newest Downward Dog Mystery, Pre-Meditated Murder is available now  in e-book and paper back copies everywhere! Check this link for some local ideas. http://tracyweberauthor.com/buy_premeditated.html

Note from Tracy: Recent news articles and social media threads inspired me to create and teach a yoga series at Whole Life Yoga called Yoga for Turbulent Times.  For those of you not near Seattle, I’ve decided to share the breath practices and meditations from this class as I teach them. I hope you find them useful.

Yoga for Turbulent Times Week 1:

The yoga teachings tell us that we can’t control the world around us. We can, however, control how we react to it.  More than that, we can act with active compassion whenever we see suffering in the world around us. Active compassion implies that we take action to reduce the suffering of others. There’s a catch though: We have to do so without joining the suffering.  A tall order on the best of days.

On the worst?

Gandhi gives this advice (bold added by yours truly):

We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.

In other words, the first–and arguably most important–step in changing the world is changing ourselves. The breath and meditation practices below may help.

Breath practice:

Bring to mind a quality that would help you create inner balance, regardless of turbulence in the world around you.  Give that quality a name.  If a word doesn’t come to you, give it a picture, a sensation, a sound, a light.  Be open to whatever image, word, or thought your mind provides you. Keep that quality in your awareness as you begin this breath practice.

1. Lengthen your inhale and exhale, making them approximately equal.
2. After 6 breaths at that lengthened breath, add a 2-second pause after both the inhale and the exhale.
3. If the breath in step 2 is easy for you and you’ve practiced pranayama before, lengthen both pauses to a count of 3 or 4.
4. Remain at this breath for several minutes. With each inhale, imagine the quality you chose entering your heart. In the pause after inhale, imagine it taking root inside you. With each exhale, offer that quality back to the world. In the pause after exhale, imagine that quality within and around you.
5. After several minutes, release the pauses and continue breathing with a lengthened inhale and exhale.
6. After several more breaths, return your breath to a normal rhythm. Carry the energy of this breath practice to meditation.

Note: If you notice breathlessness, anxiety, or strain at any time, reduce the lengths of the pauses or go back to the lengthened breath in step 1.

Meditation:

1. Sit comfortably, with your spine erect and the crown of your head floating up toward the ceiling. Sitting either in a chair or on the floor is fine, as long as you are physically comfortable.
2. Allow your eyes to close, or if this is too challenging, keep your eyes at “half mast” gazing quietly at a place below and in front of you.
3. Notice your breath without intentionally trying to change it. First notice the warmth and coolness of the breath as it enters your nostrils. Notice the movement of your rib cage and belly. How does your spine move with each breath? What other sensations can you feel?
4. After you feel comfortable and relaxed, bring to mind  the quality you chose for the breath practice and ask yourself the following question:
   • For the next week, how can I embody the quality I hope most to receive?  (For example, if your quality is “peace,” the question would be “How can I embody peace?”)
5. Don’t try to audit or evaluate the answers that come to you. You may hear words, see images, feel sensations, or experience emotions. Allow whatever you experience to float across your consciousness.
6. If your attention wanders at any time during the meditation (and it will!) simply notice it, then invite your attention back to the sensation of the breath. When you feel ready, ask yourself the question again.
7. Continue this meditation for 10 – 15 minutes.

Enjoy and may you find whatever you need amidst turbulent times!

Tracy Weber

My newest Downward Dog Mystery, Pre-Meditated Murder is available now  in e-book and paper back copies everywhere! Check this link for some local ideas. http://tracyweberauthor.com/buy_premeditated.html