The onset of the 200 hour Yoga Immersion at Tadasana always inspires me to review my relationship with the more subtle practices of Yoga that I sometimes omit from my regular morning practice when life gets rolling. This time 'round I've been revisiting my relationship with Om.
In The Wonder of Om , I shared my practice and learnings from my own study of the 5 parts of OM:
A as Creation,
U as Preservation,
M as Dissolution,
the Stillpoint or Turiya, and
Maya or Illusion, i.e. the lifting of the veil of illusion that we are separate.
In this writing, we chanted Om circularly beginning at the back of our throats, moving forward across our palettes and terminating at our softly pursed lips. Read the full offering here.
In Wander With Om, I want to share a practice where we let Om wander throughout our bodies.
Begin laying down with your knees bent and feet planted hip width apart. Relax the full weight of your body on the Earth. Take 3 full breaths into your belly and with each exhale chant
Aaaaaa...Creation, the beginnings, what are you birthing or bringing forward. Next, concentrate your breath on your solar plexus and lower chest. Allow the inhales to fill your rib cage and wrap around your heart.
On the exhale chant Uuuuuu...Preservation, heart feeling awareness, your voice and how you speak from your heart to preserve good relationships. Do this 3 times as well. Then draw your breath up into your upper chest, clavicles, neck, and head. Allow your inhale to open your throat and lift your face skyward.
On your exhales, the back of your neck lengthens as your chin drops towards your chest and you chant Mmmmm...Dissolution, a vibrational scrub down of your thinking mind, sugar dissolving into warm water, a release.
Knit this all together by allowing for the full 3 part breath to roll up the front, moving from belly to solar plexus to heart/throat/face and with each exhale, chant Om as you roll the back surface of your body to the floor. Do this 3 times remembering to linger in the stillpoint or silence at the end of each Om and feeling for the spontaneous inhale for the next round. Then come into a seated position.
From Rajasana or Sukasana, your Seat, let's reverse our Wanderings with Om. Take a full inhale all the way up to your head, on your exhale chant Aaaaaa...as in "Aha! I get it!"...Realization as Creation. You can even place your fingers on your third eye center, or Ajna Chakra. Do this 3 times. Find your next set with an inhale into your heart and chest. On your exhale, chant Uuuuu...as in "I love youuuuu"...Heart Feeling Awareness as the way to move forward in your life and in your body. Feel the sound pulse forward and out from your heart center, or Anahata Chakra, placing your fingers there as you would a touchstone. On your next set of 3, the inhale fills your belly like a balloon and you chant Mmmmm...like, "Mmmmm, that feels really good"...
Sensation as Dissolution, magnifying your attention on what feels good, trusting that whatever no longer serves is what is leaving your body. Wrap up this Wander with 3 full rounds of Om inhaling up the front and exhaling from top to bottom. Sit in the stillness of Turiya each time and when the urge or need or spontaneous inhale happens, inhale fully and chant Om...AUM...the Pranava.
Upon completion of this practice, sit for a bit and see what arises. For me this morning, the question that bubbled up was, "Who am I?"
I am the A of Creation, the U of Preservation, the M of Dissolution, the Stillness, the Illusion...I am the whole ball of wax! And so is everyone else. So...que le hace? What do we do?
justine
*Justine will be offering this practice Saturday May 20th at 9am and again Sunday May 21st at 5pm.