Mindful Techniques for Energetic Balance (73)

Hi everyone and welcome back to how the Wise One Grows. So I apologize, my voice might sound a little different today. I have a bit of those fall allergies slash whatever little bug is going around right now. So you get a little bit of fall stuffy voice, holly, today, but I'm grateful that we get to be here together, that we get to ground together, if you are experiencing some of these fall sniffles like me, and if you're really feeling that transition that we're in the middle of from summer to fall. We actually had a bonus episode last week, episode 72,. I did a meditation on honoring the autumn equinox and how we can nourish ourselves as we move through this transition of seasons. I know that for me it means a lot more tea, a lot more candles, all the little things we can do to nourish ourselves through this transition. So, in addition to that, I'm really excited to share today's mindful moment with you, and I honestly think that this is one that you are going to use again and again. You can download this episode and the show notes. There's a timestamp to when the meditation begins, so you can practice this really quickly anytime you need. It's also something I'm going to break down into some simple steps so that you can start to get some muscle memory for this and practice this on your own when I am not guiding. Because today's mindful moment is focusing on finding energetic balance and creating a safe space within ourselves, and this is inspired by my conversation in episode 71 with Faith Hunter. If you missed that episode, just you gotta listen. Faith Hunter is absolutely amazing. She was the first dark-skinned black woman to appear on the cover of Yoga Journal back in I believe it was 2010 or 2011. And she speaks to the importance of representation and wellness, why that matters and then, going beyond that, how we can create inclusive and supportive spaces in the wellness community. So if you're practicing at a studio, if you're a studio owner or a teacher, I definitely recommend listening. And a layer beyond that is how we can find safe space within ourselves as we move through pockets of society that might not be so supportive and that exists right, that's all around us. So that's what today's meditation and mindful moment is going to lean into. And before we get into that meditation, I've been sharing in our podcast about the concept of Danna, which is giving from the heart, and you can practice Danna by leaving a review for the podcast by sharing an episode you love with a friend, and you can practice Danna by supporting this podcast financially every month. When you do that, not only do you support the ability for this podcast to exist and to honor the time and work and energy that I put into this every day, every week, but I use donations, not but, and I use the support of the dream team to make contributions to community causes. So for August, we supported the community foundation of Hawaii and Hawaii Wildfire. I'm going to keep you posted next week on what our September cause is supporting, but if you would like to be a part of that, if you want to practice Danna, I highly encourage you do so, and you can do that for as little as $3 a month by clicking the link in the show notes below. All right, so let's transition into how we can cultivate a safe space and energetic balance within ourselves, and how we can cultivate this and carry this with us as we move through a wide range of things. So the first step here is going to be to pause, and this pause can happen when you are transitioning. Maybe you're leaving the safe space of your home or your vehicle, or just a moment outside by yourself before you're walking into a room full of people, if you know you're about to enter a space that might not be the most supportive, or really. This is something that you can benefit from doing before you enter any space Is first take a moment to pause, take a moment to feel your feet on the earth, let yourself be held by the earth beneath you, and then take three deep breaths, just like we do every time we start this podcast together. So inhale, fill your chest, fill your belly with air, exhale, open your mouth, let it all out Again. Inhale, fill your chest, fill your belly with air, exhale, open your mouth, let it all go. One more inhale and exhale. Now take a moment to gently scan your body, from the tip of your head to the tips of your toes, and just notice what's alive for you. How does the body feel, how does the mind feel, both physically and energetically? Just take a moment to make a mental map of your internal landscape here and then this next part is my favorite. You can do this before and after you leave a scenario. So maybe there's something you just are having a hard time shaking right now. I like to think about it as humans just moving through the day, moving through daily life, we pick up dirt, right. That's why we take a shower every day, I hope Most days we bathe ourselves, because we absorb the dirt of the world around us. That's just part of it, right? The same thing happens energetically, too, so we're going to take a moment to do something called an energy bath here. So you can be as silly with this as you want with me, or you can do this as gently as feels right for you, but I like to. I'll have to post a video of this. I like to like pretend I've got my soap bottle and I'm like squirting soap on my hands. I've got my shampoo in my hands, and then scrub your head, like really try to get your hair all sudsy. I don't know if you can hear me scrubbing my head through the podcast mic. Just imagine yourself scrubbing away, putting soap all over whatever energetic dirt, energetic muck you're carrying, and then brush it away. Imagine that water rinsing it off, and then we're going to move through the whole body this way, so really rubbing the chest. Maybe there's a weight you're carrying on your heart, something that feels really heavy. Just get more soap if you need, suds it up and then brush it off. Same thing moving through your arms. We're going to do this through every limb, so just bear with me, get into it, suds in, up the arms, brush it up Other arm and just do this as you make your way energetically, giving yourself an energy bath, scrubbing all that dirt off the body, getting under the armpits, scrubbing away any energy you might be holding on in the belly, then moving down the legs and then just brush it off. Maybe even give yourself a little shake, like a dog drying off at the end of the day, imagining Luna just getting all her water all over me. Good, and now return to the sensation of where your feet touch the earth and take a big breath in, then a big breath out, then notice if you feel any different here, and maybe this is enough. Maybe this is how you feel supported to enter what comes next. Or, if you want to take it one step further, we're going to take a moment to practice together a breath technique called Nadi Shodana, or alternate nostril breathing. This can help to balance the right and left hemispheres of the brain, so it's great to do if you're moving through like an analytical task and now you want to shift into a creative one. It's just a great way to cultivate balance. So that's what we're going to do to help check in with our energetic balance right now. So the way we're going to practice this is I want you to hold your dominant hand out in front of you and then your two peace fingers. I want you to fold them down, and I also have videos of this on my YouTube. My YouTube name is Holly's Asia. If you type in Nadi Shodana, holly's Asia, you'll see a video of how to do this. So fold down your two peace fingers and now you have what looks like kind of an awkward, rocker hand. If that's uncomfortable for your hand, that's okay. This is just the traditional mudra, but I want this to be supportive for you. So you can just put down that ring finger as well, and then you have more of like a rocker hand and you're going to bring your thumb to your right nostril and inhale through the left nostril. We'll start with a count of four, then plug the left nostril and exhale out the right nostril for four. So we're going to inhale right for four, plug the right, exhale left for four, plug the left and exhale right. So I'll guide you through a couple rounds and then I'll set you free. So we'll start with a cleansing breath, to begin in through the nose and out through the mouth. Bring the thumb to the right nostril, inhale left. One, two, three, four. Plug the left nostril. Exhale right one, two, three, four. Inhale right one, two, three, four. Plug the right. Exhale left one, two, three, four, four. Take two more rounds on your own and then release control over the breath again, notice where your body is supported by the earth beneath you and know that you can return to this space within you at any given moment. And episode 71 faith said this is my body, this is my mind, this is my heart and I have control of it. I don't have to allow external forces to dictate how I feel in my body. So remember that with every breath, you can come back to this space within you. You can shake off what was happening around you, that ultimately, you have control of what is happening within you. So, as we move through hard things, I hope you know that you can practice this again and again. I want this to be a way in which you can cultivate a safe space within yourself, as well as practicing saying no and setting boundaries, to put yourself in more supportive spaces and communicate to others what they can do to support you. So, again, if you want to practice this on your own, the three steps we went over today were taking a moment to pause and breathe, going through a body scan, noticing what was alive there's anything lingering, that's when we practice that energy bath and then ending with alternate nostril breathing to just bring balance in the body and in the mind. You can replay this anytime you want to practice together and you can reconnect with these steps with every single breath. Thank you so much for taking the time to practice with me and one another today, and until the next time, let's just keep taking it, one breath at a time.