Holistically Whole Yoga Life

Hey ya’ll. I’m nervous and excited because I was asked to lead a 10min breathing session to close out a protest tonight.

I thought I would share the script I’m practicing in preparation, since this definitely is a fruit of the work I’ve done with Javi and with ya’ll. Hope everyone is having a good weekend so far, as much as you can anyway ❤️

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Hello. I’m Nikki, they/them/any. I was invited to lead us through a breathing exercise and want to respect everyone’s time tonight, so this will be about ten minutes; however, I’m here after if you want to continue this practice, have any feedback, or questions for me.

In the philosophical study of yoga, we learn Ahimsa is the first of the Yamas, the core principles that unite us. Ahimsa means Non harm. Non harm does NOT mean sitting in white rooms on pillows as the empire of colonialism positions itself to extract resources thru terror, destruction, and violence yet again.

In order to practice non-harm, we practice sincere bravery: the bravery of nourishing yourself and focusing on what is in front of you, so that you can be ready to interrupt harm. We are disrupting the empire in every meaningful way, however small, because this is how we forge our path to global liberation.

It all starts with breath.

Pranayama, or breath-work, is a practice of navigating collective peace and collective action simultaneously.

Ujjayi means ocean. It also means victorious. I will guide us in ujjayi breathing tonight, in order to bring awareness to the body, to our own inner ocean, to our potential for victorious resistance.

We will regulate our nerves so that we make strong decisions, even amid the fear and pain we must endure to exist as a collective.

Please follow along as it feels comfortable. Listen to your body and what it needs from you before you listen to me. If I prompt for an exhale while you are still inhaling, let your natural rhythm take priority.

We strive to be curious about sensations, not judging them and not correcting them.

We are listening.

To begin: Seated, standing, any position that feels best, we’ll start by holding a hand in front of our face. This is your mirror. I want you to imagine fogging your mirror, so let’s take a deep inhale thru the nose and then exhale thru the mouth. Ready?

Very good. Let your breath be loud. Let’s do that one more time.

Do you feel your throat constrict when you fog your mirror? Do you notice the sound it makes as you exhale? This is the muscle we are engaging for our ocean breath.

With that in mind, next I invite you to lower your hands. If it feels better to keep using your mouth, please do! If you are open to it, let’s inhale and exhale through our nose this time.

On the inhale, bring your shoulders up towards your ears.

On the exhale, drop your shoulders, gently shake your head and make space for your neck.

Let’s do that again.

(It’s okay if you’re snotty, get distracted, have the hiccups, whatever. We practice to prac-tice, not to per-fect.)

Alright, this time notice how your tummy and your chest move with your breath. Touch them if it feels good.

Once more.

Now, for the last round of breaths, I want you to think about suspended animation. That moment at the apex of a swing or a big jump on the trampoline, where you feel your breath suspended in the back of your throat, yes? If it is comfortable, let’s play with that. I’ll tell you when to start.

We’re going to inhale until we can’t inhale any more, lungs full, then I want you to hold that breath for a count of 4.

After that we will fully exhale, release every ounce of breath until your lungs feel empty, and hold again for a count of 4.

Ready? Let’s try it.

Take a moment to thank yourself. And remember that no matter where you find yourself, this ocean, this breath, lives inside you and you can come back to it any time. I appreciate you all so much, thank you.