Connecting to Ancestral Wisdom
When we remember the hardships of those who came before us, we can find inspiration and strength to carry on their legacy.
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Today, we'll be doing one of the most profound practices in my life. Breath work. Breath work is an active meditation, using a three part fast paced breathing pattern. It's such a powerful form of self healing that helps connect to your body, move stuck energy and emotions, and opens up your heart. I love this tool so much because it's proof that everyone holds the power within to shift and heal parts of ourselves using our own mind and bodies. And for this breath work, we'll be practicing, connecting with our ancestral wisdom. It's so important that during challenging times we remember how much those before us also overcame. How much of their wisdom we all carry, and that we can all access, to help with our own evolution, big or small. So I'll invite you to get comfortable. You can do this practice sitting down or laying down. I want you to do whatever feels best for your body. So taking a moment to get comfortable, to get rooted, coming to a moment of stillness and peace. I'll invite you to now call upon your most benevolent and well ancestors. I'll ask you to call upon them for their wisdom and guidance to provide you with any messages that they have to offer to help you carry through. And as we receive these messages, we will use our breath to help carry them through our mind, bodies and spirits. So when you're ready, I'll invite you to take a deep breath into your belly, through your mouth, take a deep breath into your chest, through your mouth, and then exhale through your mouth, (exhales) Breathing into your belly. (inhales) Breathing in your chest. (inhales) Breathing out through your mouth. (exhales) (breathes) Breathing in to your belly, through your mouth. (breathes) Into your chest. (inhales) Out through your mouth. (breathes) Has your ancestors provide their wisdom, and their guidance, and you use the breath to carry you through. You might start feeling tingling in your fingers and your toes. You might be feeling emotions, and I just wanna let you know that that is all completely normal. That is the practice is to feel, and to just keep breathing. (breathes) (breathing continues) Breathing in the wisdom into your belly, into your chest, and just releasing anything that's holding you back from receiving. (breathes) There any emotions or resistance, to the practice coming up. No, that it's completely normal. That you are exactly where you should be. (breathes) This is a practice that drops you into your body. So let's just take a moment to connect, with your body. How does it feel to, feel the breath, to feel the wisdom run through you? (breathes) All you have to do is just notice. (breathes) Now we'll scan our body from head to toe. Just noticing if there's any stuck energy, that's asking to be released. Just noticing, starting from your head, your eyes, your nose your chin, your neck, your...
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About your teachers
- More about Andy
A former Buddhist monk, Andy has guided people in meditation and mindfulness for 20 years. In his mission to make these practices accessible to all, he co-created the Headspace app in 2010.
- More about Eve
Eve is a mindfulness teacher, overseeing Headspace’s meditation curriculum. She is passionate about sharing meditation to help others feel less stressed and experience more compassion in their lives.
- More about Dora
As a meditation teacher, Dora encourages others to live, breathe, and be with the fullness of their experiences. She loves meditation’s power to create community and bring clarity to people’s minds.
- More about Kessonga
Kessonga has been an acupuncturists, therapist, and meditation teacher, working to bring mindfulness to the diverse populations of the world.
- More about Rosie
Rosie Acosta has studied yoga and mindfulness for more than 20 years and taught for over a decade. Rosie’s mission is to help others overcome adversity and experience radical love.
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