Clay & Air

Pillar two ยท Activating

Digestion igniter

10-15 minutes · Standing · Nose in, mouth out

Lion's breath, then a stomach vacuum on empty lungs. It massages the organs in the gut and gets the digestion moving. A hard morning practice besides.

Flat

Before you start

  • This is a hold on empty lungs. Come up for air the moment you want it, not a second later.
  • Do it before you eat, not after.

Watch

Not playing? Watch it on YouTube.

The pattern

  1. 01Stand up. Take a breath in through the nose and let it go out of the mouth. Twice.
  2. 02Big breath in through the nose.
  3. 03Lion's breath out: tongue out, Ujjayi, everything emptied.
  4. 04Hands on your knees with your lungs empty. Draw your stomach in and up under your ribs.
  5. 05Move it around while it is held there. That is the massage.
  6. 06When you want air, stand up and breathe in through the nose at the same time.
  7. 07Ten to fifteen minutes.

The lion's breath looks alarming and sounds worse. Do it anyway. It is the part that empties you enough for the vacuum to work at all.

If the stomach will not draw in, there is still air in your lungs. Empty them further before you try again.

How it lands

Odd, and unmistakable. You feel the vacuum up under your ribs rather than in the stomach muscles, and standing up on the inhale is the part that wakes you.

What it does

  • Massages the organs in the gut
  • Gets the digestion moving
  • Works the deep abdominal muscles
  • A morning practice, and it wakes you up
  • Boosts immunity and brings inflammation down

If you want a hand with it

This one works on your own. Some of it lands harder with someone in the room, and that is what the workshops are for.

Workshops

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