Exploring Samana Vayu
Samana Vayu is the most balancing of the 5 Vayu's & is centred around our abdominal region. It is an inward momentum of prana. You could say it's like a whirlpool where the downward momentum of Apana Vayu meets the upward momentum of Prana Vayu; the two merging together in Samana Vayu, which churns around our abdomen & digests everything, from our food, our emotions, the air we breathe, our thoughts & our experiences.
Imbalances of this energy could manifest as digestive issues, slow metabolism & a lack of nourishment in the body. We can bring a sense of balance back by bringing ourselves back to our breath - hey look at that, it's all about the breath again! Specifically Sama Vritti breath can help with this as the inhale, exhale & pauses are all equal. This is why it's sometimes referred to as "square breath or "box breath".
Another technique we can draw upon in our pranayama or asana practice is to consider our use of Uddiyana Bandha. This is a muscle lock whereby the core muscles are actively & consciously engaged at the bottom of the exhale & can provide some help in enhancing our sense of balance when we walk, make shapes on the mat, workout. Even when we choose to be still & mindfully connect to our abdominal region, the action of actively engaging Uddiyana Bandha can help with our sense of balance immensely.
The 30 minute Yoga flow above lends itself perfectly to raising our awareness of our own Samana Vayu as it focuses primarily on the four core muscles. We have a bit of fun beforehand with some Osho style moving meditation before making some powerful shapes on the mat in this Vinyasa practice.
Please excuse the low quality but this was my very first Yoga practice that I uploaded. You'll notice it was an online practice that I taught live, & all my online Yoga is taught via Zoom who are fantastic but their recording quality is not that great! I'm saving up to get my old phone fixed so I can use it to record direct to my phone during online Zoom Yoga practices, because the camera is AMAZING!!
Like I said though, I'm saving up so please bear with me, friends.
Anyway, go grab your block (or a loo roll works just as well!), roll out your mat & let's Yoga!
I'd love to know how you found this practice so remember to hit the notifications button & like & subscribe to my Youtube channel, oh & let me know in the comments what came up for you! These are the things that help me to reach more people & bring them into our small but every growing Yoga community - & it really IS growing!!
Stay Well
Sam
xoxo