Tommy Casano leads a 10-minute Kundalini meditation from Nepal's Karnali River, teaching heart-opening mudras and breath holds to strengthen the lungs and calm the mind. You'll place your left hand on your heart, right hand in Gyan Mudra, then practice deep nasal inhales with suspended holds, repeating the cycle to regulate prana and deepen your connection with yourself and others.
Welcome to Bardia National Park. We are here at the Karnali River in Nepal for a beautiful Kundalini meditation for the heart. This is going to be beautiful for internally opening up and calming the center of the heart. I'm Tommy Casano with The Outdoor Body, and thank you for joining me here in Nepal for this beautiful meditation. So what we're going to be doing is sitting in easy pose. Our sit bones are going to be rooted in the earth. Grab a bolster or a pillow if you need to. The mudra for this specific meditation, the left hand is going to be placed on the heart, parallel to the ground, fingers facing to the right. The right hand, we're going to be in Gyan Mudra, index finger, Jupiter finger touching the thumb. The other 3 fingers are straight and facing forward, and the elbow is going to be relaxed right next to the rib cage. Our eyes are either closed or 9/10 of the way closed, so just slightly, slightly open, just like that. And we're going to be doing long, deep breathing. So when we inhale through the nostrils, expanding the belly button, lifting the heart, lifting the chest, we're going to inhale as much as possible and we're going to hold that as long as possible. So when we suspend the breath, you hold as long as possible. It should create a sensation, a feeling, almost gasping and then you exhale fully out. Empty out completely out of your stomach, and then we hold again on the exhale. So at each point, inhale and exhaling, when you suspend the breath and you exhale everything out, you're holding as long as possible. Not so much so you create a ton of resistance just enough so it's almost a little unnerving and gasping. Then you fully inhale, hold again. So let's get into our meditation. We always start off with the Adi Mantra. So bring our hands together, rubbing together, our thumbs in the center of our chest in prayer pose. We start off and tune in with 3 Adi Mantras: Om Namo Gurudev Namo. I bow to the teacher within. I bow to connect to my highest consciousness within, honoring the golden chain, all the teachers before us in this ancient practice of Kundalini Yoga. So close your eyes, connecting the sit bones to the earth, spine straight, chin slightly tucked back, and a slight neck lock, crown chakra to the heavens. Deep inhale through the nostrils. Exhale out. Deep inhale again. Exhale out. Inhale to tune in. Om Namah Gurudev Namo. Om Namah Guru Dev Namo. Om Namah Guru Dev Namo. Deep inhale. Fully exhale. And just slightly open your eyes. Let's get into our mudra for calm heart. Once again, left hand is on the heart, center of the chest, fingers facing to the right. Right hand is in Gyan mudra, 3 fingers up, elbow slightly into the rib cage, but relax, shoulders relax, and we are in a slight neck lock. So the chin is slightly down and back, creating more openness for the spine to flow through with our pranic breath during this meditation. Eyes closed or 9/10 closed, you can have them slightly open. Staying in easy pose. So let's begin. Deep inhale through the nostrils, fill up the belly, lift the chest, lift the heart. Sip in some more air, suspend the breath, and hold here as long as possible. And you will be going at your own pace. Everyone's different. So when you feel pressure, you feel feel a little bit of an uncomfortable tug internally, almost like a gasp. And you fully exhale out the nose or breath. Bring everything in, exhale fully, and then you hold on the exhale fully. Close your mouth. Once again, when you feel like a little gasp, you can't hold, might be 10 seconds, it might be 20 seconds, push yourself, but also it won't— shouldn't it be so erratic inside that you're trying to hold your breath forever. And once you feel the calling, go right back into a deep inhale. Expand the belly button, the navel, lift the chest, lift the heart. Sip in some more air, suspend the breath at the top and hold. Keeping the neck lock, chin slightly down the entire time. If your eyes are closed, gazing at the third eye, point between the brows. Keeping Gyan Mudra with the right hand, the other 3 fingers pointed straight to the heavens and forward. Exhaling out fully. And keep going at your own pace during this meditation, and it shouldn't be so uncomfortable that you get out of position. The purpose of this calm heart-centering meditation is to strengthen the lungs, strengthen the heart, regulate consciousness, the pranic breath throughout your body. So we become stronger, clearer with our relationship with ourselves and with others. And creating a still point for prana, the breath, in the heart center. So listen to the sounds of the river as you consciously breathe. Suspend the breath at the top, exhaling out fully, locking in the breath. Keep going through this pace. Remembering to slightly keep the chin down and neck tucked back, opening up passageway to allow pranic energy flow up and down the spine, creating a little bit more Space and awareness. One more minute to go. Really push yourself a little bit deeper in the holds at the top of the breath and on the exhale. And one more deep inhale, deep inhale fully, fill up the belly, expand navel, lift the chest, lift the heart, sipping some more air and hold. And exhale fully out. Bringing the hands down on the knees. Just relax here for a couple seconds. That pranic energy flow throughout your body, feeling the calmness in the heart. Keeping the eyes closed, bring the hands into prayer pose, rubbing the hands together, thumbs to center of the chest, sternum, closing this meditation with Sat Nam. Truth is my identity. Truth is my essence. Deep inhale to close. Sa Na. Deep inhale. Exhale out. Thank you for joining me here for that beautiful heart-opening meditation. This is one you can practice on a daily basis or weekly if you're feeling like you need more internal connection and calmness in your heart internally for relationships with yourself and with others in your surrounding area, maybe family, friends, whatever it may be. So beautiful, Bardia National Park here in Nepal. Actually, these are famous for the river dolphins here. So this is a spectacular area, highly recommend you visiting. And thank you for joining me for that Kundalini meditation. I will see you next time. And remember, It only gets better when you practice each and every day. So make sure you stay up, you stay consistent, and going deep within. That's what The Outdoor Body and these trainings are all about— connecting mind, body, spirit, and nature all into one setting to shift and raise your consciousness. Thank you for joining me, and I'll see you next time. Sat Nam.
