Techniques to Spice Up Your Meditational Inversion Therapy Routine
Alternate Nostril Breathing
This is one of my favorite breathing techniques while inverting on my inversion table because it helps to bring both physical and emotional balance to the spine/mind. It’s especially great after a long day or if you just need to alleviate back pain, clear the brain and get focused.
Begin in an upside-down position on your inversion therapy table, making sure your spine is straight and comfortable.
Let your left hand rest lightly on your left thigh and bring your right hand in front of your face.
Fold down your index and middle finger, leaving your thumb extended and your ring and pinky fingers extended.
Cover your right nostril with your thumb and draw in a deep breath through your left nostril.
Close off your left nostril with your ring and pinky fingers, and release your thumb as you breathe out through your right nostril.
Inhale through your right, and then close it off.
Exhale through your left.
Inhale through your left; close it off.
Exhale through your right.
Continue on, alternating for as little as one minute or for as long as five, until you experience a comfortable feeling in your back and you feel yourself becoming more centered and calm.
Upside-Down Meditation
There are many ways to meditate while hanging upside-down on an inversion table. The approach is spiritual yet still involves a more physical practice. It’s helpful to try a few to see which one suits your personality and situation best.
Meditational Inversion Therapy Concentrative Technique
This is a meditative inversion therapy technique that helps focus the mind on a particular point such as the breath, a candle flame, or a mandala (a circular geometric design that draws the eye to its center). Meditating with open eyes will keep you grounded and also make you less likely to fall asleep on your inversion therapy table! It can help keep distractions—even imaginary ones—away from your line of vision.
Candle Gazing While Inverting
Candle gazing may be performed at any time on an empty stomach. Ten minutes a day is all you’ll need, but you can vary the time depending on your specific needs. Beginners can start with shorter periods of time and build up.
Begin by setting a candle about one to two feet away from you. Lie back on your table and set the inversion angle to a comfortable position and take a few deep breaths. Then bring your hands to prayer position at your heart center and gently rub your palms together. Press your warm palms into your eyes and allow the heat to penetrate, melting soreness and redness. Keep them there until the heat dissipates, then begin.
Continuously gaze at the flame and try not to blink.
Allow your gaze to remain smooth and effortless.
Stay focused; use your willpower and try to ignore watering in the eyes.
Hold your gaze for thirty to sixty seconds.
Bring your palms back onto the eyes and rest for thirty seconds.
Focus on the whole flame for a few moments.
Now focus intently on the tip of the wick.
Focus on the whole flame for a few seconds.
Slowly soften your focus as you defocus your attention.
Palm the eyes: press them gently and then release.
Expand your vision and begin to notice the aura around the flame.
Watch it gradually becoming bigger and bigger.
Observe the tiny light particles around the flame.
Now bring your focus back onto the whole flame.
Close your eyes and visualize the afterimage of the flame.
As the image fades, bring your palms to your eyes.
Practicing Mindfulness during Meditational Inversion Therapy
Simply put, mindfulness means letting go and accepting that you cannot control your thoughts—so that you can stop letting thoughts control you. Try to observe your thoughts with detachment—as if you were watching images play across the screen of your mind. Don’t attach any emotions or judgments to the thoughts, and try not to give them a significance they don’t deserve.
Remember that we live only in the present moment—the past is over, it’s part of our history, we can’t change it. The future is imaginary. We have no control over the future, no way of knowing what it will bring, so why try to figure it out? Mindful inversion therapy meditation is about the reality of being present, and it is, in fact, the true nature of our consciousness.
Experiencing Mindful Moments
As you go about your daily routine, stop from time to time and notice the state of your awareness. Are you completely paying attention to what you’re doing, or are you distracted and tense and worried about the next task? Take a deep breath and hold it for two or three counts, then exhale very slowly. Bring your awareness into the present moment, then continue with what you were doing but remain mindful of the moment at hand.
BE AWARE
Inverting in a comfortable angle, bring your attention to your breath and close your eyes. When you feel relaxed, begin to notice sounds in the room, then bring the awareness into your body. Notice the sensation of your sitting bones resting on the surface of the inversion table, the heaviness of your bones and muscles. Then notice the air on your skin and the way your clothing feels on your body.
Observe if you’re feeling warm or cool. Now bring the awareness to your inner body; notice if there are any muscle contractions or rumblings in your digestive tract. Come back to your breath and notice the coolness of the inhales and the warmth of the exhales. Slowly allow yourself to become aware of what’s going on in your mind. Let thoughts and images play across the screen of your mind.
Notice feelings and emotions. Don’t try to change anything, just be aware. Begin to turn your attention to the awareness itself. Allow yourself to become aware of the knowingness that permits you to perceive all of these sensations. Pay attention to the attention and allow yourself to be the awareness.
Inverting in a comfortable angle, bring your attention to your breath and close your eyes. When you feel relaxed, begin to notice sounds in the room, then bring the awareness into your body. Notice the sensation of your sitting bones resting on the surface of the inversion table, the heaviness of your bones and muscles. Then notice the air on your skin and the way your clothing feels on your body.
Observe if you’re feeling warm or cool. Now bring the awareness to your inner body; notice if there are any muscle contractions or rumblings in your digestive tract. Come back to your breath and notice the coolness of the inhales and the warmth of the exhales. Slowly allow yourself to become aware of what’s going on in your mind. Let thoughts and images play across the screen of your mind.
Notice feelings and emotions. Don’t try to change anything, just be aware. Begin to turn your attention to the awareness itself. Allow yourself to become aware of the knowingness that permits you to perceive all of these sensations. Pay attention to the attention and allow yourself to be the awareness.