Day Four: Daily Omer Wellness Practice

Omer Day Four: Breath & Stillness
19 Nisan 5780
Monday 13 April 2020

Day 4 of the Omer is endurance within lovingkindness, Netzach within Chesed. Today we practice endurance of mind, body, and heart through a stillness practice. This should not be overwhelmingly challenging in the sense of a fitness challenge; however it may be mentally and emotionally challenging. The focus is enduring an extended period of complete stillness, and on noticing, experiencing, and perhaps even loving (or at least appreciating) the sensations of your physical body during this time.

☀️Omer Day 4 practice [19 Nisan 5780 | Monday 13 April 2020] ☀️

1. Set your meditation timer for seven minutes;
2. Position yourself sitting on either the ground or a chair;
3. Begin the timer and adopt a position of complete stillness; Do not move even a hairsbreadth from this position for the entirety of the session;
4. Continue breathing into the belly;
5. When the timer ends, slowly flutter your eyes open and slowly begin to move again — take your time and allow yourself a gradual transition out of the stillness;

🌀Materials 🌀

• Space for sitting
• Meditation timer

✨Practice Notes ✨

• Make sure you can ground your feet / legs solidly to the floor or earth beneath you;
• If sitting on the ground, you may wish to use a bolster cushion under your sitbones to help adopt a more aligned position;
• Keep your spine straight but do not hyperextend the lumbar; you want a neutral position; It may help to imagine a string pulling your spine up through the top of your head;
• Focus on the breath;
• As you feel sensations in the body — an itch here, the urge to twitch or swallow there — notice them, let them pass. If they’re important, they’ll still be there when the time has passed;
• This is primarily a mental game; adopt a focused but comfortable position, especially if you are not accustomed to this type of stillness practice;
• This exercise is built here to stand alone but also works particularly well following a movement session as a closing practice;

☀️This post is part of our Omer Wellness Series – a daily 7-minute opportunity for introspection and intentional focus on caring for ourselves, each other, and our environment in this incredibly challenging time. ☀️#omer #wellness #jewish #countingtheomer #jewishmovement #movementculture #movementecology #selfcare #dailypractice #hebrewcalendar #kabbalah #jewishwellness #dailyomerpractice #omerinplace #omer5780 #stillness