Welcome to this brief meditation on mindfulness of breath and establishing an anchor in your practice.
I want you to begin by establishing a comfortable posture,
A posture in which you're both relaxed and alert.
And if there's any obvious tightness or tension in the body that you can easily release,
Do so.
Perhaps filling your body with this smile of kindness.
Maybe release your tongue from the roof of your mouth.
Maybe allow your shoulders to drop away from your ears and down towards your tailbone.
Now bring your attention to the fact of your body breathing.
Notice that it's always breathing,
Quite naturally,
Involuntarily.
You don't need to do anything at all,
Yet your body sustains you through breath.
And now begin to notice where it's easiest to feel your breath.
So it might be the coolness you feel in your nostrils on the in-breath,
Or the warmth on the upper lip with the out-breath.
Or maybe you sense a swirling,
Tingling in the back of your throat.
Know here that there's no right or wrong way to feel the breath,
You're simply being aware of what's happening.
Now it might even be the rise and fall of your chest,
Or your belly,
Or it might be the sensations of the whole body breathing.
Now wherever you find the breath easiest to feel,
Or most pleasant,
Rest your attention there.
Rest your focus there.
If the breath is subtle,
Or it's hard to feel,
You can place a hand on your belly,
And then feel the rise of your belly on the inhale,
And the fall of your belly on the exhale.
Notice this all happening within the palm of your hand.
It's really a beautiful way to stay with your breath.
To be with your breath.
Now let yourself feel the next three in and out breaths,
And as you feel each breath,
Let your mind calm and the body relax around the breath.
It's as if your body is the ocean,
Relaxing around the waves that are your breath.
Now feel three more.
Continue with this relaxed and calming attention on your breath,
And each time your attention wanders,
And you notice,
Gently bring it back,
And it might do this a thousand times in one meditation set.
There is not a meditation that I experience where I don't have a thought,
Where I don't experience my mind wandering.
It's just what the mind does.
Like training the puppy,
There's no judgment.
Simply a kind return back to your breath.
Sit.
Stay.
Heal.
This breath.
Just this breath.
Now my friends,
If it's helpful,
You can begin to notice the beginning,
The middle,
And the end of the in-breath,
Or the rise,
And the beginning,
The middle,
And the end of the out-breath,
Or the fall.
Notice the space between the breaths.
Rest within that space.
Relaxing with each breath.
Each breath arising and passing with mindful,
Loving awareness.
Notice where your attention is,
And if it's drifted to some other planet,
Or some other space,
Gently and kindly return to the sensations of breathing,
This anchor that you've established today.
As you feel each breath,
Let the mind calm,
Let the body relax,
And stay rooted and grounded in your practice.
Fully here,
Fully awake,
At ease,
At peace.
Thank you,
My friends,
For joining me in this brief meditation on breath.
Namaste.
