Hi I'm Ali Mills and welcome to this gentle breathing meditation.
We're going to take a few quiet minutes to explore your breath and we're going to do this together and to start off with we're finding a comfortable position and for this you can be sitting or lying down there's no way to get it wrong.
Yeah I would recommend finding somewhere you can be at ease and also somewhere you can be aware and awake to your experience right now.
So if you haven't got that space already finding it now pausing this meditation and if you have we can begin to arrive.
What I mean by arriving is letting your eyes soften or possibly close if that feels comfortable to you and as you begin to arrive and soften take a moment to notice all those points of contact where your body meets the chair and support beneath you.
Maybe your feet,
Maybe your buttocks,
Maybe your back.
This support is always there you don't need to change anything we are arriving into the support beneath us.
Well done and now I invite you to begin to notice your breath bringing attention gently to your breathing and noticing where you feel it most clearly.
Perhaps you notice it at the nostrils or perhaps you notice it near the chest or the there's no way to get this wrong you're noticing where you notice it and there's no need to breathe more deeply or slowly you're following your breath and where you are noticing it.
Simply allowing the breath to move at its own pace as if you're listening to the rhythm of a quiet tide coming and going and it can be helpful to anchor your awareness by silently saying to yourself I am breathing in and I am breathing out.
I am breathing in and I am breathing out.
Let these words be soft like a whisper in your mind and if your attention wanders and this is normal and it will know that it is completely natural.
If you find you have noticed your mind wandering smile inwardly and gently return to the next breath anchoring your awareness I am breathing in and I am breathing out and sometimes the breath can feel an even shallow or possibly a little bit scary so if you find this you can take one hand over your chest and one over your belly and feel the warmth of the movement beneath your palms.
Let your body know it is safe to breathe.
This simple act of touch is a signal to your mind and your body that you are safe and can soothe and ease your nervous system.
So as we come to the end of this meditation you can begin to allow your awareness to widen out beyond your breath now to the sounds and the sensations around you in the space you are in.
Notice how you feel without judging or analysing.
As you take one last conscious breath through the nose and out through the mouth and gently open your eyes and come back to the day.
You have just taken your first few mindful breaths in a practice.
A simple and powerful act of presence and you can return to this anytime breath by breath one moment by one moment.
Namaste.
Thank you for being with me today.
Have a good day.
Bye for now.
