Welcome,
This is Allison with Mindful Pause Center and I'm so glad to share this practice with you.
So taking the posture that you would like for these next 10 or so minutes and you might even already start to let the eyes close or if not close you can begin to soften the gaze so it's at a single point in the room and we're really just inviting the body to settle into this posture and it might help to actively feel the support of the cushions,
The sofa,
The floor,
If your feet are on the floor,
Taking in this support.
When we come into mindfulness meditation we're actually not trying to leave the world behind but we're trying to take our seat in the world.
So really letting the world still be here in this case in a way that can really hold you up so you don't have to hold yourself up right now,
Giving yourself permission to let go.
Notice the way gravity connects you,
No effort on your part.
And you might just take a moment here at the beginning to see if there's an intention you have and I'm thinking of an intention that might span the month of March and I don't want you to feel like you have to really work for it or think hard,
Just maybe soften and see if there's something you hope for from these practices and then check in again for tonight in particular and maybe it will be the same intention or maybe tonight will have a particular flavor.
And at any time in our practice tonight as the mind wanders,
You might not even notice it's happened and suddenly you're back in a to-do list or you're thinking about something that happened four years ago,
Where there's an emotional pull that's taken over your awareness.
This is not a problem,
It's part of the practice.
The mind is designed to think,
To ruminate,
To plan,
So it's going to do that and as you notice this happening,
Then the invitation is to softly label,
Thinking,
Planning,
Worrying.
Give it a little bit of room and then see if you can let go and come back to the weight of the body and the sofa or to the awareness of the body breathing.
So allowing yourself now to turn your awareness to the breath,
Just checking to see at this point in time without doing anything to change the breath,
Where do you feel it most?
So you can check in at the belly,
Might be the diaphragm rising and falling.
You can check in at the chest,
Might be the way the ribs and the lungs expand and contract.
You can check in over the lip as the air comes into the nose and out again.
You might even have a sense of the whole body breathing.
This rhythm of inhalation and receiving life and what it has to offer.
The exhalation,
Which is to let go or make space for.
Just considering the breath as something that the body does,
It's involuntary.
So moment to moment,
So mundane,
You can easily take it for granted.
The body knows what to do.
There are obstacles and challenges that can get in the way.
Pretty familiar with that because of COVID or use of force.
Even before our quarantine period,
There's always been charged politics or obstacles to the body breathing like asthma.
But underneath it all,
Body knows what to do.
So you don't need to earn breath.
Simply need to allow.
We might make the breath a little more intentional here.
I'm going to invite you to inhale,
Hold the breath for a moment,
Inhale again.
And then blow it out through the mouth.
And when we do that,
You can purse the lips.
So it's like blowing the air out through a straw.
When you inhale,
You'll be inhaling through the nose.
This form of breathing is just to touch into the different parts of our nervous system that both activates and releases to give a little bit stronger foundation.
Eventually you can move at your own pace,
But for now,
You can inhale,
Hold,
Inhale again.
And release through the mouth.
Inhale,
Hold.
Inhale again.
And release through the mouth.
Just do this a few more times at your own pace.
And on your next exhalation,
Just letting the breath return to its normal rhythm.
You might just check in and see where the felt sense of the breathing is now,
If it's moved or gotten stronger or quieter.
And then letting go of any effort altogether.
Just resting.
Resting in whatever quality of presence has arisen.
If there's ease here,
Enjoying that.
If there's agitation,
Just offering it.
Kindness,
Noticing it.
And inviting it to rest as well.
In a moment,
You'll hear the sound of the bell.
And as you're ready,
Slowly open the eyes.
Taking your time.
And taking a moment to look around the room that you're in.
Just taking in some of the forms and colors,
Quality of light that's there.
Thank you for your practice.
