Softening Through The Breath

This meditation explores what happens when you stop trying to control the breath and simply let yourself be breathed. Through gentle awareness of the breath in the belly, ribs, chest and whole body, you create space for the breath to move you into deeper presence, stillness and ease.

Transcript

This is a meditation to open to the breath. Go ahead and get comfortable. You can sit with the back upright, Leaning against a wall. Making sure you have support for the lower back. Or even lay down. And if you choose to lay down, Making sure that the knees are supported so that the pelvis and the lower back can be in a neutral position. You might even enjoy listening to this guided practice, Listening to this guided meditation with the torso lifted on a small blanket or pillow, Hips on the floor, So that the diaphragm can be really nice and open. The belly saw. And getting yourself comfortable now. Making any final adjustments. I'm Alexis Pierce, And I'm here to help you soften, Release, Enjoy, And connect with yourself on a deeper level that allows for soothing, Allows for opening, And allows for your true essence of deep love, Understanding, And presence to be your new way of being. To getting comfortable. And once you're there, We'll take a few deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth. Breathing in through the nose, Softening the jaw and letting the breath fall out of the body with the exhale. And then tuning in to the part of the body that you most easily feel the breath move. Perhaps it's the belly. Perhaps it's the chest. Perhaps it's the sensation of the breath in the nostrils. Tuning in to where you most easily feel the breath moving. Allowing your awareness to settle gently, Watching, Witnessing the breath moving the body. The mind wanders, Gently bringing it back. We're building our capacity. We're building our muscular strength of awareness and focus by bringing the attention back anytime it shifts. There's nothing wrong. We haven't done anything wrong. We haven't failed our meditation. We're just taking the opportunity to bring the awareness back over and over and over and as you do, Strengthening your ability to focus and concentrate. Now bringing your awareness to the breath in the belly. We're not trying to control the breath. We're becoming aware of any movement of the breath in the belly. Softening through the organs of the belly, Through the intestines. Through the stomach, Through the liver. Softening through the skin of the belly. And allowing for the body to be moved by the breath. You may notice the body naturally takes deeper breaths and then shallower breaths, But the breath is not entirely rhythmic, Not entirely smooth. Allowing now for what your body is desiring. Allowing for the mind to step gently to the side. As the body breathes. Softening. Witnessing. Making space for the breath to move the body by allowing yourself to be moved. And noticing as you continue to soften, As you continue to relinquish control and allow the breath to move you, That perhaps the breath moves to other parts of the body. You might notice the breath in the chest. Being really mindful that we don't have to strive for the breath. We don't have to take a deeper breath. We don't have to actively do anything to breathe. And we are invited to get out of the way. We're invited to soften. And as we soften, The body naturally opens more to the breath. So softening through the space between the ribs. Softening around the heart. Softening under the arms, Through the side ribs. Through the throat, The neck. The space of the inner ear gently softening and opening. Attuning now your awareness to the sole job of witnessing. Of witnessing the breath entering the body. Witnessing the breath kissing and awakening the body. Of the breath expanding parts of the body that perhaps feel tight and held. Allowing now for the breath to move into those spaces. Not with force. But with permission, With invitation. With curiosity. How the body moves when we step outside the realm of control and allow for the body to be breathed. You may notice slight movement of your arms and your legs. For many of us, When we enter a space of deep softness and permissiveness, We notice that with each inhale, The arms and the legs rotate slightly outwards. And on the exhale, They soften and return to their position, Which might feel like an inward rotation towards the body. It might feel nice to accentuate this movement now, Gently allowing the palms and the feet to roll outwards, The whole leg and thigh rolling outwards with the inhale. And on the exhale, Softening, Returning, Releasing. Mimicking in our muscular form what the breath naturally does, Expands and opens you on the inhale. And softens and deepens your presence on the exhale. And with each exhale as we release. We return to stillness. And in that stillness, We can enter into a space of deep awareness, Deep presence, Deep meditation. This is the stillness from which all life arises. It is the moment of coming home. The moment of being fully surrendered. Allowing your entire body, Your entire being. To feel nourished. To sink into this moment of stillness. Where there's no more give and take, Up and down, In and out. But pure. Infinite stillness. This is how the breath takes us home. This is how the body brings us home. Enjoying this space. This space of meditative stillness, This space of true presence in body, Mind, And spirit for as long as you desire. And when you're done, Taking a few breaths and gently returning to your day.