Awareness of breathing,
Come into a posture that is both relaxed and alert.
One where we're comfortable.
And simply beginning by taking in a deep diaphragmatic breath through the nose,
Inhaling deeply,
Filling the belly,
The lungs,
And then letting it fall out of the mouth with an audible exhale.
Taking in another deep diaphragmatic breath,
Filling the belly,
The lungs,
You may feel the clavicles rise,
And then again letting that just fall out of the body with an audible exhale.
In your own time,
In your own space,
Taking two or three more breaths in this fashion just to settle and arrive,
And in this breathing style we'll be breathing in through the nose and letting it fall out of the mouth.
Once you've completed a few rounds of this style of breathing,
Then gently closing the lips,
And just breathing in and out through the nose.
At this point in our awareness of breath practice,
We'll shift away from controlling or modifying the breath in any way,
And just allowing the body to breathe us.
Simply observing breath coming into the body,
Breath going out of the body.
Simply aware of the body breathing.
Where is the mind now?
The mind may have become lost in thoughts.
No problem.
The mind thinks.
In this practice,
We simply note thinking,
And then return back to the felt sense of the body breathing.
The feeling of the breath coming across the nostrils,
Swirling in the back of the throat,
Feeling the belly and the lungs,
And the body gently exhaling warmer breath coming out of the nostrils.
How do you know you're breathing without thinking about breathing?
Just simply here and now,
Just feeling the body breathe.
Water rises,
No problem,
Cause for celebration.
We've recognized we're lost in thought,
And we return home to our breath.
On some days,
The anchor of the breath might not be the most suitable,
Whether it be a stuffy nose,
Or congestion,
Or just feeling like the breath isn't right.
If so,
We can use the anchor of sound.
So now releasing the anchor of breath,
And simply shifting to sounds arising and passing away.
It may be the sounds of birds chirping,
Cars buzzing by,
The sound of our own breath,
Or any sounds in our room.
Simply noticing any sounds that are arising,
And noticing it takes no effort to hear sounds just happening.
So now we'll put our attention onto the simple awareness of sounds.
Where is the mind now?
The mind may have become lost in thoughts again,
No problem,
We've become aware.
We're thinking.
Simply noting thinking,
And returning to simply listening.
We might do this a few times,
Or a hundred times.
In each case,
Investigating with curiosity,
Observing without judgment,
The remembering a coming back home to simply listening.
And now coming to the final possible anchor for our meditation practice,
Is the felt sense of the body.
We can just choose a place that's easeful and neutral,
Like the feelings of our feet on the ground,
The felt sense of our feet on the ground.
Or maybe it can be the sense of our hands,
Or the whole body breathing.
Whatever anchor that feels just one percent more easeful to tune into.
Just tuning into the felt sense of it.
And as we approach the near end of our meditation,
The realization that we could use breath as an anchor,
We could use sound as an anchor,
We could use a part of the body as an anchor.
And that thoughts will arise.
And it's not a problem.
It's a wonderful chance to return home to whatever anchor we've chosen.
So now it may be helpful to place a hand on the heart,
Or the belly.
Simply wishing ourselves kindness and care for taking this time to practice together.
Having a felt sense of that goodness,
And in particular we dedicate that goodness to those who are suffering,
Especially those who are suffering under oppression.
And we commit to doing the work within ourselves and in the world of uprooting greed,
Hatred and delusion,
So that our true heart's wish may come true.
May all beings everywhere be free from suffering and pain.
May all beings abide in the ease of well-being.
May all beings be safe inside and out.
May all beings know connection and love,
Joy and peace.
May all beings be truly free.
And as always,
Thank you so much for your practice.
Be well.
Namaste.
