Good morning and welcome.
Let's begin by finding a comfortable seated position either on a chair or a cushion.
Sit upright so that your spine is straight but relaxed.
Gently close your eyes.
Bring your attention to the breath.
Take a few deep slow breaths in and out.
Notice your breath in your body.
Ask yourself,
Is it comfortable?
If yes,
Continue breathing in this way.
If not,
Feel free to explore.
Try longer inhalations or slower exhalations.
See what rhythm of breathing feels most relaxing and nourishing for the body right now.
You can either consciously experiment with different kinds of breathing or just pose the question in the mind with each breath.
What type of breath would feel especially good in the body right now?
And let the body respond.
If your mind wanders,
Which it will,
Simply guide it back to the breath.
Even if it drifts away 10 times or 100 times,
Return with kindness and compassion.
Each time you come back,
Reward yourself with a breath that feels especially refreshing,
Energizing or soothing.
If there's any discomfort or pain in the body,
You don't need to focus on it right now.
Instead,
Imagine the breath flowing through those areas gently,
Like energy softening tension.
Focus on the areas where the breath does feel good.
And of course,
We're not thinking of breath just as air coming in and out of the lungs,
But the flow of energy throughout the body.
Feel it flowing through the body,
Through the blood vessels,
Relaxing the muscles each time you breathe in and each time you breathe out.
A helpful way to build up to this is to move section by section,
Starting from the navel.
Bring your attention to the area around the navel as you breathe in and out.
Notice how it feels.
If there are any patterns of tension,
Think of them relaxing.
Any sense of blockage in that part of the body,
Think of it dissolving away so that no tension builds up as you breathe in and you're not holding on to any tension as you breathe out.
If you want,
You can think of breath energy coming in and out of the body right there at the navel.
Now move your attention to the lower right abdomen.
Follow the same three steps.
One,
Locate that part of the body in your awareness.
Two,
Watch it for a while as you breathe in and breathe out.
And three,
If you notice any patterns of tension,
Just allow them to dissolve away all the way through the in-breath and all the way through the out.
Move your attention over to the left hand corner of the abdomen and follow the same three steps there.
Then bring your attention to the middle of the chest,
Including the whole area around the heart.
Feel this heart space expand and contract with the breath.
Soften around any emotional tightness.
Then move your attention to the right,
To the spot where the chest and the shoulder meet.
Repeat the steps,
Locate that part of the body in your awareness as you breathe in and out and relax the spot.
And then do the same spot on the left.
Now bring your attention to the base of the throat.
Breathe into the throat center.
Gently.
Relaxing the throat,
Move your awareness to the center of the head.
Imagine the breath energy flowing not through the nose,
But also through the eyes,
Ears,
Crown of the head.
Let it dissolve any tensions in the eyes,
Jaw and forehead.
As you breathe in,
Feel the energy flow from the neck down to the shoulders,
Through the arms and hands,
All the way to the fingertips.
As you exhale,
Let it radiate outward.
If one side feels more tense,
Consciously release that tension and keep it soft.
Now feel the breath entering the back of the neck and flowing down the spine to the tailbone.
On the exhale,
Imagine this breath energy radiating outwards.
Sensitize yourself to the area around the spine.
Try to notice which side is carrying more tension.
The upper back,
Middle back,
Lower back or around the tailbone.
Then consciously relax those areas and try to keep them relaxed all the way through the in-breath,
All the way through the out.
Now bring your attention to the tailbone and feel the breath energy moving through the pelvis,
Down the legs,
Past the knees,
Ankles,
Feet,
Sole of the feet and out to the toes.
Notice which side is holding more tension.
Pelvis,
Legs,
Knees,
Ankles or feet.
Consciously relax those areas of tension and keep them relaxed all the way through the in-breath and all the way through the out.
You've now completed one full cycle of body awareness.
If you like,
You can repeat this cycle starting again at the navel and go through the body again picking up any patterns of tension you may have missed the first time around.
Eventually let your awareness rest in one area where the breath feels most natural and grounding.
Allow your focus to gently settle here.
From that center expand awareness to the whole body.
Breathing in with the whole body,
Breathing out with the whole body.
Your awareness will have a tendency to shrink so we have to keep reminding yourself each time you breathe in whole body,
Each time you breathe out whole body all the way through the breath both in and out.
If the mind becomes dull or scattered return to scanning the body.
Otherwise remain here centered and still.
This kind of awareness is healing both for the body and for the mind.
Before you leave meditation remind yourself there are three steps to leaving well.
The first step is to think of whatever sense of peace or well-being you felt for the past session and dedicate it to others specifically people you know who are suffering right now.
In fact to all living beings in all directions who are our companions in birth,
Aging,
Illness and death.
May we all find peace and well-being in our hearts.
The next step is to reflect back on how the meditation went for the past session.
When was the mind especially well centered?
When was there a special sense of ease or rapture?
Ask yourself what were you doing just before that happened?
Where were you focused?
Make a mental note of that and try to reproduce the same feeling the next time around.
The final step is to remind yourself that even though you open your eyes and re-engage in the visual world the breath is still coming in and going out.
The breath energy is still flowing in different parts of the body.
Don't let that awareness get squeezed out by the sensations of the outside world.
Gently bring your awareness back to the body.
Move your fingers and toes.
Take a deep breath in and out.
When you're ready,
Softly open your eyes.
Thank you for meditating with me today.
I hope you return tomorrow.
