My name is Jasmine and today I have a meditation for you that is perfect for those days when we really are craving simplicity.
So make sure that you're comfortable,
Make sure that you're somewhere where you won't be interrupted and start to find a comfortable seat for your meditation.
If you're seated upright make sure that you feel a sense of tallness through the central column of your spine and if you're lying down on the earth then just make sure that you're warm,
Comfy and that if you don't want to fall asleep you're not going to fall asleep.
Let's begin by taking a breath together,
Allow that breath to pour in through the nostrils,
Retain the breath for a moment at the top and just exhale let it go.
Take another breath in,
Feel the lungs fill,
Pause at the top if you can and this time you might like to sip in a touch more breath and then exhale let the breath go.
Take one more breath like this,
Feeling the breath pouring into the back of the lungs,
Side ribs,
Front of the lungs,
Heart space.
Sip in a touch more at the top if you've got the room for it and then take a full exhale let the breath go.
From this space just allow your breath to move easefully and effortlessly in and out of your body.
We'll drop into a simple breath centered meditation now and for this you don't need to do anything special or particular with your breathing other than witness it.
Start to witness your breath at your nostrils,
Witness the sensation of your breath pouring in through the nostrils and then pouring out.
The feeling of your breath and all the sensations that may come with it.
Just lightly focused at the nostrils.
Can you sense the temperature of the breath here?
Cool perhaps as it moves into the body and then a little warmer as it moves out and away.
Heated by the intricate systems of your physical body and your sinuses.
Continue to watch these sensations at the nostrils,
Breath being drawn in and then spilt away.
Witness your breath now moving into the throat.
Can you feel your breath there?
It's plausible that the feeling of the breath at your throat is more subtle than it is at the nostrils.
You might feel tempted to try and force into the throat with the breath to try and create sensation but see if you can resist the urge to do this.
Instead of forcing,
See if you can listen better and feel into whatever subtle sensation is already there.
Let this awareness move into your chest.
Can you feel your breath across your chest?
Can you feel your breath across the front of your heart?
Is there a sense of the heart expanding as you breathe in and then shrinking as you breathe out?
Nothing to change,
Nothing to fix.
Simple observation of the breath at the chest,
Front of heart,
Back of heart.
Slide this witnessing down into the sides of your ribs.
Can you feel your breath there?
Can you feel the inhale stretching and expanding into the accordion of your side ribs and then falling away from the side ribs as the breath moves out of your body?
Does the breath feel rich here,
Complex,
Full of sensation or does it feel quiet,
Narrow?
Just witness your breath here and the miracle of your body breathing itself.
Let your awareness surf in this quiet space of observation.
Witness your breath pouring through nostrils,
Throat,
Upper chest,
Side ribs,
Waistlines and then spilling all the way back up and out.
Just follow that pathway.
Nostrils,
Throat,
Side ribs,
Diaphragm,
Waistlines and all the way back up.
Nothing else to do.
Just observe this.
Just this.
Just this moment.
Just this breath.
Just this breath.
Just this breath.
Take a long breath in now.
Open the mouth and let go of the exhale.
Know that you can come back to this space whenever you want to,
Whenever you need quiet or simplicity.
This meditation is here for you.
