Mindful Breathing Mindfulness is the base of our practice.
All other practices rest on this foundation and become possible because of it.
Mindfulness can be defined as paying attention to present moment experience intentionally and non-judgmentally.
It includes qualities of focus,
Equanimity,
And curiosity,
Which facilitates clear seeing and discernment.
Mindfulness has a quality of not grasping onto any experience,
And not pushing away any experience.
Instead,
You are present with whatever arises,
And can gently guide attention to a chosen focus until you are absorbed in that,
And everything else fades to the background.
The focus in this meditation is on the sensations of breathing as they arise in one particular spot.
As you focus on sensations of breathing,
You may become aware that your attention has wandered to something else.
When you recognize that,
Release whatever grabbed your attention,
And return to following the sensations of breathing in your chosen focal point.
These are the three R's of practicing focused attention,
Recognize,
Release,
And return.
As you do this again and again,
You're training attention to be stable and present,
To be aware of where your attention is,
And to relate to the fluctuations of attention with calm curiosity.
This is a powerful training that applies to being present with each moment of experience.
You are training yourself to be mindful and discerning,
And in recognizing how your mind can get pulled in many directions,
Many of which cause you to suffer,
You gain compassion for yourself and for others.
In this meditation,
You'll also use mindfulness of breathing as a portal to recognize that within which the experience of breathing arises,
Which is like a vast openness,
Within which all experiences arise,
And into which they dissolve.
Resting as that openness is a profound liberation,
In which peace is ever-present underneath the fluctuations of the mind,
Emotions,
And sensations.
Let's begin by sitting comfortably upright,
With the soles of your feet firmly on the ground,
And your hands cupped in your lap,
With the tips of your thumbs touching lightly.
If for any reason this posture is not comfortable,
You can sit in any upright position,
With your hands relaxed.
Once you are settled in your seat,
Lightly close your eyes.
Let's begin by noticing whatever is present in awareness.
So there may be lingering thoughts or emotions.
There may be sensations in your body.
Our first mindful practice is simply to be aware of that,
Being aware of whatever is present,
And allowing it to be just as it is.
Allow yourself to be just as you are.
Now,
Feel out into the space all around you,
As a sacred space,
A safe space that embraces you.
You might notice your body begins to relax as you sit in this safe,
Sacred space.
Call to mind your intention for this practice.
Why is mindfulness important to you?
Why is it important for you to be able to pay attention,
Be present,
Be focused,
And relate to experiences with calm equanimity and skillful discernment?
Consider that the effect of this practice extends to all your loved ones,
To everyone you interact with,
And even more widely and invisibly,
To all beings,
Our whole planet,
And throughout our collective consciousness,
And all that is.
You are part of a greater whole,
And your state of consciousness contributes to the whole.
So consider dedicating this practice to the well-being of all beings,
That we might all learn to be more mindful,
Present,
Skillfully responsive,
And compassionate.
Now,
Begin to move into a deeper state of presence and relaxation by focusing down into feeling the sensations of contact of the soles of your feet on the ground.
Awaken sensory awareness here in your feet and your toes,
And allow them to soften and relax,
As if they are melting deep down into the earth.
Feel the sensation of solid support and grounding presence underneath you.
Mindfulness is present and grounded here,
Now.
Allow the sensation of grounded presence to flow up through the soles of your feet,
Up through your shins and calves,
Up through your knees and thighs,
Into your hips and pelvic bowl,
Resting down in your seat.
Feel the weight of your body resting down in your seat,
Resting down on the earth.
Focus into your palms and fingers,
Resting cupped in your lap.
Awaken sensory awareness here in your hands,
And allow your hands to soften and relax,
As if they are melting down into your legs.
Feel the quality of soft openness in your hands,
Connected to the soft openness in your heart.
This embodies the open embrace of mindfulness,
Which is present to every moment of experience.
Imagine and feel as if a string is attached to the top of your head,
Drawing your spine gently upright,
Like a string of luminous pearls.
Feel your spine gently stretched from your perineum and tailbone,
Right up through the top of your head,
Like a stream of light flowing upwards,
Up through the top of your head and opening to the vast,
Clear,
Blue sky above.
Mindfulness is open and bright,
Like a clear,
Blue sky.
Tuck your chin just slightly,
Gently lengthening the back of your neck.
Lightly close your lips and breathe in and out through your nose.
Nasal breathing calms your nervous system.
It increases oxygenation and warms and purifies the air you breathe in.
As you continue nasal breathing,
Rest your tongue upon the roof of your mouth,
With the tip of your tongue touching the gum line behind your upper front teeth.
Soften and relax your tongue here.
Softening your tongue is another calming cue,
Which sends a relaxation signal to your vagus nerve in the center of your brain.
This signal travels down through your vagus nerve,
Down through your heart,
Your abdomen,
And out through your whole body.
As you feel this wave of relaxation,
Smile,
A subtle smile of equanimity,
Calm clarity of mindfulness.
Allow the feeling of smiling to shine out through your eyes and release any tension from your eyebrows and your forehead.
Allow the relaxed feeling of smiling to wash down from the top of your head,
Down through your whole body.
So you feel the entire space inside your skin,
Awake,
Aware,
Fully present,
And smiling.
Feel this open space of presence in your whole body.
Within this open space of presence,
Become aware of the sensations of breathing,
Wherever they are most prominent for you.
This could be at the tip of your nostrils,
In your upper nasal passages and forehead,
In your heart,
Your lungs,
Or your lower abdomen.
Choose one place,
One spot to pay attention to the sensations of breathing.
Choose a spot that feels natural and easy to focus on.
Feel the sensations of breathing right here,
In this one spot.
Allow your attention to become completely absorbed in feeling the sensations of breathing in this one spot,
So everything else fades to the background and there is only this.
Following the breath in,
Right here in this one spot.
Breathing is happening on its own.
You don't need to do anything or control the breath.
You are not trying to breathe any particular way.
You are not in charge of the breath.
You are simply paying attention as it is happening on its own,
Without interfering with it.
Following along with the natural flow of the breath,
Here in this one spot.
Attention effortlessly riding on the breath.
If attention wanders from the sensations of breathing,
Recognize what grabbed your attention.
Release that and return to feeling the breath in this one spot.
To enable you to pay even closer attention,
See if you can notice the moment inhalation begins and follow the sensation of breathing in all the way until it naturally pauses.
And then notice the moment exhalation begins and follow the sensation of breathing out all the way until it naturally pauses.
Attention riding along on the natural flow of the breath.
Notice any shifts in the quality of the breath as you continue to pay attention.
It might become longer or shorter,
Deeper or more shallow,
Stronger or more subtle.
However the breath is,
Is just fine.
Just notice.
Now,
Pay close attention to the gaps at the end of inhalation and the end of exhalation.
You might notice the stillness in these gaps.
You might notice silence.
Silence and stillness are like a space within which the breath arises and into which it dissolves.
Notice the stillness,
Silence and spaciousness in these gaps.
Now,
Attend to the space within which the breath arises and into which it dissolves.
The space underneath the breath.
Sense this space within which the breath happens.
From which it arises and into which it dissolves.
Now,
Allow the sensation of breathing to fade to the background.
So this space within which the breath happens,
Within which it arises,
Comes to the foreground.
Sense the boundless openness of this space.
Feel the stillness of this space.
Listen to the silence beneath all sounds in this space.
Let go and rest as still,
Silent space.
Let go even more and rest as that within which this still,
Silent spaciousness arises.
Prior to space,
Silence and stillness.
Prior to anything at all.
That within which everything arises and into which everything dissolves.
Now,
Notice the still,
Silent space arising again.
Notice the space of your body arising within this space.
And the subtlest sensation of breathing arising in your body.
As you attend to the body and the breath,
It's like it appears out of nowhere.
There is no separation between your breath,
Your body,
The space and that within which all of this arises.
They co-arise together.
As you attend to all of this at once,
Perhaps the body and breath don't seem quite so solid and substantial.
Perhaps the body and breath,
Just like thoughts and emotions,
Are just moments of experience.
Coming and going,
From and within vast openness.
Now,
Feel your body as a whole from the inside.
Feel the entire space inside and including your skin.
Notice how you feel.
If you could sum up this feeling in a word,
Phrase or image,
What would this be?
Soak in this feeling.
Let it make a deep impression.
Perhaps you feel light.
Now feel the tingling aliveness at the top of your head,
Open to the vast clear sky above.
The clarity of mindfulness.
Feel your soft,
Open hands connected to your soft,
Open heart.
The all-embracing quality of mindfulness.
Soft and open.
And feel your feet firmly on the ground.
Fully present here,
Now.
Smile as you integrate this experience and take it all in.
Very slowly begin to open your eyes and take in the feeling of the space all around you.
Together with the feeling of the space inside as one space.
No different with your eyes open or your eyes closed.
A flow of experience within vast openness.
Like the breath,
Experiences arise,
Crest and dissolve.
And you are that within which all of this happens.
What would it be like if this recognition was ever present?
Perhaps experiences wouldn't feel so weighty,
Dense and grippy.
And you could flow more easily with what is happening.
Take this recognition with you wherever you go.
Well done.
