Affectionate Breathing

This is a meditation practice that uses the breath as a way of keeping us in the present moment, and holds this in warm, affectionate attention. You can do the practice either sitting or lying down, but generally sitting is better!

Transcript

So this is the practice of affectionate breathing. So finding a sitting position that doesn't require effort to maintain. It's good to have a straight back and if you need support for that, That's fine. Sitting in a chair, Just releasing any tension in the shoulders and the neck and tucking the chin slightly in, So the head nods very slightly forward, It's an almost imperceptible movement of pushing the head, The top of the head towards the ceiling and you do this very very slight movement, It's a sense of poise and relaxation. So now take a few slow easy breaths and just releasing any unnecessary tension, Allowing your eyes to close fully or partially and if you'd like to placing a hand over your heart or anywhere that's soothing for you, As a reminder that we are going to be bringing affectionate awareness to our experience and to ourselves. You can leave your hand on your heart or place it back where it was. So now finding your breath, Wherever you can feel it most easily, You may notice it most in your nose, Feeling the cool refreshing air coming in and the warmer air leaving with a sense of warmth and relaxation or you might notice it more in your belly, Rising and falling with the in-breath and out-breath or even just as a gentle movement of your whole body, Wherever your attention naturally comes to rest, Just allow it to be there, Riding on the breath as it enters and leaves, Just letting yourself notice the simple sensation of breathing, Just feeling your breath for a while, Letting yourself incline inwardly towards your breathing as you might incline towards a child or a favourite pet, With curiosity and tenderness. Don't worry about how often your mind wanders, Whenever it does, Just as soon as you've noticed you've wandered off, Appreciating that moment of waking up, That fresh awake moment when you realise you've drifted off, Just appreciating that and then gently leading your attention back to the sensation of breathing, Just like you might lead a puppy or a small child back who's wandered off, In a sense of kindness and gentleness, Noticing how your breath nourishes your body, Even when you're not paying any attention to it, Letting your body breathe you, There's nothing you need to do, Now feeling your whole body breathe, Gently moving with the rising and the falling of the breath, Like the movement of the sea, Allowing your body to be rocked and caressed, Internally caressed by the breath, Maybe even giving yourself over to the breath, Becoming the breath, Now releasing the breath and just allowing everything that comes into your awareness to be just as it is, Just for now.