This short meditation is called Coming Home to the Breath.
This is to help you connect with your breath as part of your practice going forward and also something that you can come back to as we carry the breath with us as we go about our lives.
So we don't need any special equipment,
It's always there.
In this practice I would like you to take a comfortable posture,
Ideally lying down on a bed or yoga mat or something comfortable,
But you could also sit for this,
But I want you to be in a comfortable posture and in a way that you can feel the breath through the belly.
So once you've found a posture that is comfortable for you,
We'll take a few deep breaths just to activate the diaphragm consciously.
So breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth or in and out of the nose,
Whatever works for you.
Just take a few deep breaths and then we'll begin our meditation.
So I'd like you to place one hand on the belly and become conscious of what is happening there as you breathe in and out.
And this breath does not need to be a self-consciously deep breath,
It can be just your regular breath,
But just feeling the movement of the breath,
How the belly expands and contracts under your hand.
Feeling the rise and fall.
Feeling the chest expanding and falling with the breath as well.
And notice,
If you can,
How you're feeling this.
Do you feel your clothing moving with the breath,
Perhaps a little constriction at the waist,
Maybe the feeling of the fabric sliding back and forth.
Do you notice a sense of expansion with the belly moving outward,
But even an expansion into the pelvic floor,
Into the ribcage and the back,
Noticing how we feel our breath all through the torso.
And as our breath flows in,
It brings oxygen into the body,
It releases carbon dioxide,
And this is a process of purification,
A process of detoxification and healing that we automatically do all day long,
Exchanging the gas of oxygen that we need for our mind and body to function,
And releasing the carbon dioxide,
Which we no longer need,
But it will feed the plants and trees around us,
And in turn be exchanged and in turn becoming oxygen.
So we are part of that great web of life.
We are part of it,
We are reliant upon it,
And it is reliant upon us.
This is our connection with the earth.
This is the connection with the air in our lives.
You may notice your mind swinging forward into the future,
Coming back to the past,
Dipping in and out of memory,
But all that we need to ask our mind to do in this moment is to be aware,
Without judgment,
And come back with gentle,
Forgiving attention to the breath,
To be present in this moment.
We then bring our attention back into our presence here,
And we thank ourselves for this moment of mindful attention as part of our practice,
Anchoring ourselves to life.
And if you had closed your eyes,
You may open them now,
Or if your gaze was softly focused,
You may bring your eyes back to paying attention to the room,
Wiggling fingers and toes,
And bringing this moment with us throughout the day.
