Hi,
I'm Shel.
Thank you for joining me.
This short meditation is another in the 5-minute Beginner Bite series,
To hopefully assist you to find a little calm.
It's about trying and playing around with different styles or techniques till you find one that resonates with you.
And this practice is Shamatha,
Which means single point of focus.
And this could be anything,
An object like a candle flame,
Just focusing your attention on it,
Something in nature.
It could be a japa or repetition of a mantra or affirmation.
But today we're simply going to use our breath as our single point of focus.
So we're not going to change it or manipulate the breath in any way.
We're just going to observe the breath and use it as our single point of focus.
And we're going to focus in an area of the body,
Our anapana region,
Which is between the upper lip and the nostrils.
This is where we'll sit our awareness.
So when we are using the breath as our single point of focus,
This is called anapanasati.
So let's begin.
Start by finding a comfortable seat,
Or if that's not possible,
Laying down if that's more comfortable for you.
From our seat,
We ground into the sitting bones.
If you're sitting,
Grow tall through the spine,
Crown of the head reaches towards the sky and just that little slight tuck of the chin so the back of the neck is long.
We'll relax our shoulders,
Cascade the shoulder blades slightly down the back.
Hands can rest wherever is most comfortable for you.
And if it feels okay,
We'll start to close down the eyes or just a soft gaze forward and down.
If you're focusing on a candle,
You would have a soft resting gaze on the flame.
But for today's practice,
It's our breath.
So let's settle in by taking a clearing breath in through the nose and a sigh out through the mouth.
Now just let the breath settle back into its own natural rhythm.
Nothing to do,
Nothing to change.
In today's practice,
We're not holding or extending,
Changing.
We're simply observing it.
We're observing it from the anapanas region just between the top lip and the nostrils,
Where we feel the breath move in and out.
Just observing and feeling your breath now.
Noticing if the mind drifts or wanders from this focus,
Which it will,
And gently guiding it back and continue to observe the breath.
It's the noticing that we're strengthening and then the bringing it back.
Letting our awareness rest softly in this one place so any thoughts jumbling around can settle.
Come back just to focus on the breath.
Calm abidance of breath.
Guiding the mind back each time you notice.
Even giving yourself a little smile for noticing.
Let's observe five more cycles of your breath.
And now let's drink in a deep breath in.
A sigh out through the mouth.
We'll come back into our space by gently opening our eyes.
Perhaps drawing our palms together at our heart space.
Namaste.
