Mindfulness Of Breath Short Practice

An 8-minute mindfulness of breath practice starting with simple awareness and then followed by a brief mindful exploration of the different aspects of breath. Used for Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction.

Transcript

Finding yourself a comfortable sitting position Ideally sitting upright Imagining a string out of the top of your head Remembering we're wanting spine and guts in our meditation So a posture that's not too tight and rigid and not too slumped and relaxed Focusing our attention on the breath The breath that's always there linking right through from birth to death The breath that we can always drop into So noticing where the most the breath is most vivid for you Perhaps in the rise and fall of the abdomen Perhaps the rise and fall of the chest Perhaps the air coming in and out of the nostrils Not thinking about the breath or imagining the breath But actually feeling the physical sensations Resting our attention in the direct physical sensations of the breath Knowing that the mind will wander because that's the function of the mind So when we notice the mind's wandered No problem That moment we're being mindful We can bring our attention back to the breath The breath can be a great barometer of whatever mood or state we're in So no need to change the breath just noticing the ebb and flow the coming and going the in-breath and out-breath To help get closer to the breath more intimate with it Sometimes helps to ask some investigative questions But not ones that we actually need answers for Just to help with that kind curious attitude Towards being with the breath So maybe asking how fast is my breath or slow? It's the in-breath longer than the out-breath or vice versa How long are the little gaps between the in-breath and the out-breath and the out-breath and the in-breath? How regular is the breath? Can we get a sense of the quality of the tone? Does it have a sense of aliveness? Springiness about it Perhaps more flat and lifeless Or some other tone It's the texture of my breath Is it soft and silky? Or rough like dragging fingers along concrete Some other texture or a mixture How deep is the breath? How far does my abdomen or chest have to move? How much air am I taking in? How much resistance is there to the breath? Sense of it being easy or difficult to breathe Resistance in the nostrils or in the chest or abdomen Resting the attention on the breath A kind, Gentle, Patient way Continuing to observe the breath for as long as you'd like after this recording finishes