Find yourself in a comfortable,
Upright seated posture.
Your feet can be on the ground.
You could be cross-legged in a chair or cushion.
Just find yourself someplace that you can stay still for the next few minutes and close your eyes.
Gently turn your attention inward and bring your focus to the sensations of your body.
Your feet,
Wherever they happen to make contact.
Your sit bones on the chair or cushion.
Your hands,
Wherever they may find contact.
Perhaps on your thighs or your lap.
And with this gentle focus on the body,
We take our mind from our external world to our internal world and find ourselves right here,
Right now.
Our body can be a great anchor for the present moment.
When you're ready,
Gently begin to notice your breath.
And there are many places you could feel the breath.
It could be in through the nostrils and out through the nostrils,
That cool air on the inhale and that warm air on the exhale.
It could be the rising and the falling of the chest or just the gentle expansion of the body and contraction of the body.
But wherever your focus lands,
Let it be easy and gentle.
No stress or strain here.
And if you feel any tension or tightness by focusing on the breath,
Perhaps your first few breaths are a little more intentional,
A little deeper.
Just to feel some expansion,
Nice long exhales to feel that relaxation.
And then you could come to a nice gentle inhale and exhale without any sort of holding,
Any sort of manipulation of the breath.
And with this gentle focus,
Once again we find ourselves in the present moment because the beauty of the breath is that your inhale and exhale can only be right here,
Right now.
No place else.
And distraction falls away.
Simply acknowledging what it feels like to breathe in this moment,
Almost with the wonder of a child.
As if you're really breathing for the first time,
Maybe.
And as we gently hold our focus on the breath,
Thoughts will enter the mind,
Which is absolutely normal.
Also when you notice a thought enter,
Know that that is a moment of wakefulness.
And I welcome you to either label it as thinking gently with a compassionate tone of voice and simply come back to the breath.
Or you may even tell the thought thank you and gently come back to the breath.
As those thoughts pop in,
Label it with some kindness and compassion and come right back.
Any tightness or tension,
Just notice.
No place to be,
Nothing to do in this moment,
But just noticing thought and coming back to the breath.
So simple.
We'll stay for a few moments like this.
If you wander off,
No big deal,
Just come right back.
Your breath is there for you.
Anytime you need it,
That anchor.
Feel free to stay here as long as you like.
Or when you're ready to come out,
Just gently start to feel the sensation of your body in space.
Feet,
Sit bones,
Hands.
Let sound enter your ears and gently flutter your eyes open and come back to the room.
